There is satisfaction in taking down a tough mark, rescuing a fragile NPC, or retrieving a precious artifact. But where is the fun in setting out on adventures without a more, shall we say, tangible reward? A staff that shoots fire without spending a single Spell Slot. An amulet with the power to send adventurers to distant dimensions or bend reality to their will. This list compiles the most desired (and fairly obtainable) magic items that make players so dangerous DM’s will think twice before giving them out.  

Full disclaimer: this list includes only the most useful rare items, useful for individual players or a whole party, and items with potential to break the campaign to the benefit of the players.

We also acknowledge the game-breaking quality of the Deck of Many Things, but we left it out of the list because it fails the main criteria of being a tool. Since players cannot control its random turns of events, it could go very well or very wrong for the characters.

So without further ado, here’s our list of the 15 Best D&D Magic Items.

15) Winged Boots

Light on your feet.

We begin with this pair of silly-looking boots that grant the wearer the always-useful ability to fly for four hours.

DM’s will understandably think twice before giving away magic items that could potentially break the campaign. But Winged Boots are one of the few fun and versatile tools he or she will give out relatively easily since its benefits are limited to one player who won’t be able to mess up the whole campaign. Look for yourself:

• You gain a fly speed equivalent to your walking speed..
• The ability to fly for up to 4 hours. Burn it all at once or break it up into chunks of at least 1 minute.
• Ran out of flying fuel? Don’t worry. These boots have a magic fail-safe that allows you to descend at a rate of 30 feet per round.
• Boots recharge 2 hours of flying every 12 hours that you don’t use them.

Make no mistake, these boots are meant for one player, but that lucky player could exploit them for the benefit of the group. Check it out:

• Help the party out of a floor trap one player at a time.
• Get to the hostages without provoking opportunity attacks as you zoom past the fight.
• Scout ahead to scope out threats and traps.

14) Cloak of Displacement

A tale of two versus one.

Sun Tzu’s once said, “Fight the enemy where they aren’t.” His quote has never been more literal. This cloak projects a mirror image of you close to where you’re standing. So when the crazed orc charges your projection, you can watch through the sight of your crossbow with a smile on your face as its battleaxe swishes through nothingness.

Pretty sure this isn’t what Sun Tzu had in mind, but it’s still great for combat. Now, on to the specifics:

• A mirage-like projection of you appears near your location on the battlefield. While active, enemies’ attacks against you have disadvantage.
• If you take damage, your projection will vanish until the start of your next turn.
• Keep in mind that if you get incapacitated or restrained from movement in any way, shape, or form, your cloak won’t work.

You’ll want to use this:

• If you’re wearing light armor or have a low Hit Dice.
• If you’re the tank of the party and no one else heals you.
• If the enemy has disadvantage on attack rolls against everybody else but you.

13) Rod of Lordly Might

A weapon for any occasion.

This flange-headed rod is the closest thing you’ll find to a swiss army knife in the multiverse. Equal parts weapon and tool, this rod transforms into a variety of blades and other devices at the touch of one of its six buttons, making it useful for both combat and dungeon crawling.

• Button 1: turns the rod into a Flame Tongue, a sword of fire activated by your Command Word.
• Button 2 and 3: turn the rod into either a magic battleaxe or a 6ft. magic spear. Each weapon grants a +3 bonus to Attack and Damage rolls.
• Button 4: turns the rod into an adjustable climbing pole/ladder of 50 feet or less. This sturdy ladder grabs onto surfaces as hard as granite and holds up to 4,000 pounds. Too much or a fragile surface will make the ladder revert to its rod form.
• Button 5: turns the rod into a battering ram, which gives the wielder a nice +10 bonus on Strength Checks to crack open those annoying locked doors and barriers.
• Button 6: turns rod into a...rod. But no ordinary rod. A rod that points to magnetic north (unless there isn’t any) and tells you how deep you are beneath the surface or how high you are above it.

