Healing Belt underpriced?

[FalcWP]

The price on the belt is fine; the potion is grossly overpriced. We primarily play at lower levels, but I don't know if anyone has ever purchased a potion of Cure Serious Wounds in a game I've been in, assuming any other option (healing or otherwise) was available. You find one in a treasure horde or on a corpse, that's fine. But for your 750 gold, you can grab a fully charged wand of cure light wounds. If you need potions, grab 15 potions of Cure Light Wounds.

Over the long run, the Healing Belt is going to provide more healing than these options. You'd go through the entire supply of 15 potions in about two days. The wand, that's going to give you about a week. So, yeah, if you're constantly adventuring, the belt gives you a lot more healing. On the other hand, if you need to use all the potions or 20 or 30 charges of the wand in one day, go ahead. As long as it costs you and item slot, I think that's fair for the belt. So I'd support the 'Must wear it for 24 hours' bit - no keeping one or more in your pack solely for healing.

Basically, even before the Healing Belt, the potion of Cure Serious Wounds was horrible.

 

[Mistwell]

It seems likely that at some point in development the healing belt cost 1000. Then they decided to change the price to 750gp, but forgot to change the crafting price to 375gp.

I still agree that it was an intentional decision.

Or at some point in the development the healing belt cost 750. Then they decided to change the price to 1000gp, but forgot to change the price.

 

[Jhaelen]

I'm not sure if that's abusive in light of comparably costed Wands of Cure Light or Lesser Vigor.

Well, my players' reaction when they first noticed the belt:

"Wow, how many of those are available in this city? I'll buy them all!"

IOW: They immediately realized it was a vastly superior option to the Wands of Cure Light Wounds they used to hoard and also immediately had the idea to get several of them for each character.

 

[eamon]

Well, my players' reaction when they first noticed the belt:

"Wow, how many of those are available in this city? I'll buy them all!"

IOW: They immediately realized it was a vastly superior option to the Wands of Cure Light Wounds they used to hoard and also immediately had the idea to get several of them for each character.

Well, then they're optimizing for the very very very long haul.

A wand of lesser vigor supplied 550 hp, and if necessary, all on one day.

For a belt to provide the same healing, it needs to be used to its maximum 6d8 capability each day for 21 days. And you better not need more healing than the exact same amount each day, otherwise it will take for more than 21 days for both to become equal. You better also hope that you don't need a belt slot, since the healing belt is slotted.

A D&D PC has a pretty extreme "interest rate". Your wealth rises so extremely quickly that if your DM actually provides wealth based on challenge, then you're almost certainly better off taking the option more effective now rather than spending extra gp now to save in the long run. If, like many DM's, yours also corrects a little for character wealth, then consumables become even more attractive. D&D is not a game which rewards saving very much.

You're almost certainly better off with wands as your healing "backbone". A belt is useful as a basis, and useful as an emergency fall-back in combat, but it's definitely not categorically cheaper than a wand.

If you're playing a really high-level campaign, which stretches out over at least 40 days in which you need to use your healing belts each day, a mass of healing belts might be reasonably smart bet. But in a high-level campaign, that minor detail won't make much difference. Healing is cheap at high levels anyhow, and a tiny difference in price won't matter. A cleric casting mass cure light is a very effective curing machine - and a high levels, conceivably, a ring of mystic healing might actually be more effective. It's 3.5k, but it's a less valuable ring slot, and only one player needs to use the slot. It grants a bonus on caster levels, and it stacks very nicely with mass cure light wounds. The best part? You can even use it offensively against undead. Mass cure light wounds is a very nice spell I've noticed when used by the parties cleric which such a ring in such a situation.

My conclusion: the belt's reasonably priced. At low levels, the high up-front investment means that wands of lesser vigor are competitve, and at high levels, this ring is competitive. That means it's just a good deal, not brilliant. And that's what the MIC is all about, providing interesting options which can actually compete with boring things like simple stat-boosts for your gold!

It's fine as-is.

 

[Storme]

Yes, this topic has been talked to death.

Very one forgets the bottom line:

The Healing Belt pricing isn't broken...the pricing we've all been using in the DMG is broken...per WoTC.

The magic item pricing system is wildly overpriced and MIC is their preview to 4.0 fixing it. 20,000g for a Helm of Underwater Action? That's alot worse than a Healing Belt for 750g.

The problem with MIC is that there is NO FORMULA. They just dropped all magic items on a table and compared them all and evaluated their level of use. Again because the existing formula is badly broken.

Since 4.0 is coming out, they aren't bothering to come up with a formula. We'll find out how it will work soon. And from what we've heard, it will be alot better than the stupid system that is now in place.


Storme

"A Mirror of Mental Prowess is a great item to have. However, with the existing system, you have to be level 18 to own one, and not have anything else. So why bother putting it in the DMG if no one will ever have one? The system is flawed."