Good spell to put into an Enternal Wand

[Zombimode]

My new character is a Daelkyr Half-Blood Hexblade. Now, Hexblades don't have it easy, but that only means you have to work a little bit harder to get a useful and fun to play character out of it.

Hexblades main asset is their ability to debuff. Even at Level 4 I can spend on turn worth of Actions to lower someones saves by 6 (fear + curse + dark companion).

The main use for this is to be the first step in a one-two-punch, followed by a save-or-loose effect.

Which would be pretty useful... if my fellow Party members would actually uses abilities that target saves at a regular basis.
But, alas, I'm stuck with a Rogue or rogue-ish sort, from who I don't expect any save-or-loose effects any time soon.
The other Party member is a Wilder, who is of Course severly limited on her power selection.

And while I will encourage the wilder Player to pick powers with powerful effects on a failed save, I have to take matters in my own hand to get the most out of my debuffs.

Always having some Tanglefoot Bags at Hand is an obvious first step. But at 50 gp a po they are not exactly free, and I desparately need my money for my gear.

For instance an Eternal Wand of a spell with a powerful effect on a failed save. I've already outfited my weapon with Wand Chamber for this purpose.

So, what would be good Options for this?


Remember, one of the cool Things of Eternal Wands is that the spell doesn't Need to be own the wielders spell list - as Long as the wielder can use wands at all he can use an Eternal Wand.

So far, I like Ghoul Touch, but the limited Targets put me off.


Some constrains:
I'm currently Level 4, and the campaign will likely end around Level 8. The spells only has to be useful in this range.
I want to stay away from a 3rd Level spell. The 10.000 gp Price tag is just to high.

[Uncle Pine]

One of my players made good use of an eternal wand of Nerveskitter in the last campaign. Fell drain Magic Missile is also handy.

[Lormador]

Grab something that will stack up a fear effect, like maybe Cause Fear. Dirt cheap, 1st level!

[flappeercraft]

Grease. You could get a lot of party synergy with this also if your rogue comes and helps since he would get free sneak attack while you setup the grease and lower the saves of others making them take the sneak attack damage from the rogue which most likely would kill them.

[Coidzor]

Hound of Doom, IIRC the name, is a good spell from the Hexblade List that basically gets you a Dire Wolf with your BAB and half your HP, so it's a good, medium-duration to long-duration minion.

It's even better for non-Hexblades to have an Eternal Wand of since it only appears on the Hexblade list from what I can recall.

[unseenmage]

Step 1: Eternal Wand of Water to Acid (St).
Step 2: Become acid merchant.
Step 3: ???
Step 4: Nevermind, we were profiting at step 2.

Seriously though, Water to Acid and 2 castings of Create Water makes mad profit. Even after selling at 1/4 price for selling in bulk (an old houserule) and paying for vials and boxes and labor.
Using that you could eventually buy several Eternal Wands and experiment.

Is what I did last I toyed with Eternal Wands.

You could also check out the Glyph Seals in MIC for more repeatable item spellcasting goodness.

[Gruftzwerg]

Primal Instinct (Ranger 2, Consecrated Harrier 2, Druid 3, Sorcerer 3)

personal range

24h duration

+5 competence bonus on initiative and Survival checks

If you take another "Primal ~" Spell (wand) you get uncanny dodge for free.

Primal Instinct is superior to Nerveskitter. I really don't get why everybody is so crazy about Nerveskitter?

[Uncle Pine]

Primal Instinct (Ranger 2, Consecrated Harrier 2, Druid 3, Sorcerer 3)

personal range

24h duration

+5 competence bonus on initiative and Survival checks

If you take another "Primal ~" Spell (wand) you get uncanny dodge for free.

Primal Instinct is superior to Nerveskitter. I really don't get why everybody is so crazy about Nerveskitter?
Because there are other sources that grant competence bonus to initiative (belt of battle gives a +2, Dread Commando gives more but I can't check it atm). It's still a good find and it's probably a good idea to get both.