On top of all that, this item comes with 3 other properties you can use once after sunrise. You could:

• Drain life by making a target you hit attempt a 17 DC Constitution Saving Throw. If it fails, it takes 4d6 Necrotic damage, and you gain Hit Points equal to half of that amount.
• Paralyze a target that you hit if it fails a 17 DC Strength Saving Throw. The target is paralyzed for a whole minute.
• Terrify every creature you can see within 30 feet. If they fail a 17 DC Wisdom Saving Throw imposed by your action, they are terrified for a whole minute.

12) Ring of Regeneration

One ring to heal it all.

Put this on and your character will pretty much become Wolverine or Deadpool. You’ll gain the ability to restore Hit Points or even regrow lost body parts.

As long you have at least 1 Hit Point and you’re attuned to this item, the ring will:

• Restore 1d6 Hit Points every 10 minutes.
• Regrow a lost body part, which will become fully functional after 1d6+1 days.

So when does this item come into play? Here are a couple ways to make the most of it:

• Save up those Hit Dice and let the ring magically restore your Hit Points to the maximum. We’re talking about at least 144 HP in 24 hours.
• Need a hand?  Put the ring on your remaining hand and regrow the missing one in a matter of days.

11) Cape of the Mountebank

Leave them in the dust.

Talk about making an entrance or leaving the building with style. This cape lets you and another creature disappear in a cloud of smoke and reappear somewhere else within 500 feet. Pretty sure Gandalf has one of these. How else does he keep conveniently popping up at the right moment? This is how the cape works:

You get one use of the Dimension Door spell every day after sunrise, which means:

• You can teleport anywhere within 500 feet. A screen of smoke lightly obscures your entry and exit points.
• Bring along an object and/or a willing creature as long as neither of you exceed your respective carrying capacities.
• If you try to teleport into an occupied space, you won’t go anywhere. Instead, the spell will blow up on your face inflicting 4d6 force damage.

When and how to use this item:

• If you’re close enough to a village or main city, you could teleport there to craft or buy something the party needs, get some information, or take a poisoned teammate to the medic.
• This item is perfect for getting out of hot spots. Say a swarm of enemies corners you; just pull a Dumbledore and teleport somewhere else. You will definitely want to stay next to the NPC you are escorting (if any) at all times.
• If you’re out on a heist mission, get your hands on the prize and poof! You’re out before you can raise any alarms. Same principle for interrogations, rescue missions, and any other situation where you want to avoid guards.  

10) Cloak of Invisibility

They'll never see you coming.

Rogues and Monks of the Way of the Shadow are in a tug-o-war over the hooded cloak that makes the wearer invisible for two hours and hard to pin during combat. After all, Stealth is the bread and butter of these classes, and the Cloak of Invisibility works perfectly with their features, and enhances their potential a thousandfold.

The Cloak of Invisibility is the first of those controversial magic items with the potential to spin the campaign out of control. Even though it can be worn by one player only, the actions of that player could benefit the party as a whole. By ensuring almost unlimited access to rare items and key NPC’s, the player could skip encounters in between and substantially shorten the campaign.

Here are the details:

• Use your action to put on the hood. With a successful DC 12 Wisdom saving throw, you become invisible for two hours.
• The Cloak grants you advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks, and disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks made against you.
• It takes the cloak 12 hours without use to recharge 1 hour of invisibility.

This cloak is perfect for:

• Stealing heavily guarded items.
• Popping up behind a hateful NPC and putting a dagger to his or her throat to interrogate them.
• Infiltrating a cell block or an enemy camp to rescue your captive friends à la Bilbo Baggins.

9) Carpet of Flying

Surfing in the sky.

Heavily inspired by the ancient tales of King Solomon and One Thousand and One Nights, this magic carpet comes soaring, tumbling, and freewheeling its way onto our list. Due to its speed and carrying capacity, it shows us a whole new world of possibilities both in and out of combat.

Don’t believe me? Here’s proof:

• As long as it stays within 30 feet of you, this carpet will follow your Command Word, allowing you to steer it from afar.
• The smaller it is, the faster it goes. On the other hand, the bigger it is, the more it can carry. Your DM will have the final say on the size of the carpet either by choosing or by rolling a d100. Here’s the chart in case you’re curious:

D100    Size    Capacity    Flying Speed

01-20    3 ft. x 5 ft    200 lb.    80 feet

21-55    4 ft. x 6 ft.    400 lb.    60 feet

56-80    5 ft. x 7 ft.    600 lb.    40 feet

81-100    6 ft. x 9 ft.    800 lb.    30 feet

• Also, it can carry twice  its capacity, but only at half its speed.

