Do you use Wands of Magic Missile?

[sorcererlover]

After discovering them I realized that all of my spell per day problem just disappeared. Just throw a magic missile every round and I do more damage than the mundanes because of its accuracy. Forget reserve feats and spells per day, just throw a BFC spell in every encounter and spam magic missile

So now that the wand is about to run out of charge, I'm wondering whether to get a new one, get a higher caster level one, or just forget about it.

I'm at level 4.

[Elkad]

Use them? Sort of. They are mostly reserved for stuff the tanks can't hit. Shadows, Ghosts, people shooting through murder holes, etc.

Buy one? Not that I can think of. Too many other wands I'd rather have.
Enlarge Person, etc.

[Thurbane]

Yeah, I'm the same boat: only time I ever see them used at my table is when they're found as loot.

[Venger]

Personally, I don't at really low levels. As bought items, I find them too expensive over the wizard's crossbow. If I find one as treasure, then sure, why not.

If you find that it's useful in the kinds of combats your gm throws at you, and you have enough spare money to buy one and don't have your eye on anything else, like a +int item or new spells for your book (assuming you're a wizard) then it's not a terrible investment.

In no instance should you buy one of a higher cl. Due to the way pricing works, if you raise the cl to 3 (the next milestone where you get another missile) it's 3x more expensive, and you could've had an extra 2 wands.

When you get a little more money, I advise checking out MIC's gloves of the starry sky: light at will, and 3/day convert a 1st into magic missile (at your own CL! not the gloves's) when you have more slots.

Magic missile will likely start to show its age around level 9, when most of the enemies you run into will have SR, and a cl 1 wand will not be able to reliably overcome it, so I wouldn't get into the habit of buying these indefinitely, but by then you should have better options in combat anyway.

[Kurald Galain]

After discovering them I realized that all of my spell per day problem just disappeared. Just throw a magic missile every round and I do more damage than the mundanes because of its accuracy. Forget reserve feats and spells per day, just throw a BFC spell in every encounter and spam magic missile

Yes, I do. In the hands of most casters, it deals substantially more damage than a crossbow. Keep using them until you get more spells per day than combat rounds per day (e.g. at level 5 you'd have 12 or 13 non-cantrip spells per day plus a few scrolls, this should be sufficient for most adventuring days).

Aside from that, note that wizards in Pathfinder don't have the "spell per day problem", because they get a free school power half a dozen times per day, and infinite cantrips.

[Vhaidara]

Just throw a magic missile every round and I do more damage than the mundanes because of its accuracy

How bad are your mundanes that you can out DPR them with 3.5 dpr? Or did you shell out for a caster level 3 wand, paying 3x as much to get up to 7dpr? or were you just lucky and got a CL9 wand (almost 7k) that does 17.5dpr?

[Elkad]

...I find them too expensive over the wizard's crossbow...

Speaking of wizards and crossbow proficiency. I still find that change weird from earlier editions.

Lose Dart proficiency and gain Light Crossbow proficiency? Mechanically it's probably better, but it just doesn't feel right. I control the power of the cosmos, and if that doesn't work, I'll use this machine?

Nice thing about darts in 1e/2e is that you could throw 3 of them a round at 1st level. Sure, 8 out of 9 missed, but you felt like you were helping.

[Kurald Galain]

I control the power of the cosmos, and if that doesn't work, I'll use this machine?

FWIW I've never actually seen a wizard resort to a crossbow in over 20 years of playing. I suspect that it's way more used as an argument against some edition, than that it actually happens in practice.

[AnimeTheCat]

If you can swing a staff with it, that would be better than a wand. If your group is fine with you slinging CL1 Magic Missiles and you're not upset by the cost, why not? Are the "More Powerful" options? Yeah. If you're having fun with your Magic Missiles, why change it? If it's effective for your party, then there's no reason not to get another.

[Inevitability]

FWIW I've never actually seen a wizard resort to a crossbow in over 20 years of playing. I suspect that it's way more used as an argument against some edition, than that it actually happens in practice.

Sure, but casting a spell every turn is physically impossible with the limits of a 1st-level wizard. I've played one, and there were times where I had to resort to throwing daggers to not completely waste my turn.

Then again, said wizard I played also had an animate skeleton running around and killing stuff all day long, so it's not like he was useless.

[Karl Aegis]

Magic Missile is the second worst spell in the game. I don't use wands of it.

[Pex]

Personal opinion: Only worth using if at least 5th caster level to get three missiles.

[Venger]

FWIW I've never actually seen a wizard resort to a crossbow in over 20 years of playing. I suspect that it's way more used as an argument against some edition, than that it actually happens in practice.
Have you ever started a game at level 1? I know a lot of people don't, but you just can't keep up in a combat-heavy game with the number of slots you're allocated alone

Magic Missile is the second worst spell in the game. I don't use wands of it.

Wut. No it's not, it's not even close. What do you think is the worst spell in the game if you put magic missile at 2?

[Nifft]

Magic Missile is the second worst spell in the game. I don't use wands of it.


Wut. No it's not, it's not even close. What do you think is the worst spell in the game if you put magic missile at 2?

Yeah I too want to hear about this strange spell valuation system.

[Venger]

Yeah I too want to hear about this strange spell valuation system.

Watch it be something like color spray

[Karl Aegis]

Have you ever started a game at level 1? I know a lot of people don't, but you just can't keep up in a combat-heavy game with the number of slots you're allocated alone


Wut. No it's not, it's not even close. What do you think is the worst spell in the game if you put magic missile at 2?

Rouse is definitely the worst. It tells you what it doesn't target and nothing else.

[Venger]

I can't argue with that, since rouse literally does not do anything at all.

[sorcererlover]

How bad are your mundanes that you can out DPR them with 3.5 dpr? Or did you shell out for a caster level 3 wand, paying 3x as much to get up to 7dpr? or were you just lucky and got a CL9 wand (almost 7k) that does 17.5dpr?

Range. 110ft range is nothing to laugh at. Also the mundanes miss. When they do hit it's like 11 damage. They often do other things too like drink a potion, pick up their weapons from the ground, or just stay stunned because they just got color sprayed.

People here are saying there are better wands. Which wands are better? Don't say color spray or sleep because they fail against undead. Or Enlarge Person because it's situational and sometimes I got to do damage instead of buff mundanes.

I was planning on buying the highest CL wand of magic missile I can afford right now, but seems like it's a unanimous NO from the posters of this thread.

[Kurald Galain]

Sure, but casting a spell every turn is physically impossible with the limits of a 1st-level wizard.

