When most people think of magic item destruction they tend to think one of two things.
The first is Sunder. This is something any character can do, though it’s only “worth it” if you have the Improved Sunder feat - which requires a Strength of 13 and the Power Attack feat. This pretty much puts this option in the hands of the stronger melee types.
The second is Disjunction. This option is something that many DMs have an issue using in games. In the hands of NPCs, you can totally screw your PCs. In the hands of the PCs, they can be a nightmare to deal with and make your plans shrink to nothing. Luckily, it’s a 9th level spell and offers a save to resist the effects.
I’ve got something else in mind that you may find interesting.
Round 1 - Dispel Magic
Let’s face it, disjunction is something that most wizards will never get to cast. Over the course of one’s adventuring career, the majority of people never make it to that upper echelon of power. Given this, we need to fall back on Dispel Magic (or Greater Dispel Magic if you’re powerful enough and have access to it).
The important bit of Dispel Magic is this line that I’m copying right out of the spell description:
A suppressed item becomes nonmagical for the duration of the effect.
You may think “Wow, that’s going to be so much easier to sunder now!” - and you’d be right. But we’re not talking about sundering. We know a big guy with a big sword can break things if they swing hard enough. What if you don’t have access to a sunderer?
Round 2 - Shatter
Remember choosing your 2nd level spells and thinking that there’s so many shitty level two spells to choose from aside from blur and mirror image? (Ok, that’s a bit harsh, but 2nd level spells leave a lot to be desired compared to 3rd level spells) One of those spells you may have looked over can do some very useful multi-tasking if you pick your target right.
I bolded what we tend to think Shatter is good for but italicized the part that we’re interested in:
Shatter creates a loud, ringing noise that breaks brittle, nonmagical objects; sunders a single solid, nonmagical object; or damages a crystalline creature.
And here are further details from the part I italicized above a bit later in the spell description:
You can target shatter against a single solid object, regardless of composition, weighing up to 10 pounds per caster level.
[LIGHTBULB]
I’m sure you see it now. From Dispel Magic’s excerpt above, the item “becomes nonmagical” for that 1d4 round period. Then, Shatter can come in and sunders it from afar.
At the cost of a 2nd and 4th level spell, you’ve sundered a magical item at a distance without having any special feats. Most magical items will have a higher degree of hardness and it’s not uncommon for a sundering fighter to require a couple of rounds to destroy the target of their sunder attempts.
What To Look Out For
This is far from a “too good to be true” scenario. Both Dispel Magic and Shatter could fail.
Dispel Magic requires the caster to make a “Dispel Check” (1d20 + caster level, max +10) against the item’s caster level. Greater Dispel has a max of +20 on the dispel check (making it a better option at higher levels).
Shatter grants a Will save when you target objects.
If you have multiple spellcasters in a party, this is a great tactic to double team an opponent with. Have the caster of Shatter delay his action until just after the first caster and hit the target at once in one round. This will make the dispel more critical since shatter will require it to work in order for it to effect a magical item.
The likely user of this combination would be a “very good” spellcaster that wouldn’t compromise him or herself by selling or otherwise profiteering off of wholly evil items or items that have been used to kill or otherwise harm innocents. In addition to that, it may not even be feasible for a good party to rid itself of evil items in a way that would generate wealth for them. This all will naturally depend on the campaign you find yourself in.
Just remember that sundering has the one major detriment for any party: less loot. Use it sparingly, but know that it can work when you need it - and all from a safe distance and starting at caster level 7.