Chronos
2008-01-15, 10:18 PM
When building a rogue with UMD, it's common wisdom to pick up a few wands of weaponlike spells (such as Ray of Frost or Acid Splash), to make sneak attacks as touch attacks, when needed. One common choice in this regard is Flame Blade, since it lets you make multiple attacks per round (if BAB is high enough). But I was thinking about some other options, which seem like they might be better.
First, there's Chill Touch (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/chillTouch.htm). On the minus side, it only gives you one attack per caster level, as opposed to the minute/level from Flame Blade. But on the flip side, it's a first level spell, which makes a wand of it cheaper. For the same price as a wand of Flame Blade, you could get a CL 6 wand of Chill Touch, enough for two or three rounds of full attacks. Hopefully, six Sneak Attacks would be enough to finish an encounter, and a flame blade doesn't last long enough that a single casting is likely to be good for two encounters. Plus, it does damage of a type which fewer things are resistant or immune to: Undead of course are immune, but you probably can't sneak attack them anyway. And there's the chance of also doing some strength damage with each attack.
Second, there's Produce Flame (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/produceFlame.htm). Like Chill Touch, it's a first-level spell that gives you one attack per caster level. You can't hold the charge with it like you can with Chill Touch, and it does the oft-resisted fire type of damage, but on the other hand, you can make ranged attacks with it (good both for staying out of melee range, and for using Dex instead of Str on the attack roll).
Are there any other pros or cons I've overlooked? Overall, is Flame Blade worthwhile, or should a rogue just stock up on one or both of the other two?
First, there's Chill Touch (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/chillTouch.htm). On the minus side, it only gives you one attack per caster level, as opposed to the minute/level from Flame Blade. But on the flip side, it's a first level spell, which makes a wand of it cheaper. For the same price as a wand of Flame Blade, you could get a CL 6 wand of Chill Touch, enough for two or three rounds of full attacks. Hopefully, six Sneak Attacks would be enough to finish an encounter, and a flame blade doesn't last long enough that a single casting is likely to be good for two encounters. Plus, it does damage of a type which fewer things are resistant or immune to: Undead of course are immune, but you probably can't sneak attack them anyway. And there's the chance of also doing some strength damage with each attack.
Second, there's Produce Flame (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/produceFlame.htm). Like Chill Touch, it's a first-level spell that gives you one attack per caster level. You can't hold the charge with it like you can with Chill Touch, and it does the oft-resisted fire type of damage, but on the other hand, you can make ranged attacks with it (good both for staying out of melee range, and for using Dex instead of Str on the attack roll).
Are there any other pros or cons I've overlooked? Overall, is Flame Blade worthwhile, or should a rogue just stock up on one or both of the other two?