Have you ever started a game at level 1? I know a lot of people don't, but you just can't keep up in a combat-heavy game with the number of slots you're allocated alone
Yes, numerous times. I find you can get a lot of mileage out of the Daze and Disrupt Undead cantrips, which have infinite uses.

Even without those, a baseline PF wizard gets four L1 spells per day (base 1 + int bonus + specialization + arcane bond) and at least six shots of his school power (base 3 + int bonus) and can afford two scrolls from his average starting wealth. That's twelve shots total. If you're picking a non-combat school power for a combat heavy campaign, that's on you.

If at first or second level you're getting twelve rounds of combat per day, then the barbarian or bard are still going to run out of rage and performance well before the wizard runs out of spells, and the cleric will need a healing wand to keep up. 12 rounds at L1 is a lot even for a combat-heavy game, and even then the wizard is just not going to run out of resources before anyone else does.

In Pathfinder, that is. In 3E you can get about six spells per day (including scrolls), in 2E you're stuck with just two.

[Venger]

Range. 110ft range is nothing to laugh at. Also the mundanes miss. When they do hit it's like 11 damage. They often do other things too like drink a potion, pick up their weapons from the ground, or just stay stunned because they just got color sprayed.

People here are saying there are better wands. Which wands are better? Don't say color spray or sleep because they fail against undead. Or Enlarge Person because it's situational and sometimes I got to do damage instead of buff mundanes.

I was planning on buying the highest CL wand of magic missile I can afford right now, but seems like it's a unanimous NO from the posters of this thread.
Your mundanes must be pretty incompetent. Why are they dropping weapons often enough that it's messing up their action economy? Is your gm one of those geniuses who uses a fumble table?

enlarge is a good wand whether or not you claim it's "situational," but if you don't want to share the wealth by buffing your friends, then that's your prerogative.

bfc stuff that doesn't depend on caster level like entangle, impeding stones, wall of smoke, or ice slick is good (also, are you a wizard ? do you have access to umd? what lists are you pulling from, so we'll only suggest wands your guy can actually use)


Yes, numerous times. I find you can get a lot of mileage out of the Daze and Disrupt Undead cantrips, which have infinite uses.

Even without those, a baseline PF wizard gets four L1 spells per day (base 1 + int bonus + specialization + arcane bond) and at least six shots of his school power (base 3 + int bonus) and can afford two scrolls from his average starting wealth. That's twelve shots total. If you're picking a non-combat school power for a combat heavy campaign, that's on you.

If at first or second level you're getting twelve rounds of combat per day, then the barbarian or bard are still going to run out of rage and performance well before the wizard runs out of spells, and the cleric will need a healing wand to keep up. 12 rounds at L1 is a lot even for a combat-heavy game, and even then the wizard is just not going to run out of resources before anyone else does.

In Pathfinder, that is. In 3E you can get about six spells per day (including scrolls), in 2E you're stuck with just two.

Well, not in 3.5. Since the thread's not tagged and there's no mention of the game being pathfinder, I didn't make that assumption.

[sorcererlover]

Your mundanes must be pretty incompetent. Why are they dropping weapons often enough that it's messing up their action economy? Is your gm one of those geniuses who uses a fumble table?

enlarge is a good wand whether or not you claim it's "situational," but if you don't want to share the wealth by buffing your friends, then that's your prerogative.

bfc stuff that doesn't depend on caster level like entangle, impeding stones, wall of smoke, or ice slick is good (also, are you a wizard ? do you have access to umd? what lists are you pulling from, so we'll only suggest wands your guy can actually use)

Weapon dropping is a result from panic and stun. Although panic doesn't happen too often but fear is quite common because my DM thinks enemy spellcasters spamming fear effects is easier on us than them spamming AoE blasting spells, and he started using color spray after we hit 3hd so it's not an instant death.

I am a sorcerer with grease, mage armor, sleep, and glitterdust. I have 8dex and 8str so crossbows or using weapons isn't really an option.

[Elkad]

FWIW I've never actually seen a wizard resort to a crossbow in over 20 years of playing. I suspect that it's way more used as an argument against some edition, than that it actually happens in practice.

I haven't either.
I've thrown a lot of daggers. In earlier editions I threw a lot of darts. (of course in earlier editions I started with 1-2 spells/day, not 3-5/day plus 4 cantrips)
Elves with free longbow proficiency is mighty nice - I see that used at low levels.


Sure, but casting a spell every turn is physically impossible with the limits of a 1st-level wizard. I've played one, and there were times where I had to resort to throwing daggers to not completely waste my turn.

Then again, said wizard I played also had an animate skeleton running around and killing stuff all day long, so it's not like he was useless.

Yeah, extra actions tend to make the rest of the party not notice all you did was cast Grease and then spent the rest of the fight following the BSF around and "pre-looting". Summons, Animates, Familiars, etc.

[Segev]

It takes less skill to point and pull a trigger than it does to throw a knife or dart with accuracy. It makes perfect sense to put crossbows on the wizard proficiency list: it's a next-to-no-skill weapon (at least compared to most others).

Now, can we focus on wands of magic missile instead of crossbows?

Or at least compare them, so we stay on topic?

A light crossbow is 1d8. If we assume the wizard has a 1/3 hit rate, approximately (compared to, say, a 1/2 hit rate for a rogue or cleric and a 2/3 hit rate for a fighter), and that he's firing every round by standing still and taking his move action to reload, he does 4.5 damage on a hit, and thus does an average of 1.5 damage/round. To keep up with magic missile's 2.5, he'd have to have a 55% hit rate. Which seems unlikely for a wizard.

Heavy crossbows are worse: they fire once every other round, due to the full round reloading action. (That said, a wizard who has an unseen servant can hand it off and have the servant reload, then hand it back, if he wants to be moderately cheesy.)

[sorcererlover]

A light crossbow is 1d8. If we assume the wizard has a 1/3 hit rate, approximately (compared to, say, a 1/2 hit rate for a rogue or cleric and a 2/3 hit rate for a fighter), and that he's firing every round by standing still and taking his move action to reload, he does 4.5 damage on a hit, and thus does an average of 1.5 damage/round. To keep up with magic missile's 2.5, he'd have to have a 55% hit rate. Which seems unlikely for a wizard.

3.5 not 2.5. Average of 1d4+1 is 2.5+1 which is 3.5

[Gnaeus]

Heavy crossbows are worse: they fire once every other round, due to the full round reloading action. (That said, a wizard who has an unseen servant can hand it off and have the servant reload, then hand it back, if he wants to be moderately cheesy.)