Now, this item can have as many applications as you can come up with, but here are a few ideas:

• If you’re a spellcaster or a ranger of any kind, you can ride it like a surfboard and use both hands to gun for the enemy as you float from a safe distance.
• If you want to fight up close and personal, approach the target at half your speed, attack, and use your remaining speed to fly away. Look out for those opportunity attacks.
• Carry ridiculous amounts of loot.
• Ferry you and your party across trap-infested dungeons.

8) Portable Hole

Watch your step.

If you like cartoons, you’re going to love this one. Silly as it may seem, this silky piece of cloth 6 feet in diameter is literally a portal to a cylindrical void. The void is 10 feet deep and located in the Astral Plane.  Stash away all your junk within the hole, regardless of weight, then fold it back into your pocket like a handkerchief.

Things to keep in mind about the Portable Hole:

• If a breathing creature is thrown in the hole, they will have to succeed on a DC 10 Strength Saving Throw to escape the closed Portable Hole or suffocate after 10 minutes in the Astral Plane.
• Definitely don’t throw it in a Bag of Holding or a Handy Haversack. It will turn into a black hole that will destroy anything you stored and suck in any creatures within 10 feet. The hole willspit them out into the Astral Plane, after which the portal will close forever.

This item is great for:

• Looting.
• Hiding.
• Trapping enemies.
• Creating a black hole if need be.

7) Instant Fortress

Fastest build on the battlefield.

This item seems to be taken out of an Ant-Man movie. It consists of a pocket-sized toy...until you say the Command Word and it becomes a virtually indestructible watchtower. Not only do you get an awesome shelter, but also a powerful weapon.

Throw this at your enemies and watch them laugh, then send them flying by making the tower grow. That 10d10 of damage to anything near it could surely end a fight quickly, which is why DM’s can be a bit reluctant to give it out. But done right, everyone gets to enjoy it, players and DM’s alike. Here’s how it works:

• Use an action to say the Command Word and watch this 1-inch hunk of metal become a tower of adamantine.
• 20 feet on the side, 30 feet high, 2 rooms, battlements, and a door that that only opens when you speak your Command Word as a bonus action. Knock and Chime of Opening spells don’t do jack to it. It also can’t be tipped over.
• Except for siege weapons, the tower remains impervious to any kind of non-magical weapons and it has resistance against all kinds of damage. Oh, and all openings have 100 Hit Points each to keep baddies busy while you and your team set up one heck of a counter strike.
• Alternatively, use it as a weapon by flicking it at incoming enemies. Any creature who fails a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw take 10d10 bludgeoning damage, or half as much if they succeed.
• What’s the catch? It will only shrink down if it has nothing inside, and it can only regain 50 Hit Points one Wish spell at a time.

Here are some ideas of how to get the most out of this magic item:

• Chill out safely inside an impenetrable port-a-clubhouse during you short and long rests.
• Use it (with moderation) as a weapon during combat.
• Forget about the welfare of your rangers and spellcasters by giving them the ultimate vantage point.
• Use it as a siege weapon by sticking it into a crack on the wall and order it to grow. Boom! No more wall.

6) Staff of the Magi

A new kind of boomstick.

For this list, we focus on utility for the party and campaign-breaking more than damage, but we just couldn’t leave out the incredibly destructive Staff of the Magi. We’re talking about a nuke on a stick. Snap the staff on your knee and the blowback will inflict a tremendous amount of damage to anyone standing within 30 feet of you, depending on how charged the staff was. Someone standing 10 feet from you or closer could take 400 force damage on a fully charged snappening.

Downside: you could take 4 times more damage if you miss that 50% chance to jump to another plane of existence to escape the explosion. Aside from that, the staff gives you access to a great deal of spells for free.

