Summary
Magic items are a fantastic way to round out your inventory inDungeons & Dragons. But, there are also a ton of magic items in the 2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide that are either useless, a waste of inventory space, or just not worth the attunement. From magic weapons to more utilitarian items like wands and rods, there are some less-than-desirable magic items available.
But, you might be wondering which magic items aren’t worth your time. If that’s the case, look no further than this list. These are the worst magic items in Dungeons & Dragons that, as a player, you should avoid at all costs.
Attunement
Yes
The Amulet of the Planes is actually one of the more powerful magic items on this list, and can be extremely powerful under the right circumstances. However, there is one key downside to this item that, in my opinion, makes it ultimately more trouble than it’s worth.
To use the item successfully, you need to make a DC 15 Intelligence check. While this isn’t necessarily super high, it’s just high enough to make it so that you may not be able to use the item correctly each time. Plus, when you fail this check, you’re able to get magically teleported tothe wrong plane of existence, which is a time-consuming and potentially fatal error.
No
The Lock of Trickery is a perfectly fine low-level item, but outside of perhaps the first few levels of play, it’s really not going to prove all that useful. Plus, it’s never a guarantee of success when you use this item, which feels like a huge downside.
When you use this item to lock a door, Dexterity checks to pick the lock are made at disadvantage. Sure, this could buy you some time in a pinch, but ultimately, depending on what’s after you, the item might not prove all that worth it in the end.
This item can be used as an Arcane Focus, which can be helpful for either replacing a missing one or for flavor. However, the ultimate effect of this item is so minimal that it hardly feels worth it, particularly if your DM isn’t all that hung up on exploration or survival in your campaign.
When you have this item in your possession, you canuse a Magic actionto determine which way is magnetic north. Sure, this can prove helpful, but some spells can achieve similar effects, as well as class features that are more useful for exploration.
This perfume can grant the user an advantage for one hour on Charisma checks like Deception and Persuasion. This is useful, but there are a few key downsides to this item. Don’t spend any money on this one. If you find it, by all means use it, but there’s no need to go out of your way for it.
First, any creature you’re making the check on must be within five feet of you, which can be surprisingly limiting. Plus, the item typically only has one use. So, it’s very easy to accidentally waste this item.
Perhaps there are some Dungeons & Dragons campaigns where an item like this could come in handy. And it’s true that, under the right circumstances, this item could be helpful. What’s surprising to me personally is that this item is labeled as Legendary in terms of rarity.
With this item, you may pour one or more ounces of the solvent to dissolve up to one square foot of adhesive. This has a lot of practical uses, but given how little square footage you can dissolve, this item feels a bit too big for its britches. Plus, the rarity will likely mean it costs a lot should you want to buy some. Don’t be fooled.
Ultimately, this item is nothing more than a cosmetic perk that can be fun to dole out to low-level players. But, any player worth their salt isn’t going to shell out money for it, let alone put themselves in harm’s way to find it.
When you have this item on, you can take a Bonus Action to make the cloak billow dramatically for up to one minute. Sure, you can certainly combine this with a spell like Prestidigitation to create quite a dramatic flair. But ultimately, there aren’t any practical uses for this item, which makes it pretty much innocuous.
Baba Yaga, in the Dungeons & Dragons universe, is an archfey who has crafted many magical brooms. With this broom, you can use a magic action to transform it into an Animated Broom. There are some practical uses for this item, but its stat block isn’t really that powerful.
Plus, this broom does require attunement. Given that attunement is a limited resource in Dungeons & Dragons, this item doesn’t really feel worth it. If you are trying to decide between this item and another, don’t choose this one.
Instruments are super fun to have aspart of your inventoryin DND. But some of the magic instruments players have access to aren’t really as powerful or useful as they sound. The Instrument of Scribing is one such case.
With this item, you can use a magic action to write a message on a nonmagical object within thirty feet of yourself. While this can be useful, there’s no way to hide the message from anyone in particular, meaning that anyone could see what you’re writing. Honestly, I’m not really sure what the point of this item is meant to be.
This item has a very macabre energy to it, and is cool in a lot of ways, but also only works under specific circumstances. With this item, you can replace your real eye and embed it in your eye socket. You can then see through the orb as though it were your eye, and insert or remove the eye subsequently, meaning you can place the eye elsewhere.
This is a cool effect, but other spells and objects can do similar things without you having to remove your eye. However, if this fits in line with your character concept, the effect is pretty good. Just be careful not to lose it, otherwise you’ll be down an eye permanently, potentially affecting your Perception.
This helm, like the cape of billowing, is also purely cosmetic. And, while the idea behind it is cool, there’s just really no point in removing another part of your armor for something that ultimately just serves your character’s aesthetic.
When you have this item equipped, your eyes glow red, and the rest of your face is hidden as though it were obscured by shadow. Admittedly, for edgier characters, this is cool. But, don’t keep this item in favor of a more powerful piece of armor.
