mage armor and fighter magic use ???

[pappo]

I have a level 12 pure dwarf fighter at this time. I keep a few mage armor potions with me all the time for self buffing.
At what level do mage armor potions become ineffective ?

Also, my other character is a wizard and he can use any scroll / wand.
Can a fighter get this ability? Would I have to put points into UMD when I level next or is UMD not available for pure fighters.

[hydra_ex]

On anyone wearing armor, or anyone with something better than +4 armor bracers, mage armor is absolutely uselss.
As you continue on advancing, wands become less and less useful, to the point that not even clerics or casters will use them. The only purpose of UMD right now is to use raise dead scrolls and heal scrolls, which do prove incredibly useful. It would be a waste of class levels to take a level in wizard to use wizard wands. Even a cleric level would be much more sensible, and then, it would nto be useful. Unfortunately, you must be a 9th level cleric to use raise dead scrolls with 100% accuracy, and level 11 to use heal scrolls. However, someone with UMD may use them, although the DCs are 36, and 41 respectively (iirc), and therefore the user must have a high Charisma stat, coupled with a high UMD, which is unacheivable for a pure fighter, and certainly to start at level 12. The only classes that have UMD as a full skill are rogues and bards, which are often "splashed" to gain the benefit of a full UMD skill. (Note that a 2 level rogue splash grants evasion, and that people take it a level 1 in order to maximize the benefit).

Also, as a follow-up, anyone with 1 level of cleric can use any wand* with his class spells on it (cure wounds, find traps etc.) and can use a scroll with an accuracy as follows: 100% -10% per caster level below the level the class usually gets the spells at (spell level*2-1) (or spell level*2 for a sorcerer). Thus, if the spell level is 5 (caster level 9), a level one cleric would be able to use it with a 20% accuracy, assuming he meets the minimum level (which is the caster level -2).

*wands come only in spell levels 1-4, and even then, not all wands in this range can be sold. Most can, however, in the wand vendor in the rusty nail in (market) the house jorasco arcane shop and the twelve shop. Attack wands are uselss, however, as the DC and damage is minute compared to that of a full blown caster, while healing wands are only good for "topping off" in between fights.
Likewise, anyone with one level of wizard can do the same, as with ranger, bard, and sorcerer, although the accuracy of scrolsl might change.

[Arianrhod]

To clarify WHY mage armor is useless if you're wearing armor -

It gives an Armor [type] bonus, which doesn't stack with anything else which gives an Armor bonus (such as armor, or armored bracers). Only the highest armor bonus counts, so unless you're wearing, say, masterwork studded leather, the armor bonus from any armor you're wearing will be higher than (and used instead of) the +4 bonus from a mage armor potion. In P&P, mage armor would be useful against incorporeal creatures which ignore normal AC, but DDO doesn't work that way - incorporeals simply have very high To Hit bonuses instead.

[pappo]

Only the highest armor bonus counts, so unless you're wearing, say, masterwork studded leather, the armor bonus from any armor you're wearing will be higher than (and used instead of) the +4 bonus from a mage armor potion.

I am currently wearing +5 Mithiral armor with a +5 Mithiral tower shield, so it looks like I will be giving my mage armor potions to one of my lower level characters.

What kinds of things should I be looking for as my fighter goes up from level 12 ?

[Uska]

I am currently wearing +5 Mithiral armor with a +5 Mithiral tower shield, so it looks like I will be giving my mage armor potions to one of my lower level characters.

What kinds of things should I be looking for as my fighter goes up from level 12 ?

shield clickies would be good,

[pappo]

shield clickies would be good,

I am a newb to some of these terms. What is are "clickies" ??

[Dktr]

On anyone wearing armor, or anyone with something better than +4 armor bracers, mage armor is absolutely uselss.
As you continue on advancing, wands become less and less useful, to the point that not even clerics or casters will use them. The only purpose of UMD right now is to use raise dead scrolls and heal scrolls, which do prove incredibly useful. .

My umd cleric loves to use Fireshield (cold version) in the shroud.... not to mention teleport, dimension door, and greater hero scrolls. I have umd maxxed out on all my toons and have never regretted it!! UMD is hands down the most useful skill in the game!!!! :)

[Timjc86]

I am a newb to some of these terms. What is are "clickies" ??

A "clickie" is an item that you can use to cast a certain spell. There is no kind of failure involved so a character that normally can't cast anything (such as a fighter) can use clickies ad nauseum (assuming there are enough charges left). Clickies are nice because you can use them to gain benefits that no potion can give you. You can also use clickies in place of equivalent potions to save some copper. You can very frequently find all sorts of clickies, and shield clickies are fairly common. Charges per rest range from 1 (common), 3 (fairly common), to 5 (not so common); (maybe others... once I discovered UMD I sold most of my clickies).