I wouldn’t think that was cheesy at all. Sounds like a great combat use for a servant.

But anyway, the heavy crossbow comes out better if you don’t plan to reload it in combat at all. One shot per combat is 4-5 extra rounds per day, and the heavy crossbow is a nice option for coup de grace on sleeping foes.

[Segev]

3.5 not 2.5. Average of 1d4+1 is 2.5+1 which is 3.5Gah, forgot the +1. So a wizard needs a 78% hit rate with a light crossbow to match the damage output-per-round of a wand of magic missile.


I wouldn’t think that was cheesy at all. Sounds like a great combat use for a servant.

But anyway, the heavy crossbow comes out better if you don’t plan to reload it in combat at all. One shot per combat is 4-5 extra rounds per day, and the heavy crossbow is a nice option for coup de grace on sleeping foes.
"Cheesy" is inherently subjective, so I won't argue the point. I will explain that I said "moderately cheesy" because it isn't an on-the-surface use for it, and because it's exploiting the "free action hand-off" rules to squeeze two people spending more than 1 round's worth of actions on a single item (the heavy crossbow) in one round. (A standard and a full round action.)

But it's within the rules, and if you don't think it cheesy but instead clever, I won't argue with you about it. I'd certainly use it if allowed.

[Kurald Galain]

Gah, forgot the +1. So a wizard needs a 78% hit rate with a light crossbow to match the damage output-per-round of a wand of magic missile.

MM is better than that. Even at low level, you'll likely face creatures with some kind of DR (which the melee characters may have trouble with), or with concealment or cover, or outside the crossbow's first increment. MM just flat-out ignores all of that.

But yeah, a wand of CL3 MM isn't great simply because it's so expensive. If you find it as loot, that's decent. I find that from level 5 or so, you probably won't need the wand any more (but if you face ghosts it's a nice fallback).

[Vizzerdrix]

If you can afford the stat points for a decent dex, a gnome calculus is a great weapon even without profs. Crafting acid flasks comes out to about 3g 4s each and you only have to worry about touch ac.

Also complete Scoundrel has the spell siphon. Lets you drain wands and staffs to replenish yer own slots. Way want to keep it in mind if you plan on having a few wands around.

[Troacctid]

In no instance should you buy one of a higher cl. Due to the way pricing works, if you raise the cl to 3 (the next milestone where you get another missile) it's 3x more expensive, and you could've had an extra 2 wands.
I mean obviously it's more expensive, but it's also more action-efficient, since you're getting the equivalent of two 1st level castings every time you activate it.

[Doctor Awkward]

I can't argue with that, since rouse literally does not do anything at all.

Awakens all sleeping creatures in a 10 ft. radius burst seems pretty self-explanatory to me.

What more do you need the spell to say?

[Elkad]

It takes less skill to point and pull a trigger than it does to throw a knife or dart with accuracy. It makes perfect sense to put crossbows on the wizard proficiency list: it's a next-to-no-skill weapon (at least compared to most others).

Now, can we focus on wands of magic missile instead of crossbows?

Or at least compare them, so we stay on topic?

A light crossbow is 1d8. If we assume the wizard has a 1/3 hit rate, approximately (compared to, say, a 1/2 hit rate for a rogue or cleric and a 2/3 hit rate for a fighter), and that he's firing every round by standing still and taking his move action to reload, he does 4.5 damage on a hit, and thus does an average of 1.5 damage/round. To keep up with magic missile's 2.5, he'd have to have a 55% hit rate. Which seems unlikely for a wizard.

Heavy crossbows are worse: they fire once every other round, due to the full round reloading action. (That said, a wizard who has an unseen servant can hand it off and have the servant reload, then hand it back, if he wants to be moderately cheesy.)

At low level (when you need the crossbow) the variance in hit rate is lower than that.
2nd level fighter. 4str, 2bab, 1 masterwork for melee. Ranged with a bow he's maybe at 2bab+1dex.
2nd level wiz. 2 dex, 1bab. Same as the fighter.

[Venger]

Awakens all sleeping creatures in a 10 ft. radius burst seems pretty self-explanatory to me.

What more do you need the spell to say?

It would be cool if it did that, but it doesn't. Setting aside the fact that by actual RAW, the spell doesn't do anything, (the full text is just people who it doesn't affect without telling you who it does or what the effect is) you can only wake people up in circumstances where they would have been woken up by you snapping your fingers in the first place.

Actually, if you just snap your fingers, everyone who hears it wakes up, not just 10 feet in close range, so the spell is actively worse than nothing and wastes a 1st level slot.

[Segev]

At low level (when you need the crossbow) the variance in hit rate is lower than that.
2nd level fighter. 4str, 2bab, 1 masterwork for melee. Ranged with a bow he's maybe at 2bab+1dex.
2nd level wiz. 2 dex, 1bab. Same as the fighter.

No, for fair comparison, you compare to the fighter's melee expected damage, not his ranged, if he's going to spend most of his time in melee. We're comparing strength to strength, here, not strength to weakness.

+7 vs. +3 is a 20% shift, and is possibly actually underselling the fighter. But taking it at face value, you've also got to factor in the fighter's on-hit damage, which is probably averaging 7 (average for a greatsword) + 6 (1.5x4) at a minimum, for a total of 13. Even compared to a magic missile every round, the fighter needs to have less than a 35% chance to hit (i.e. misses on a 13 or lower on the d20) to do equivalent damage per round, on average.

[sorcererlover]

All this talk is confusing...

Yes/No to buying a CL3 wand of magic missile? or a CL1 wand of magic missile? at level 4?

[Segev]

All this talk is confusing...

Yes/No to buying a CL3 wand of magic missile? or a CL1 wand of magic missile? at level 4?

What else is on the table for the gp you'd spend on it? I can see benefit to a CL3 wand of magic missile. Though I can also see benefit to a 1800 gp custom item of at-will magic missile, CL1. Though you could buy 2.4 wands of CL 1 magic missile for that cost.

How many times per day are you using the wand, when you use it? Would a pearl of power (1st level spell) cover you? It's 1000 gp, and would let you refresh a single casting of magic missile from your prepped slots, casting at your actual CL.

[sorcererlover]

What else is on the table for the gp you'd spend on it?

Absolutely no idea. I'm not the most experienced player.


Though I can also see benefit to a 1800 gp custom item of at-will magic missile, CL1. Though you could buy 2.4 wands of CL 1 magic missile for that cost.

DM does not allow custom magic items and uses at-will gate as an example.


