Weapon Ward.

[Gygh]

Just so you know, weapon ward rocks.

Your shocking bite wounds the large hobgoblin.
The large hobgoblin's slash misses you.
The large hobgoblin tries to disarm your shield, but fails.
Your prismatic ward emits a brilliant flash.
Your prismatic ward MUTILATES the large hobgoblin!
The large hobgoblin has quite a few wounds.

Not only does it protect you from being disarmed, but it hits them back... Something for Illithid Illusionsists to think about. You might think, "Oh, I don't use a weapon, so I don't need it", right? Nope. Notice how the helpfiles for skills like barrage, hobble, overhead crush, sideswipe, and windmill cleave say "* Can be nullifed by weapon ward."? Something to keep in mind. I'm not sure how long it lasts on other races/classes but it lasts five hours for my level 31 Illithid Illusionist. Anyway, nice spell.

[Burzuk]

A number of random notes about weapon ward uage:

* Cost is low (20 mana), but it costs you 20 more mana every time it fires. So it's a good spell to keep up as often as possible as insurance whether you think you need it or not -- it'll cost you very little when it's not being used, unlike sanc and prot shield's high up-front cost. About the only time you'll notice a significant mana drain from weapon ward is when you're tanking a lot of gimp mobs at once and you "bug zap" them all to death with it. Very fun to watch.

* Damage gets up as high as dismembers and massacres at 50, so be respectful of its damage when fighting against it.

* It is currently NOT foolproof against disarm: you can still be disarmed through weapon ward by design. If someone is willing to brave the damage from failure, sooner or later they'll disarm your weapon. This means that big mobs who can shrug off weapon ward damage will disarm your weapon eventually, or maybe a warrior who has hp to burn or is feeling particularly lucky.

* As mentioned in the helpfiles, weapon ward duration is governed by a caster's prime stat (not mentioned is that duration also increases by level). This means that max-level elven and illithid mages can enjoy weapon wards with durations as long as sanc at only a fraction of sanc's casting cost.

* You've probably noticed the ward type and damage varies by class. Healers in particular have holy wards that really pack a punch against undead opponents, which comes in very handy against many higher level mobs.

* Read the weapon ward helpfile carefully to see other defensive combat bonuses that weapon ward provides. Spellcasters should always have weapon ward up against fighter classes.

* Maintaining weapon ward during combat is now every bit as vital as maintaining sanc and prot shield for spellcasters. More spells to maintain and fail though means more potential openings for opponents to capitalize upon. Keep that overhead crush ready to smack a spellcaster whose ward falls mid-fight.