This staff comes with the following benefits:

• Spell attack rolls, attack rolls, damage rolls...they all get a +2 bonus.
• 50 charges you can use for some of your favorite spells, namely: Conjure Elementals, Dispel Magic, Fireball, Flaming Sphere, Ice Storm, Invisibility, Knock, Lightning Bolt, Passwall, Plane Shift, Telekinesis, Wall of Fire, and Web.  
• 4d6 + 2 charges regained every day at sunrise. If you are a gambler at heart, expend all charges and go for natural 20 for a chance to get 1d12 + 1 charges.
• Unlimited uses of Arcane Lock, Detect Magic, Enlarge/Reduce, Light, Mage Hand or Protection from Evil and Good.

How to use this:

• Obliterate the enemy on the battlefield with the Charges from your staff and leave your Spell Slots for backup. Or, use them for spells that are more defensive.
• Reinforce the front door of your Instant Fortress with Arcane Lock, steal an important scroll with Mage Hand, or imbue a fellow adventurer with resolve and other benefits by casting Protection from Evil and Good. Do all of this without expending a single Charge or Spell Slot.
• As the last, last, LAST resort, bend the knee...then snap the staff on it and hope to survive the blast.  

5) Helm of Teleportation

A whole new way to fast travel.

Tired of weeks’ worth of traveling, taking care of mounts, and random encounters? Don the Helm of Teleportation and just teleport to your destination with your companions and their mounts. As long as your destination is on the same plane of existence and you’re familiar with it, and with enough Teleport charges, you can skip to the locations of interest and avoid anything dangerous in between.

If you’re an adventurer, happy trails. If you are the DM, get ready, because players will want to ride that helm until the “wheels fall off.” They might break the campaign by rushing an adventure or starting a new one altogether in a random location. Either way, here’s what you need to consider about the helm:

• Using the helm gives you 1d3 recharges of the Teleport spell every day at sunrise.
• As usual, 1-8 creatures or an object no bigger than 10ft gets to travel with you to a known location.
• Based on your familiarity with the destination, the DM will check the spell chart and roll a d100 to determine whether you went straight to the place, or missed it and by how much distance. In short, the better you know the place, the more accurate your arrival will be.

How to use it:

• If you need to deliver something or someone to complete a quest, this would save you the hassle of having to travel all the way back.
• Before entering a dungeon you could go to any of the main cities for a short or long rest. There you could get supplies, weapons or armor, and then teleport back to the main entrance of the dungeon.
• You could go crazy and grab a charmed enemy, teleport to the sky, then teleport mid-air back to the battlefield as the creature plummets to the ground and dies of bludgeoning damage.

4) Amulet of the Planes

No boarding pass required.

Same principle as the Helm of Teleportation, only now you get to travel to other planes of existence and you’re not restricted to a number of charges. So you may very well travel to another plane of existence, then teleport back to your plane of origin, but in a different location.

Why is this item so cool? Unlimited teleporting, skipping encounters, and even banishing the big, mean boss to another plane of existence. At your DM’s discretion, maybe even start a new campaign somewhere else.

• This is how the amulet works:
• Clearly state your destination to another plane of existence. Succeed on a DC 15 Intelligence check to use the Plane Shift spell.
  • Fail, and there’s a 60% chance of dragging everyone and everything within 15 feet of you to a different location on the plane that you named.
  • Alternatively, all of you may wind up in a random plane of existence.

With this unlimited amount of jumps in and out planes of existence, you have access to endless possibilities, like:

• Escaping from anything and anyone.
• Going anywhere whenever you want.
• Banishing foes by hitting them so hard with a melee spell attack that you send them to a completely different plane of existence.

3) Efreeti Bottle

My friend Efreeti.

However, this item is still one of the best magic items you can get because you either have a hilariously overpowered entity at your service for an hour or, in the best-case scenario, three uses of the Wish spell. Three game-changing possibilities. You could defeat the last boss without even fighting or heal the whole party up to their Max HP. It’s all in the wording.

