Shield Guardian buffs?

[0-hr]

I'm playing a wizard with a shield guardian and am looking for ways to increase the combat effectiveness of my construct.

Can constructs, with their zero INT, use weapons? That would allow me to throw Greater Magic Weapon on something for him to bash with. Would it make a difference if I were commanding him every round?

If I used a Polymorph Other to turn him into a Stone Golem (same size), that would bump his strength to 29 and his AC up a couple of points. Would his slam attacks go from d8 to 2d10? I don't undestand how the one construct does 3 iterative slams for d8 and the other does two equal slams for 2d10 each. I know the BAB doesn't change, but I'm not sure about the damage (other than the strength effect of course) since both are "slam" attacks by constructs with only one HD difference.

Are there any dangers from changing the guardian into a Homunculus for easy transportation? I figured that would make him a tiny construct that could fly. And I could store a Dispel Magic in the guardian to change him back on command. Any rules problems with that? The spell storing is an (Sp) ability and MoW says you get to keep those.

If anyone has any other interesting ideas for ways to beef up one of these things, I'd be interested in hearing about them. He does fine right now, but I don't want him to fall behind the curve as the rest of us level up in the weeks ahead.

 

[Jondor_Battlehammer]

I would say that you could use MW and GMW on a construct. Most constructs state that they cannot use weapons, and those that do are usually built with them, (i.e. Blade Golems). That is what their slam attacks are, their weapons.

 

[Xarlen]

Except the picture of the Iron Golem has a weapon.

 

[Hashmalum]

See if your DM will allow you to "upgrade" the shield guardian into a runic guardian (from the Monster Manual II), in the same way you can add capabilities to an existing magic item. You could try and do this gradually, incrementally adding the capabilities of the runic guardian into the shield guardan as you go along, but this would go way into house rules territory.

 

[Dr. NRG]

If GMW doesn't work on him, Greater Magic Fang should. Either his slam is a weapon or a natural attack, I would think.

NRG

 

[da chicken]

I'm playing a wizard with a shield guardian and am looking for ways to increase the combat effectiveness of my construct.

A shield guardian is still a creature, so it still can be subject to all the buff spells you have access to. This includes mage armor, bull's strength, endure elements, cat's grace, stoneskin, haste, and so forth. If you have a druid around, you can use greater magic fang to make his slam attacks magical.

Additionally shield guardians can be advanced up to 45 HD. The base creature costs 1,000 gp for the body, 500 gp for the amulet, and 98,500 gp for everythng else. So, is we assume 98,500 gp for 15 HD, that comes out to 6566 gp per extra HD. That seems too high to me; I'd make it 5,000 gp for 2 extra HD. Extra hit dice add more hp, better saves, and a higher BAB.

Use-activated magic items, such as rings of protection, should also be able to work just fine, too.

Can constructs, with their zero INT, use weapons? That would allow me to throw Greater Magic Weapon on something for him to bash with. Would it make a difference if I were commanding him every round?

Generally, constructs given weapons either drop them or simply don't use them as weapons. They can't exactly recognize that a given object is a weapon, let alone how to employ it as one.

Xarlen notes the iron golem in the MM has a weapon, but in practice it would still clobber opponents with both fists rather than swing the sword (probably looking very strange). The blade is just for looks.

If I used a Polymorph Other to turn him into a Stone Golem (same size), that would bump his strength to 29 and his AC up a couple of points. Would his slam attacks go from d8 to 2d10? I don't undestand how the one construct does 3 iterative slams for d8 and the other does two equal slams for 2d10 each. I know the BAB doesn't change, but I'm not sure about the damage (other than the strength effect of course) since both are "slam" attacks by constructs with only one HD difference.

Technically a legal move, but I would suspect your DM might have something bad happen to your guardian if he lets you do this (to prevent abuse). Also remember that your guardian would lose his (Su) and (Sp) abilities while polymorphed.