How many times per day are you using the wand, when you use it? Would a pearl of power (1st level spell) cover you? It's 1000 gp, and would let you refresh a single casting of magic missile from your prepped slots, casting at your actual CL.

I throw a BFC and then spam magic missile until everything is dead. So about 5-10 times an encounter.

[Doctor Awkward]

It would be cool if it did that, but it doesn't. Setting aside the fact that by actual RAW, the spell doesn't do anything, (the full text is just people who it doesn't affect without telling you who it does or what the effect is) you can only wake people up in circumstances where they would have been woken up by you snapping your fingers in the first place.

Actually, if you just snap your fingers, everyone who hears it wakes up, not just 10 feet in close range, so the spell is actively worse than nothing and wastes a 1st level slot.

So then the spell Sleep also does nothing? Since you just automatically wake up upon falling asleep?

[Nifft]

Absolutely no idea. I'm not the most experienced player. You're level 2 so there's plenty of time to learn.


DM does not allow custom magic items and uses at-will gate as an example. Take a look at the Magic Item Compendium. Not all of the stuff in there is great, but there are a lot of good & cheap items.


I throw a BFC and then spam magic missile until everything is dead. So about 5-10 times an encounter. BFC is smart play.

At level 3, consider taking a [Reserve] feat like Acidic Splatter or Fiery Burst from Complete Mage. That'll get you an all-day at-will effect which might be as good as your wand, or better.

[sorcererlover]

At level 3, consider taking a [Reserve] feat like Acidic Splatter or Fiery Burst from Complete Mage. That'll get you an all-day at-will effect which might be as good as your wand, or better.

Sorcerers can't take reserve feats at level 3.

[Nifft]

Sorcerers can't take reserve feats at level 3.

Ooh, yeah, I thought you were a Wizard. You have my condolences.

You can take a [Reserve] feat at level 6, and it might even be a good choice, assuming Leadership isn't an option.

[tyckspoon]

Absolutely no idea. I'm not the most experienced player.



DM does not allow custom magic items and uses at-will gate as an example.


Gate (and high-level spell effects in general, really) is a pretty bad example for this - it's incredibly expensive. More than 300,000 GP for an unlimited-use Command Word item (closest you will generally get to 'at will') plus another 250,000 for incorporating the XP cost of it. That's solidly into Epic items, and not something you would expect to be readily available even if you do permit custom items. The exploits for high-level items tend to revolve around one-off usages of effects you shouldn't have for another ten levels or more, and that doesn't even require custom items - you can, per RAW and the intended permissive attitude to buying magic items and services, acquire a casting of Gate or Polymorph Any Object or similar via scroll or other one-use item at a shockingly low level.

[PacMan2247]

So then the spell Sleep also does nothing? Since you just automatically wake up upon falling asleep?

I'm not following you on this one. Why would you automatically wake up if you've been subjected to sleep?

[Doctor Awkward]

I'm not following you on this one. Why would you automatically wake up if you've been subjected to sleep?

Apparently Rouse does nothing that snapping your fingers wouldn't automatically do.

So if a finger snap (or any noise) is enough to automatically wake you up from being asleep, then what's the point of the sleep spell?

[Zanos]

I use cl 1 magic missile wands if I find them at low level. 2-5 damage at low levels isn't bad, some small or incorporeal creatures have relatively little health, and it automatically hits with decent range. I will so I do make frequent use of my crossbow with my level 1 wizards/sorcerer, since I generally can't afford to cast a spell every combat round of the day.


Gate (and high-level spell effects in general, really) is a pretty bad example for this - it's incredibly expensive. More than 300,000 GP for an unlimited-use Command Word item (closest you will generally get to 'at will') plus another 250,000 for incorporating the XP cost of it. That's solidly into Epic items, and not something you would expect to be readily available even if you do permit custom items. The exploits for high-level items tend to revolve around one-off usages of effects you shouldn't have for another ten levels or more, and that doesn't even require custom items - you can, per RAW and the intended permissive attitude to buying magic items and services, acquire a casting of Gate or Polymorph Any Object or similar via scroll or other one-use item at a shockingly low level.
IIRC, the XP cost of items that replicate spells isn't factored in when considering if an item is considered epic or not, which makes a staff of wish a legal non-epic item despite costing millions. That said I think 300k base costs puts it into epic by itself.

[Elkad]

No, for fair comparison, you compare to the fighter's melee expected damage, not his ranged, if he's going to spend most of his time in melee. We're comparing strength to strength, here, not strength to weakness.

+7 vs. +3 is a 20% shift, and is possibly actually underselling the fighter. But taking it at face value, you've also got to factor in the fighter's on-hit damage, which is probably averaging 7 (average for a greatsword) + 6 (1.5x4) at a minimum, for a total of 13. Even compared to a magic missile every round, the fighter needs to have less than a 35% chance to hit (i.e. misses on a 13 or lower on the d20) to do equivalent damage per round, on average.

Except the Wizard's strength isn't the xbow either. His strength is casting Color Spray and then getting out his pompoms while the BSF cleans up the battlefield for 2d4+1d4+1 rounds.

If I make the L2 party fight.. oh say a trio of Grigs (First CR1 flying monster I saw, CR3 encounter) with Tiny Longbows and flight, Mr Greatsword and Mr "I only prepared Grease and Color Spray" are both going to be resorting to crossbows. (And if the BSF is a CrusaderWarblade, he should probably just run.)

*And then they might be dead. DR5/Cold Iron, SR17, Invisibility, Entangle, Fly:40 and AC:18 at CR1? The fact it only has 2hp barely matters. If the party didn't bring an actual archer, they are in for a 40 round fight...

[Venger]

All this talk is confusing...

Yes/No to buying a CL3 wand of magic missile? or a CL1 wand of magic missile? at level 4?
No.


So then the spell Sleep also does nothing? Since you just automatically wake up upon falling asleep?
No, you don't (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/sleep.htm)

Apparently Rouse does nothing that snapping your fingers wouldn't automatically do.

So if a finger snap (or any noise) is enough to automatically wake you up from being asleep, then what's the point of the sleep spell?

No it isn't. (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/sleep.htm)

[PacMan2247]

Apparently Rouse does nothing that snapping your fingers wouldn't automatically do.

So if a finger snap (or any noise) is enough to automatically wake you up from being asleep, then what's the point of the sleep spell?

As Venger noted, sleep doesn't work like that. It specifically states that normal noise doesn't wake an affected character.

[Doctor Awkward]

As Venger noted, sleep doesn't work like that. It specifically states that normal noise doesn't wake an affected character.

So then Rouse does do something.