[Mendicant]

Glitterdust is the first thing that springs to mind. Blindness is pretty ugly and your rogue will love you. It's a classic for a reason. Blindness/Deafness is another way to blind someone, and it feels a lot more Hexbladey. Color Spray is unfortunately starting to age out for you, but it'll be dirt cheap and being stunned isn't a good time either.

Hold Person is a 2nd level arcane spell if it's a bard making the wand.

[Deophaun]

One of my players made good use of an eternal wand of Nerveskitter in the last campaign.
Don't see how; eternal wands are all standard action activation.

Which makes clairvoyance/clairaudience a good candidate.

Ray of stupidity is not a bad one as it doesn't care about CL; you can knock out a whole lot of nasty encounters with animals and magical beasts.

Prestidigitation; shouldn't need any explanation.

[Jack_Simth]

Given that you clearly want Save-or-Suck/Lose effects...
1st: Grease, Charm Person, Color Spray, Reduce Person
2nd: Glitterdust, Web, Cloud of Bewilderment (Spell compendium), Blindness/Deafness, Command Undead
3rd: Stinking Cloud, Suggestion.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Hound of Doom, IIRC the name, is a good spell from the Hexblade List that basically gets you a Dire Wolf with your BAB and half your HP, so it's a good, medium-duration to long-duration minion.

It's even better for non-Hexblades to have an Eternal Wand of since it only appears on the Hexblade list from what I can recall.

This right here is the best answer IMO, especially for characters with a decent charisma. The spell is exclusive to the Hexblade list, but anyone who can cast arcane spells can use any eternal wand regardless of whether the spell is on their own class list.

Avoid spells with less than a standard action cast time (Nerveskitter, Wings of Cover, Feather Fall), since an eternal wand is always a standard action to activate. Normal wands are spell trigger activation, and spell trigger uses the spell's casting time, but an eternal wand is a command word activation and completely supersedes the spell's casting time. Spells with long casting times like Identify (probably not actually an option due to the material component) and various other divinations, summoning spells, etc. will only be a standard action to use from an eternal wand.

[flappeercraft]

Don't see how; eternal wands are all standard action activation.

Which makes clairvoyance/clairaudience a good candidate.

Ray of stupidity is not a bad one as it doesn't care about CL; you can knock out a whole lot of nasty encounters with animals and magical beasts.

Prestidigitation; shouldn't need any explanation.

Eternal wands have Standard action as default, but according to Rules Compendium an item that replicates spells takes as long to use as the actual spell so as Nerveskitter is an Immediate action casting time then an Eternal Wand of Nerveskitter has its casting time become an Immediate action.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Eternal wands have Standard action as default, but according to Rules Compendium an item that replicates spells takes as long to use as the actual spell so as Nerveskitter is an Immediate action casting time then an Eternal Wand of Nerveskitter has its casting time become an Immediate action.

No, the Rules Compendium only says items that are activated with a spell trigger (wands, staffs) or spell completion (scrolls) use the spell's casting time to activate the item. An eternal wand is a command word activation, which is always a standard action.

[Zombimode]

Lots of good suggestions :smallsmile:

While Hound of Doom is a good spell, it doesn't provide the ability I try to get with this wand.
It is also 3rd level and thus beyond my budget.

Grease looks great on paper, but you have to keep in mind that it would be cast at CL 1. And Grease has a 1 round/level duration...

Glitterdust is obviously a great and versataile choice. Can't believe I forgot about it.
Cloud of Bewilderment was not a spell that I was aware of, but it seem pretty nifty :smallsmile:

I will probably decide between those two.

[Jack_Simth]

Glitterdust is obviously a great and versataile choice. Can't believe I forgot about it.
Cloud of Bewilderment was not a spell that I was aware of, but it seem pretty nifty :smallsmile:

I will probably decide between those two.
Whichever you grab, I'd recommend eventually grabbing the other, and adding Web to the mix.

The reason:
Fort (Cloud of Bewilderment), Ref (Web), Will (Glitterdust). All three apply either a very large amount of suck, or an outright lose. But all three target different saves, and none of the set permit SR. With all three, you can always target the weakest save. Plus, of course, at just 2/day, you'll want to get more wands and swap them periodically anyway.

