A ring of invisibility essentially just lets you cast the spell invisibility at well. But that's a second level spell, and at 4th level, a wizard can already do that 3 times per a day.
So why is this a legendary magic item? I mean, it's cool, but is there something I'm missing? Because I feel like as is, it's severely overrated.
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Even if the ring didn't function in combat, it would still be extremely valuable for any stealth encounter.
But with a staff of the magi (another legendary magic item) you can cast invisibility up to 25 times (which is essentially as much as you want for 5e) or spells like lightning bolt and fireball at 7th level, 7 times.
Compared to other legendary magic items (at least in my opinion), the ring really doesn't match up at all.
Rarity is kind of fuzzy but it probably gets a bump by being a lord of the rings reference. It's an item I find really hard to place because in a setting like lord of the rings it's obviously a legendary item but the standard forgotten realms setting has allot more wizards than middle earth so it should probably be lower.
In terms of power invisible is a good condition and the ring is a good version of it being undetectable, unlimited in time and unlimited uses. Compared to player classes I can safely say the earliest you would want to give it out is probably level 5 or higher when the invisibility becomes more common place. At levels 5-10 this kind of effect is no longer the most powerful kind of effect your party can obtain but due to the items reliability and utility is still very powerful. At this point it's a 1 in the party item of significant importance or the focus of a line of quests at this level.
At the top tiers of play, players will have very reliable access to invisibility and stealth for the entire party wielding effects like pass without trace and upcasted invisibility so the ring will be allot less special and multiple people in the party could have one likely without issue. At level 17-20 it would be reasonable for everyone in the party to have one as to the enemies there, invisibility is a parlor trick. In terms of the advice on giving out magic items from xanathar's this would put it at as least a major rare item and probably at the most a major very rare item.
In comparison to other items it's also a side grade to the cloak of invisibility so they should be the same of similar rarity it's also better than the potion of invisibility so it needs to be rarer than that. All of those are also clearly better than the spell scroll but dust of disappearance feels more like a side grade to the potion of invisibility as it's group for a shorter time as opposed to a single for a longer time. For balance reasons you want to kind of keep this order of rarities scroll, dust and potion, ring and cloak.
I'd personally rate the rarity of the series of invisibility items like this
I know that there's also an Eldritch Invocation that lets you cast Invisibility at-will, and you can't take that invocation until you're level 15 in Warlock. So it's definitely intended as an "endgame" ability.
That said... I think the only reason it's considered "Legendary" instead of just "Very Rare" is as a reference to Lord of the Rings.
The Cloak of Invisibility (also legendary) effectively gives Greater Invisibility up to 2 hours/day - which can be more useful from a practical perspective. However, the Ring of Invisibility does allow a character to become very good at the stealth aspect of the game though it works best for classes that are already stealthy since the hide action and moving quietly (stealth checks) are essential to the remaining hidden when using the Ring - which is part of why it doesn't seem as powerful as might be expected from a Legendary item.
P.S. The iconic nature of the item is another reason why it might be considered Legendary.
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A ring of invisibility essentially just lets you cast the spell invisibility at well. But that's a second level spell, and at 4th level, a wizard can already do that 3 times per a day.
So why is this a legendary magic item? I mean, it's cool, but is there something I'm missing? Because I feel like as is, it's severely overrated.
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HERE.Because it's not held back by charges or duration or spell slots. You can pretty much always be invisible.
2nd level spell (and a good one ) for free without limit is pretty powerful. I think it's rated about right.
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The spell has VSM components, the ring has none - so far better than a 2nd level spell :-)
Mechanically, a rogue (or anyone for that matter) can grant themselves advantage using the ring.
In the middle of a fight, this would at a cost of an Action to activate the ring.
Even if the ring didn't function in combat, it would still be extremely valuable for any stealth encounter.
But with a staff of the magi (another legendary magic item) you can cast invisibility up to 25 times (which is essentially as much as you want for 5e) or spells like lightning bolt and fireball at 7th level, 7 times.
Compared to other legendary magic items (at least in my opinion), the ring really doesn't match up at all.
BoringBard's long and tedious posts somehow manage to enrapture audiences. How? Because he used Charm Person, the #1 bard spell!
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Ever wanted to talk about your parties' worst mistakes? Do so HERE. What's your favorite class, why? Share & explain
HERE.Rarity is kind of fuzzy but it probably gets a bump by being a lord of the rings reference. It's an item I find really hard to place because in a setting like lord of the rings it's obviously a legendary item but the standard forgotten realms setting has allot more wizards than middle earth so it should probably be lower.
In terms of power invisible is a good condition and the ring is a good version of it being undetectable, unlimited in time and unlimited uses. Compared to player classes I can safely say the earliest you would want to give it out is probably level 5 or higher when the invisibility becomes more common place. At levels 5-10 this kind of effect is no longer the most powerful kind of effect your party can obtain but due to the items reliability and utility is still very powerful. At this point it's a 1 in the party item of significant importance or the focus of a line of quests at this level.
At the top tiers of play, players will have very reliable access to invisibility and stealth for the entire party wielding effects like pass without trace and upcasted invisibility so the ring will be allot less special and multiple people in the party could have one likely without issue. At level 17-20 it would be reasonable for everyone in the party to have one as to the enemies there, invisibility is a parlor trick. In terms of the advice on giving out magic items from xanathar's this would put it at as least a major rare item and probably at the most a major very rare item.
In comparison to other items it's also a side grade to the cloak of invisibility so they should be the same of similar rarity it's also better than the potion of invisibility so it needs to be rarer than that. All of those are also clearly better than the spell scroll but dust of disappearance feels more like a side grade to the potion of invisibility as it's group for a shorter time as opposed to a single for a longer time. For balance reasons you want to kind of keep this order of rarities scroll, dust and potion, ring and cloak.
I'd personally rate the rarity of the series of invisibility items like this
Spell scroll : uncommon
Dust and potion uncommon - rare
Ring and cloak: Very rare
I know that there's also an Eldritch Invocation that lets you cast Invisibility at-will, and you can't take that invocation until you're level 15 in Warlock. So it's definitely intended as an "endgame" ability.
That said... I think the only reason it's considered "Legendary" instead of just "Very Rare" is as a reference to Lord of the Rings.
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The Cloak of Invisibility (also legendary) effectively gives Greater Invisibility up to 2 hours/day - which can be more useful from a practical perspective. However, the Ring of Invisibility does allow a character to become very good at the stealth aspect of the game though it works best for classes that are already stealthy since the hide action and moving quietly (stealth checks) are essential to the remaining hidden when using the Ring - which is part of why it doesn't seem as powerful as might be expected from a Legendary item.
P.S. The iconic nature of the item is another reason why it might be considered Legendary.