It hard counters the Sleep spell.
Action economy advantage too, since it's 1 standard action vs 1 round cast time of sleep.

[Luccan]

To be fair, the spell got errata'd, so it does do things now by RAW, not just RAI.

[King of Nowhere]

I was planning on buying the highest CL wand of magic missile I can afford right now, but seems like it's a unanimous NO from the posters of this thread.

why not? with CL 1 you deal 3.5 damage per round, with CL 3 you deal 7 damage per round. Unless your enemies graciously stand still while you hit them, then dealing damage FAST is necessary. a wand with a CL of 9 deals 17.5 damage per round, which is not bad up to medium levels. If you deal 3.5 damage per round, most enemies will just laugh at you.

Magic missile is not the most powerful spell, but it is a very reliable one. It ignores pretty much anything except spell resistance. there are definitely worse things you could do with your actions than casting one.

that said, I surmise your group must be pretty low in optimization if the mundanes cannot outdo magic missile. even if they get disabled a lot - basicallly, it seems they tank, and you deal damage. if I were your DM, i'd try to have enemies focus the squishy sorceror eventually.
not that there's anything bad with being low-OP.

[Karl Aegis]

So then Rouse does do something.

It hard counters the Sleep spell.
Action economy advantage too, since it's 1 standard action vs 1 round cast time of sleep.

We're talking about Wands of Magic Missile which don't work versus anyone with a Nightshield or Shield spell or someone with a Brooch of Shielding. It can't target inanimate objects, anyone with total cover or total concealment and is subject to spell resistance. Even seeing someone at the maximum range of the spell is at least a DC 10 spot check for a medium creature in daylight. You can't rely on an average first level character to reliably make that check unless they invested in it.

[Luccan]

We're talking about Wands of Magic Missile which don't work versus anyone with a Nightshield or Shield spell or someone with a Brooch of Shielding. It can't target inanimate objects, anyone with total cover or total concealment and is subject to spell resistance. Even seeing someone at the maximum range of the spell is at least a DC 10 spot check for a medium creature in daylight. You can't rely on an average first level character to reliably make that check unless they invested in it.

If you're level 4 and every enemy has Shield cast on them or a Brooch of Shielding in their possession, your DM probably thinks Magic Missile is really powerful, not the 2nd worst spell in the game.

[Venger]

If you're level 4 and every enemy has Shield cast on them or a Brooch of Shielding in their possession, your DM probably thinks Magic Missile is really powerful, not the 2nd worst spell in the game.

Maybe his gm pulls that nonsense every time he tried to use magic missile. In those circumstances you'd probably think magic missile is the second worst spell too. After all it never does anything!

[Zanos]

A 750gp wand convincing my DM magic missile is OP is money well spent.

[sorcererlover]

that said, I surmise your group must be pretty low in optimization if the mundanes cannot outdo magic missile. even if they get disabled a lot - basicallly, it seems they tank, and you deal damage. if I were your DM, i'd try to have enemies focus the squishy sorceror eventually.
not that there's anything bad with being low-OP.


No.

So what gear would a high op sorcerer get? Because from what I'm experiencing, spells per day is the bottleneck, BFC is very spell slot efficient but leaves you twiddling your thumbs for most of the game, crossbows are terrible after level 2, at level 6 spells per day is no longer an issue, so investing in an item that gets you through levels 1-5 even if it costs 2,250gp sounds like a good idea.

What am I missing? I'm grabbing the top "must have" spells like web, glitterdust, grease, and sleep.

[MaxiDuRaritry]

I'd much prefer a CL 3 wand of Fell Drain sonic snap than CL 3 magic missile. Of course, if you want the range the latter affords you while giving out negative levels, you'd need CL 5 and a 3rd level spell slot, instead.

[Kelb_Panthera]

On a sorcerer? Nah.

Spend that 750 preparing for bigger and better things. Masterwork staff for having made into a full-on magic staff or rune staff later will eat most of that, for example. Maybe just hang onto it until you're closer to 1500 for a memento magicka. Healing belt leaps to mind as a better way to spend 750. I'm sure some digging and/or thought could help you come up with something better than a MM wand.

If you're worried about being able to do -something- every round, the good ol' x-bow is an option that's much cheaper. If the melees can't appreciate the BFC as carrying your weight, they're just not thinking hard enough.

I think you said you have all sources open? If so, nab shape soulmeld for the dissolving spittle soulmeld. 1d6 acid damage on a ranged touch attack within 30ft at will. You can retrain later if your DM allows it but it's a solid offensive option for low levels you could've grabbed at 1 if you knew about it.

[sorcererlover]

On a sorcerer? Nah.

Spend that 750 preparing for bigger and better things. Masterwork staff for having made into a full-on magic staff or rune staff later will eat most of that, for example. Maybe just hang onto it until you're closer to 1500 for a memento magicka. Healing belt leaps to mind as a better way to spend 750. I'm sure some digging and/or thought could help you come up with something better than a MM wand.

If you're worried about being able to do -something- every round, the good ol' x-bow is an option that's much cheaper. If the melees can't appreciate the BFC as carrying your weight, they're just not thinking hard enough.

I think you said you have all sources open? If so, nab shape soulmeld for the dissolving spittle soulmeld. 1d6 acid damage on a ranged touch attack within 30ft at will. You can retrain later if your DM allows it but it's a solid offensive option for low levels you could've grabbed at 1 if you knew about it.

Wait, you'd rather spend a feat for 1d6 damage than 750gp?

[Elkad]

Wait, you'd rather spend a feat for 1d6 damage than 750gp?

If retraining is on? Yes.
Trade it for a reserve feat later.
Then trade it for unlocking your metamagic madness when you can put the whole thing together.

[Nifft]

Wait, you'd rather spend a feat for 1d6 damage than 750gp?

It's Acid damage, a Touch attack, and you can use it more than 50 times. Also, you can put in Essentia for +1d6 per point -- so an Azurin (variant human race) would have 2d6 damage for a feat at level 1, and more damage at higher levels (with some other source of Essentia).

At low levels it's a [Reserve] feat except better. At high levels, yeah you want to retrain that puppy.

[Kelb_Panthera]

Wait, you'd rather spend a feat for 1d6 damage than 750gp?

I wouldn't do either. I'd happily sip my tea while the beat-sticks do the stick-beating after I adjusted the battlefield to their advantage and/or plunk away with a x-bow if they got annoying about me "not doing anything" in fights, at least until spells that give me something to do most rounds come online.