[Gruftzwerg]

Grease looks great on paper, but you have to keep in mind that it would be cast at CL 1. And Grease has a 1 round/level duration...


you can increase the casterLvL of wands by paying more for it (and the creator needs to have the caster lvl).

pay the price x5 and you get a Eternal Wand "Grease" (CLVL 5th) holding 5 rounds.

wands are only limited by spell grades, not caster level. It's just a question of money.

[Jack_Simth]

you can increase the casterLvL of wands by paying more for it (and the creator needs to have the caster lvl).

pay the price x5 and you get a Eternal Wand "Grease" (CLVL 5th) holding 5 rounds.

wands are only limited by spell grades, not caster level. It's just a question of money.
Sadly, Eternal Wands are presented as a table, with no formula attached, and no obvious formula.

Mind you, an Eternal Wand of Extended Grease would have much the same effect....

[Gruftzwerg]

Sadly, Eternal Wands are presented as a table, with no formula attached, and no obvious formula.

Mind you, an Eternal Wand of Extended Grease would have much the same effect....

oh.. I forgot about that lil detail of eternal wands..^^

edit: ok, you better put grease on a regular wand with clvl 5th and 50 charges. should still be enough for most campaigns.

[flappeercraft]

What could be done is a Heightened Extended Grease, occupies 3rd level slot therefore at CL 5 on eternal wand which means 5 rounds, due to extended metamagic it has 10 rounds. Problem solved.

[Jack_Simth]

What could be done is a Heightened Extended Grease, occupies 3rd level slot therefore at CL 5 on eternal wand which means 5 rounds, due to extended metamagic it has 10 rounds. Problem solved.

Or just Extended Grease. Caster level 3, effective spell level 2, it'll last six rounds... and if the opponent lasts longer than that, it probably got out of the area anyway.

[flappeercraft]

True but the extra 4 rounds can be useful

[Jack_Simth]

True but the extra 4 rounds can be useful

It can. But you've got diminishing returns. That one point of save DC and four extra rounds costs 6,480 gp in market value - it more than doubles the cost of the eternal wand. And while yes, occasionally it will be useful that it lasts a full minute... that's going to be uncommon.

Plus, of course, the OP said "I want to stay away from a 3rd Level spell. The 10.000 gp Price tag is just to high." - so an extended heightened Grease simply isn't an option here.

[Quertus]

Grease looks great on paper, but you have to keep in mind that it would be cast at CL 1. And Grease has a 1 round/level duration...

Nothing keeps you from buying a (more expensive) Eternal Wand of Grease at caster level higher than 1. EDIT: other than that whole table issue, if the DM isn't willing to extrapolate. Extended grease, then.

But, honestly, you're spending your first action to lower their saves... so that you can spend your second action targeting them with a terribly low DC effect? Unless you're getting some kind of synergy from your team mates, this sounds strictly inferior to just casting a higher DC spell on each of those rounds.

Craft: poison? Carry around a bag of snakes / angry bees / something to target saves? Allies also buying Eternal Wands?

[IlPazzo]

no obvious formula.

That's were you're wrong, kiddo.
It looks like (Spell Level)x(Caster Level)x(720)+100, with the usual 0th-level spells counting as 0.5

Being that we have 4 points and fitted that with only two parameters (as CLxSL is the usual variable) it is safe to assume that's the formula.

[Zombimode]

other than that whole table issue, if the DM isn't willing to extrapolate. Extended grease, then.

The GM is free to introduce custom magic items at his leisure. Reverse engineering formulas to derive costs is good practice in this situation.

As a player however, I do not assume anything as available that is not printed.

Extended Grease would be fine, of course. I will keep it in mind.


But, honestly, you're spending your first action to lower their saves... so that you can spend your second action targeting them with a terribly low DC effect? Unless you're getting some kind of synergy from your team mates, this sounds strictly inferior to just casting a higher DC spell on each of those rounds.

Craft: poison? Carry around a bag of snakes / angry bees / something to target saves? Allies also buying Eternal Wands?