The Wish spell is the main feature of the genie, but let’s focus on the actual Efreeti for a moment:

• Open the bottle and an Efreeti will materialize within 30 feet of you by the end of your turn. At this point, it’s up to your DM and his d100.
  • 01-10 - The Efreeti will fight you for 5 rounds before disappearing. It will MESS you up big-time with two devastating Multiattack options: Scimitar and Hurl Flame.
  • 11 - 90 - The Efreeti will obey your commands for an hour, then go back into the bottle, which will not open for another 24 hours. You get three shots at this. The fourth time you open the bottle, the Efreeti will escape.  
  • 91-100 - The Efreeti grants you three wishes. You do not have to use them all  at once. You can make a wish and, after an hour the Efreeti will go back into the bottle. However, after the last wish, the Efreeti will disappear forever.

Uses:

• Have the Efreeti cast Plane Shift to give you a ride to the plane of existence of your choice, or get you out of a troublesome situation.
• Unleash the Efreeti’s fury upon the enemy. Have him shave off a few targets or soften up the big boss.
• If you do get the three wishes, you could ask for an object no bigger than 300 ft. and worth no more than 25,000gp.
• Ask the Efreeti to restore all hit points or end all effects on twenty creatures that you can see.
• Ask the Efreeti for anything else in its description or the Wish spell description.

2) Luck Blade

A lucky charm with an edge.

Any magic item that lets you make wishes becomes an invaluable game-changer. There may be few such items, but the Luck Blade is the only one that’s still useful after making the last wish. Bonuses on rolls, the avoiding of critical failures without any actions required, and making wishes without upsetting a murderous genie is so perfect it’s almost unfair.

So why is this magic item not  #1 on our list? Because it’s a bit of gamble and it has restrictions.

This sword comes with a 1d4 – 1 wishes. This means you could get one, two, or three wishes when other items give you three of those up front. It’s not like you can expend them all at once either; you must wait until next sunrise to make another wish. The same applies to its Luck feature. The Lucky feat alone is way more flexible than that. The Luck Blade also requires attunement.

Still, an awesome item all around. It grants you:

• +1 bonus to attack rolls, damage rolls, and saving throws.
• Ability to reroll attack rolls, ability checks, or saving throws once a day.
• The sword comes with up to three wishes. You can expend one wish per day.

Uses:

• Big bad lich draining the life out of your party? Wish immunity for you and your companions for the next 8 hours.
• Inconvenient critical hit against one of your friends? Undo it by making the bad guy reroll with disadvantage.
• Grant resistance to up to ten creatures against a specific type of damage.
• Ask for anything else in the Wish spell description.

1) Ring of Three Wishes

Wishing for more wishes encouraged.

Self-explanatory, ain’t it? A nice piece of jewelry with the power to grant you three charges of the Wish spell. Sure, it’s not a +1 weapon loaded with bonuses (looking at you, Luck Blade), but what makes this item so special is that, unlike the Luck Blade, this ring requires no attunement and you may expend your wishes whenever you want. No time restrictions.

Keep in mind it takes a level 18 wizard to pull-off such a magic stunt and the toll on the character is no joke. Strength drops to 3 for at least two days, during which the character can’t do much and there’s the possibility of never being able to cast Wish again.

Therefore, the ability to cast Wish three times without recharging, taking damage, or being a wizard places the Ring of Three Wishes as the #1 Magic Item in our list. How it works:

• 3 charges to cast the Wish Spell.
• 1 action = 1 spell.
• Ring loses all magic after the last wish.

You can wish for something outrageous way beyond the description of the spell. But be careful with the wording or the DM will use it against you.

• Wish for an infinite supply of Rings of Three Wishes and you might wind up with a self-recharging ring (unlikely), or all of earth covered with empty ones. Or worse yet, functional rings in the hands of everyone, including villains.
• Wish for a million trading ships and you could become the richest merchant ever. Or, you could end up with a million ships with your name on it...deep underwater in a different plane of existence.
• Reviving someone, invincibility, immortality, wishing the fight to end and the villain to be defeated, etc. Those are all options, but the bigger the wish, the more precise it should be or it could blow up on your face.

That’s it for our list of the 15 Best D&D Magic Items. We hope you enjoy it and find it useful when hunting for that sweet gear.

You may also be interested in:

• The 10 Greatest Weapons in DnD (Legendary Weapons)
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• The 10 Best Dungeons & Dragons Books