In any case, dissolving spittle doesn't have to stay at 1d6. Incarnum is a fun thing to play with if you're willing to learn it. Retraining is also a thing, as I mentioned, and our group uses it.

[sorcererlover]

I wouldn't do either. I'd happily sip my tea while the beat-sticks do the stick-beating after I adjusted the battlefield to their advantage and/or plunk away with a x-bow if they got annoying about me "not doing anything" in fights, at least until spells that give me something to do most rounds come online.

In any case, dissolving spittle doesn't have to stay at 1d6. Incarnum is a fun thing to play with if you're willing to learn it. Retraining is also a thing, as I mentioned, and our group uses it.

I might take it if it can match acidic splatter's damage. So how can a human sorcerer increase dissolving spittle's damage without investing more feats?

[Troacctid]

I might take it if it can match acidic splatter's damage. So how can a human sorcerer increase dissolving spittle's damage without investing more feats?
Use the Azurin subrace, which trades away your bonus skill points for a bonus point of essentia.

[MaxiDuRaritry]

Use the Azurin subrace, which trades away your bonus skill points for a bonus point of essentia.Alternatively, cast alter self and keep the skill points while also getting the essentia for 10 min/lvl.

[edit] Never mind. The racial entry is untyped, but the monster entry is (Su). Metamorphic Transfer, maybe, if you're psionic?

[Kelb_Panthera]

I might take it if it can match acidic splatter's damage. So how can a human sorcerer increase dissolving spittle's damage without investing more feats?

If dissolving spittle is all you're going to do incarnum wise and you can't retain, don't do it. Otherwise, adding essentia to the meld improves by 1d6 per point.

The essentia capacity of all essentia receptacles (including dissolving spittle) starts at 1 and increases by 1 point at levels 6, 12, and 18; regardless of class. This being the case, you'll want to find some source of essentia. Probably the first thing you'll want is the incarnum spellshaping feat. This gives you 1 point of essentia and the capacity to learn and cast incarnum descriptor spells, including soulboon which gives you 1 point of essentia per 3 CL for 1 minute.

Now you're thinking, "a feat -and- a spell known? Why would I bother?" Simple; soulbound equipment. There are lesser and greater versions each of weapon, armour, shield, cloak of resistance, and ring of protection that each allow you to match a +3 (lesser) or +5 (greater) version of each for notably less gold than their standard counterparts by investing essentia. If you're willing to learn the open chakra spells (or pick up a [rune]staff) you can get even further use out of all of the above by binding it to your chakras (except the armour) for various bonuses. In the case of dissolving spittle, that bonus is ongoing damage on the round following a hit.

You can also pick up other soulmelds for skill boosts or different effects that can also benefit from any of the above. If you're really digging incarnum you could even consider taking a dip into one of the incarnum classes and going soulcaster.

[ericgrau]

In no instance should you buy one of a higher cl. Due to the way pricing works, if you raise the cl to 3 (the next milestone where you get another missile) it's 3x more expensive, and you could've had an extra 2 wands.
Because 1 useful wand is better than 3 useless wands. Since most other things scale by power squared it's a good deal.


When you get a little more money, I advise checking out MIC's gloves of the starry sky: light at will, and 3/day convert a 1st into magic missile (at your own CL! not the gloves's) when you have more slots.
This is a really good item though and at 1,100 gp it does make more expensive magic missile wands pointless.

What is a bit useful are used wands of magic missile beyond your level if you can find one. Something tossed aside by an adventurer who leveled too high of course. You'll only ever use 10 or 20 charges anyway, and with the linear scaling you'll be reliably averaging 31.5 damage per round at a level where you really shouldn't. One shots foes up to CR 3, or better yet precisely finish off higher CR foes so your higher damage allies can attack something with more HP. It remains at least par until level 8, if not often better. But then that begs the question, who would ever craft a 50 charged wand in the first place to get burned down and sold? If you get craft wand and make it for yourself, then sell after 10 or 20 charges, it's a pretty good deal for the reliable death... but then you don't get boosted CL. So someone who did it for the backup spells. So... pretty rare.

[sorcererlover]

If dissolving spittle is all you're going to do incarnum wise and you can't retain, don't do it. Otherwise, adding essentia to the meld improves by 1d6 per point.

The essentia capacity of all essentia receptacles (including dissolving spittle) starts at 1 and increases by 1 point at levels 6, 12, and 18; regardless of class. This being the case, you'll want to find some source of essentia. Probably the first thing you'll want is the incarnum spellshaping feat. This gives you 1 point of essentia and the capacity to learn and cast incarnum descriptor spells, including soulboon which gives you 1 point of essentia per 3 CL for 1 minute.

Now you're thinking, "a feat -and- a spell known? Why would I bother?" Simple; soulbound equipment. There are lesser and greater versions each of weapon, armour, shield, cloak of resistance, and ring of protection that each allow you to match a +3 (lesser) or +5 (greater) version of each for notably less gold than their standard counterparts by investing essentia. If you're willing to learn the open chakra spells (or pick up a [rune]staff) you can get even further use out of all of the above by binding it to your chakras (except the armour) for various bonuses. In the case of dissolving spittle, that bonus is ongoing damage on the round following a hit.

You can also pick up other soulmelds for skill boosts or different effects that can also benefit from any of the above. If you're really digging incarnum you could even consider taking a dip into one of the incarnum classes and going soulcaster.

That sounds like way too much investment. Two feats is too much.

Ok so the only recommendations I'm hearing are...
Do nothing.
Fell Drain Sonic Snap
Gloves of the Starry Sky (doesn't eliminate my spells per day problem, and only 3/day)

[Kelb_Panthera]

That sounds like way too much investment. Two feats is too much.

Ok so the only recommendations I'm hearing are...
Do nothing.
Fell Drain Sonic Snap
Gloves of the Starry Sky (doesn't eliminate my spells per day problem, and only 3/day)

Like I said, it's really part of a long-term investment unless retraining is on the table. A feat and a spell known to save potentially 10s of thousands of gold pieces can be well worth it.

If you must, get a staff of magic missile. Same cost, use your own CL.

Forgot the minimum CL of 8 for staffs.

[MaxiDuRaritry]

Wand of alter self to turn yourself into a human for a bonus feat that you can use on Extra Slot? Of course, that's one charge per spell you fire off. Maybe purchase a partially charged wand of Sanctum Spell'd Rary's mnemonic enhancer to turn it into a 3rd level spell? Are there any spell lists wherein RME is lower level than 4th to make it cheaper?