I'm not compromising on damage. At this level range, Intimidating Strike is a real asset.
Where should this higher DC effect come from? Sure, I could spend another 6000 gp to get a +1 to the DC, but that would only mean that I simply wont get my eternal wand until very late in the campaign (and have nothing to show for in the mean time).
Spending the money on several less expensive products is more often then not better then spending it on one big thing, because prices in 3.5 do not follow a lineary scale.

Also, Hexblade. You have to work with the tools you're given :smalltongue:

[Jack_Simth]

That's were you're wrong, kiddo.
You may wish to skip the patronizing tone (the choice of "kiddo" is taken as an insult in a lot of circles, including some I run in - you don't know my age). Yeah, I'm at least partially wrong. Happens a lot.


It looks like (Spell Level)x(Caster Level)x(720)+100, with the usual 0th-level spells counting as 0.5

Which is not the usual formula for items in D&D for things without an xp or material component cost (which would be the 'obvious' formulas in this case). Congratulations: You found a matching formula that seems to work. Probably even the one in use. That said, obvious to one person is not the same as obvious to another. This one doesn't match the usual formula for items without component costs in D&D.

[Quertus]

I'm not compromising on damage. At this level range, Intimidating Strike is a real asset.
Where should this higher DC effect come from? Sure, I could spend another 6000 gp to get a +1 to the DC, but that would only mean that I simply wont get my eternal wand until very late in the campaign (and have nothing to show for in the mean time).
Spending the money on several less expensive products is more often then not better then spending it on one big thing, because prices in 3.5 do not follow a lineary scale.

Also, Hexblade. You have to work with the tools you're given :smalltongue:

The higher DC would come from using your casting stat, assuming it's higher than the minimum to cast the spell in the first place. And any feats / items you take.

Admittedly, buying additional Eternal Wands is cheaper than buying... whatever Hexblade's version of Pearls of Power might be.

But it just feels like it would be better to have a chance to do something round 1 & round 2, than to have to wait till round 2 to have a chance to do something, you know?

Not that I can say anything, mind - my signature wizard, for whom this account is named, does almost the exact same thing. :smalltongue:

[Deophaun]

Admittedly, buying additional Eternal Wands is cheaper than buying... whatever Hexblade's version of Pearls of Power might be.
Memento magica. MIC.

[CozJa]

Which is not the usual formula for items in D&D for things without an xp or material component cost (which would be the 'obvious' formulas in this case). Congratulations: You found a matching formula that seems to work. Probably even the one in use. That said, obvious to one person is not the same as obvious to another. This one doesn't match the usual formula for items without component costs in D&D.

because the problem with eternal wands is that their formula (and the one described, in fact, is the right one!) is somewhat lost in the fluff of Eberron: the +100 comes from the price of the dragonshard used to create the wands.

[Duke of Urrel]

That's were you're wrong […].
It looks like (Spell Level)x(Caster Level)x(720)+100, with the usual 0th-level spells counting as 0.5

Being that we have 4 points and fitted that with only two parameters (as CLxSL is the usual variable) it is safe to assume that's the formula.


because the problem with eternal wands is that their formula (and the one described, in fact, is the right one!) is somewhat lost in the fluff of Eberron: the +100 comes from the price of the dragonshard used to create the wands.

I have only two things to add to this.

One is an analysis of that number 720. It's 1800 gold pieces (for a command-activated item) divided by five and multiplied by two (the number of times per day you can activate the item).

The other is a bit of a mystery. According to page 282 of the DM's Guide, an item whose use is restricted by class or alignment should be 30% cheaper. Eternal Wands can be activated only by arcane spellcasters, which is an unusual restriction for a command-activated item. Therefore, Eternal Wands should cost 30% less than their given market price. My judgement is that these items are overpriced, unless of course that dragonshard costs significantly more than 100 gold pieces.

Thanks to CozJa for explaining that 100 gold-piece surcharge for me.

[Vizzerdrix]

Launch bolt. Then put that into a wand chamber on a crossbow!