Oh, and there's stuff like Mace of Odo. But who ever allows that?
Not a fan of Mace of Odo. I assume you're talking about the spell absorption effect, which is nice, but the spell occupies your hand while you're waiting to get shot, it only negates one spell, and it does nothing against area effects. The melee effect is a bit lacking for a single-target, melee range touch spell, even with the Paralysis rider. I think I'd prefer Blink or a Fog spell for spell defense, and Chain Missile for damage, while the fast-upcoming spells Wings of Flurry and Greater Blink just make it silly to use Mace of Odo at all.
Also, Mace of Odo is freaking
hard to get. Either you're a cleric and you take a very bad feat, you take levels of Master Specialist as an Evoker (...seriously?), or some other, similarly ridiculous things that you really shouldn't be doing. Even if Extra Spell was allowed to pluck it for anyone, there are better 3rd-level spells out there that you can pluck just as easily that are worthwhile for longer. Even Warmages can use Eclectic Learning to grab Ray of Retaliation at the same level as Mace of Odo, and Warmages can really benefit from some utility spells granted from some Dragonmark feats.