[sorcererlover]

Wand of alter self to turn yourself into a human for a bonus feat that you can use on Extra Slot? Of course, that's one charge per spell you fire off. Maybe purchase a partially charged wand of Sanctum Spell'd Rary's mnemonic enhancer to turn it into a 3rd level spell? Are there any spell lists wherein RME is lower level than 4th to make it cheaper?

Are you sure Alter Self into a human results in a bonus feat? If so then I'll just use that feat for the acid thing.

But... this sounds wrong. I don't think a human using alter self would lose his bonus feat, so why would the opposite be true?

[Troacctid]

Only if you use the wand during character creation.

[Venger]

Are you sure Alter Self into a human results in a bonus feat? If so then I'll just use that feat for the acid thing.

But... this sounds wrong. I don't think a human using alter self would lose his bonus feat, so why would the opposite be true?

Dubious at best. There's no monster entry for human, so there's no strict raw about their bonus feat being a racial bonus feat (and thus something you get from alter self) versus them having a racial special ability called "a free feat"

In any event you keep all your own feats regardless of your race.

[Mordaedil]

Dubious at best. There's no monster entry for human, so there's no strict raw about their bonus feat being a racial bonus feat (and thus something you get from alter self) versus them having a racial special ability called "a free feat"

You could look at the entry for the strongheart halfling.

[Venger]

You could look at the entry for the strongheart halfling.

Sure. Where are they written up as monsters? I've only ever seen them written up as races, like humans in frcs and rof.

[tiercel]

Well, the Residual Magic feat (Complete Mage) means that at mid to midhigh levels you can get a lot more juice out of your CL 1 wand of magic missile as long as you don’t mind alternating with casting out of your own slots, and it’s not a shabby feat for someone who likes to spam a given spell generally.

It’s hardly full blown Tier 1 or 2, especially at mid or higher levels, but it’s not bad for cleanup rounds or picking off incorporeals for the cost of a feat that fits certain builds anyway.

[Tvtyrant]

That sounds like way too much investment. Two feats is too much.

Ok so the only recommendations I'm hearing are...
Do nothing.
Fell Drain Sonic Snap
Gloves of the Starry Sky (doesn't eliminate my spells per day problem, and only 3/day)

Wand of Power Word Pain. 1d6 no matter what, up to an average of 8d6 on a 50HP opponent. Really, it is that good (and the same cost).

[sorcererlover]

Wand of Power Word Pain. 1d6 no matter what, up to an average of 8d6 on a 50HP opponent. Really, it is that good (and the same cost).

I'm gonna pick up that spell at level 5 actually.

It seems like there really isn't anything significantly better than wand of magic missile CL3 for a level 4 sorcerer to spend 2k gold on. Metamagic wands are not allowed in my game so...

I already got BFC. Permanent magic items available to me aren't really that spectacular considering they all use my spells per day.

I'm really looking to blow all of my wealth to make levels 4 and 5 as easy as possible for me, so saving up for anything that helps me level 6+ doesn't really interest me. So it seems a CL3 wand of magic missile is the best item for me right now.

Unless someone shows me a really good magic item I should be spending my 2k gold on at this level.

[MaxiDuRaritry]

Buy a trained warbeast titanic mouse? Or a pigeon?


Hit Dice: Increase HD to 25.


Market Price: The market price of a warbeast is a function of its Hit Dice: 50 gp/HD for a warbeast of 3 HD or less, or 100 gp + 75 gp/HD for one of 4 HD or more.

[Tvtyrant]

I'm gonna pick up that spell at level 5 actually.

It seems like there really isn't anything significantly better than wand of magic missile CL3 for a level 4 sorcerer to spend 2k gold on. Metamagic wands are not allowed in my game so...

I already got BFC. Permanent magic items available to me aren't really that spectacular considering they all use my spells per day.

I'm really looking to blow all of my wealth to make levels 4 and 5 as easy as possible for me, so saving up for anything that helps me level 6+ doesn't really interest me. So it seems a CL3 wand of magic missile is the best item for me right now.

Unless someone shows me a really good magic item I should be spending my 2k gold on at this level.

...I just told you one that as its base does far more damage for less GP? PWP is the perfect wand spell because it doesn't key off caster level and it drops off in value as the game goes on.

There are also Amber Amulets of Vermin from MIC. 1/day you get a 1 minute summoned bug, which for 700GP can get you a Huge Scorpion. That is right, 700 GP for a CR7 monster daily for a minute. It is the only low magic item that competes with PWP or sonic snap shenanigans. Buy three and watch then go to work.

[sorcererlover]

Buy a trained warbeast titanic mouse? Or a pigeon?

That is hilarious. I'll definitely consider it for my next build. Will probably choose an untemplated creature though, like a T-Rex.

Unless you can use these guys without handle animal checks, in which case I think we have a winner!


...I just told you one that as its base does far more damage for less GP? PWP is the perfect wand spell because it doesn't key off caster level and it drops off in value as the game goes on.

There are also Amber Amulets of Vermin from MIC. 1/day you get a 1 minute summoned bug, which for 700GP can get you a Huge Scorpion. That is right, 700 GP for a CR7 monster daily for a minute. It is the only low magic item that competes with PWP or sonic snap shenanigans. Buy three and watch then go to work.

I'll consider them. I do know of amber amulets. It's unfortunate the huge scorpion got errata'd to large.

[MaxiDuRaritry]

A wand of mount. Full-round action, lasts 2 hours/lvl, acts as transportation, and can actually can fight for you for that whole time.

MUCH better potential damage per wand charge than a single magic missile.

[edit] Can you add Fell Drain to a mount spell? The mount can damage foes, after all. Having it deal a negative level as well would be rather nice.

[sorcererlover]

A wand of mount. Full-round action, lasts 2 hours/lvl, acts as transportation, and can actually can fight for you for that whole time.

MUCH better potential damage per wand charge than a single magic missile.

[edit] Can you add Fell Drain to a mount spell? The mount can damage foes, after all. Having it deal a negative level as well would be rather nice.

My DM doesn't allow metamagic on wands. Also, how is a creature with a -2 to hit even remotely viable in combat?

[RoboEmperor]

A wand of mount. Full-round action, lasts 2 hours/lvl, acts as transportation, and can actually can fight for you for that whole time.

MUCH better potential damage per wand charge than a single magic missile.

[edit] Can you add Fell Drain to a mount spell? The mount can damage foes, after all. Having it deal a negative level as well would be rather nice.

Wow... just... wow...

That is very freaking interesting! Can't believe I never thought about it before.

I see it now... level 1 sorcerer, summons light horses as tanks while power word pain does its thing.


Very interesting...

