When I keep the Cloak of the Wolf, it's just for a laugh--it's amusing to turn my entire party into wolves, and then watch them cast spells and buy things from shops.
A Mage or something would get a definite bonus with the wolf's melee attacks, but you can't fire from a distance while in that form. Once a wolf, you remain a wolf for 8 hours--yeah, it took me a long time to figure that out, too. I suppose Relair bonded too strongly with his creation, and that's why the spell never wore off.
Algernon's Cloak, however, is truly a wondrous blessing. I use it ALL the time, but not on monsters--if they turn friendly to me and are instantly killed by the other monsters,
*I* don't get the experience. I do sometimes use it on the Flaming Fist, though....I hate those Flaming Fist pansies! Sometimes I just pretend they don't exist and walk right through them while they're taking swings at me....."Ha ha ha, my party has an average AC of -4, so why don't you just go write some parking tickets or something?"
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Boots of Stealth: 1125 gp
Shadow Armor: 7875 gp
Slipping an Oil of Firey Burning down the back of Sarevok's armor: Priceless