[Mordaedil]

From someone who tried this before, the DM had the horses panic and attack me. "But it will serve me willingly and well!" "As a mount! Not a meatshield!"

[johnbragg]

I wonder if the approach of this thread is the right one.

People are helping OP optimize the damage he's doing, when he's reportedly out-damaging the party beatsticks with CL1 Magic Missiles. At that point, you try to broaden, not deepen--the beatsticks may be subpar at doing damage, but they're REALLY not good for doing much else, mechanically.

I think the CL 1 wand of magic missile is a good buy. You'll use it, you know how you'll use it. As an alternative, or a supplement, I'd suggest a wand of daze. You're contributing after dropping your BFC spell--using your action to negate one target's action, while letting your friends do the actual damage.

After that, if your money is burning a hole in your pocket (which is legitimate roleplaying--better to be a live, over-equipped adventurer than a rich, dead one), I say buy scrolls. For 25 gp each, Obscuring Mist. Unseen Servant. Floating Disk. Disguise SElf. VEntriloquism. Animate Rope. Reduce Person. Hold Portal to cover an escape. Silent Image. Alarm. Expeditious Retreat. For 150 gp each, consider Spider Climb, Invisibility, Summon Swarm, Web, Locate Object, Command Undead.

You've got buddies with great big swords and physical stats. Spend your money to give yourself options that they can't do, instead of doing the things they can do as well or better than them.

[Nifft]

From someone who tried this before, the DM had the horses panic and attack me. "But it will serve me willingly and well!" "As a mount! Not a meatshield!"

In theory, theory and practice work the same way.

But in practice, they're different.

[King of Nowhere]

So what gear would a high op sorcerer get? Because from what I'm experiencing, spells per day is the bottleneck, BFC is very spell slot efficient but leaves you twiddling your thumbs for most of the game, crossbows are terrible after level 2, at level 6 spells per day is no longer an issue, so investing in an item that gets you through levels 1-5 even if it costs 2,250gp sounds like a good idea.

What am I missing? I'm grabbing the top "must have" spells like web, glitterdust, grease, and sleep.

That actually depends on the way your table plays. Don't let anyone tell you that there is one single better way of doing stuff, because it's not true, it depends on the table. For example, everyone tell you that dominate person is really strong, but in my game everyone that matters has some amulet of protection from evil or similar effect that nullifies domination - and everyone who gets close to anyone that matters is scanned for magical compulsions regularly. I have never seen a sorceror run out of spells because I don't run many encounters per day, so at my table a wand of magic missile would be pointless, but your table clearly run more encounters, so it's useful.

I'm NOT saying that magic missile is a poor choice. It is a solid choice. There are better choices, but they are situational. Magic missile is useful in almost all situations. I'm saying that your table optimizes poorly because your melees should be able to deal more than 7 damage per round, consistently. But don't take it as a "who deals more damage" challenge; supporting your melees with buffs and disables on the enemies is a very cost-effecive use of magic. And saving your spells because they are not needed and there will be more encounters for the day is also an effetive use of magic.

[Segev]

Is this PF or 3.5?

Either way, if you're finding yourself already out-damaging the fighters, I'd stick with your CL 1 wand of magic missile. If you've got a rogue in the party and are considering a CL 3 wand, you might consider invisibility in a wand. Casting that on a ranged rogue every round would let you give him sneak attack every round. But that is more expensive, since it's a 2nd level spell.

If you're playing PF, staves are rechargeable with any left-over spells you might have at the end of the day, and cast at your CL (or the staff's, whichever is higher). A custom staff of magic missile alone would be 3200 gp, but since your GM doesn't allow custom items, the staff of minor arcana (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/staves/staff-of-minor-arcana/) casts both magic missile and shield for 8000 gp. Since nothing in it is over 1st level, 1st level spell slots are all you need to recharge it. As it's a CL 8 staff, it gets you 3 missiles. And when you get to 9th and 11th level, you'll be hurling 4 and 5, respectively.

[ottdmk]

If dissolving spittle is all you're going to do incarnum wise and you can't retain, don't do it. Otherwise, adding essentia to the meld improves by 1d6 per point.

The essentia capacity of all essentia receptacles (including dissolving spittle) starts at 1 and increases by 1 point at levels 6, 12, and 18; regardless of class. This being the case, you'll want to find some source of essentia. Probably the first thing you'll want is the incarnum spellshaping feat. This gives you 1 point of essentia and the capacity to learn and cast incarnum descriptor spells, including soulboon which gives you 1 point of essentia per 3 CL for 1 minute.

Now you're thinking, "a feat -and- a spell known? Why would I bother?" Simple; soulbound equipment. There are lesser and greater versions each of weapon, armour, shield, cloak of resistance, and ring of protection that each allow you to match a +3 (lesser) or +5 (greater) version of each for notably less gold than their standard counterparts by investing essentia. If you're willing to learn the open chakra spells (or pick up a [rune]staff) you can get even further use out of all of the above by binding it to your chakras (except the armour) for various bonuses. In the case of dissolving spittle, that bonus is ongoing damage on the round following a hit.

You can also pick up other soulmelds for skill boosts or different effects that can also benefit from any of the above. If you're really digging incarnum you could even consider taking a dip into one of the incarnum classes and going soulcaster. I like Soulcasters. Keep in mind thought that you need a 2-level dip of Incarnate or Totemist to qualify.

[Venger]

I like Soulcasters. Keep in mind thought that you need a 2-level dip of Incarnate or Totemist to qualify.

technically possible (though not practical) by wasting 4 feats if you don't want to burn levels

[Deophaun]

Whether you're using a wand of magic missile, acid splash, or sonic snap, spend the 367 gp on a +1 arrow of collision to wield in your off hand. Because the +5 damage bonus isn't constrained to the weapon.

[P.F.]

I have used wands of magic missile on my low-level wizard-types.

They don't amount to much damage but in my experience are enough to be worth having, especially if you are enjoying a large number of low-CR encounters per day. When compared to at-will ray of frost and/or orb of acid, they require no attack roll (at low levels I sometimes miss with ranged touch attacks), aren't subject to energy resistance, and do slightly more damage. Spell resistance at very low levels is rare.

The first two apply equally to wands of other first-level ranged touch attack spells like snowball. For first-level attack spells more broadly, sure, sometimes you want color spray, sometimes you want burning hands, but magic missile remains one of the most reliable spells in the arsenal.

I have, in all my years of gaming, only seen the DM use shield against us once. Most enemies don't cast spells, and those that do usually don't cast shield.

Just my experience, of course.