[BG:EE] The most useful wand

Urd1en

I know, they are so different... but choose the only one, that is the most useful in scope of BG:EE.

Mortianna

I couldn't count how many times the Wand of Paralyzation has saved my PC/party. A -4 penalty to the target's save is pretty powerful for BG.

Awong124

Wand of Paralyzation makes some difficult battles very easy, but Wand of Fire is useful in more situations.

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Kamigoroshi

Sleeping monsters are soo adorable. As long as they fail their saving throw and won't wake up, that is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYsTXkoQwEM

Malicron

Kill it with fire!!!

Mortianna

@Awong124

The Wand of Fire would be a close second for me. It's like having two wands in one, since you get separate charges for Fireball and Agannazar's Scorcher. Although I wish the charges would display for both, like in BG2.

I get to the point where I don't even bother with fighting the skeletons in High Hedge. I just throw a quick fireball in their direction and continue on my way. I've got treasure to sell, after all.

SionIV

Nothing like having the most powerful spell in BG1 with just about unlimited wand charges for low cost.

elminster

My first choice is the wand of sleep. You can get the wand of sleep basically right off the bat (once you can afford to buy it Thalantyr has it). Any class can use it (provided they have 9 Int) which makes it more versatile at least in that sense than some of the other wands that can only be used by mages and bards (fireball and paralysis). I'm using the sleep wand occasionally in my solo druid playthrough for BG1 and its very useful. If nothing else it stops most of the weaker guys from shooting at you/attacking you, so you can focus on others. Usable mostly for the first half of the game.

The Wand of Paralysis would be my second choice, but only because its extremely useful at killing specific enemies (Karoug, Shandalar, etc). Access to it is also more limited.

deltago

hmmm

Early game it's Wand of Magic Missile. The one Imoen stole... er brought with her, can be a life saver as a mage distributor against both Silke and Tamesh not to mention auto damage against belt fetish orge. After Nashkel though, it just takes up valuable inventory space.

Mid and late game wand of summoning. Good for crowd control and getting fragile party members away from damage and getting 5-6 meat shields automatically can't be over looked.

Wand of fire is good for versatility in damage output but can be a reputation disaster if you use it in the wrong area.

O_Bruce

Wand of Fire is most useful, since you can use it pretty often. Also, it's priceless for Enchanters (Xan). While I agree on opinions that Wand of Paralization is the most powerful out there, it's less common and therefore less used.

ZanathKariashi

The only reason I don't vote Wand of Sleep, is that unlike the spell, the wand doesn't have the -3 save penalty the spell does and is a save vs wands, rather then vs spells, which creatures build saves to faster.


Wand of fire is overall my favorite due to how many there are and the ease at which it can be attained early.

6d6 in the early aoe makes a lot of early fights a joke and remains useful through the rest of game, saving spells slots for things like haste or slow, or dispel, and unlike Paralyzation, even if they save they still take a boatload of damage.

Nic_Mercy

I chose Wand of Fire... while Wand of Sleep and Wand of Paralyzation were tough contenders... Wands of sleep aren't really accessible when they are the most useful mainly due to you being poor in the early game and in the later game and beyond into bg2 the sleep spell is basically useless. The wand of paralyzation are amazing from start to finish of the series though their binary nature does make them a bit more miss than hit the deeper into the game you go. Wands of Fire always do what they say they will do, and that's dishing out damage. So long as the enemies arent shielded against spells or immune to fire these wands will do what they do and that makes them useful from when you first start seeing them till you finish the series. They might be less useful the later you go but I think they barely edge out the paralyzation wands in the end.

ZanathKariashi

If not for the fact they're stupidly rare, I'd have voted the Wand of Monster summoning....the Hobgoblin elites and Ogre berserkers are ridiculously powerful. They can't take much damage, but they can cause massive amounts of damage if used carefully. And the other summons are nice for generating a quick screen of bodies to hold an enemy at bay.

Unfortunately, there's only a single wand of monster summoning in BG2 and unless you exploit the recharging glitch, it only has a single charge. And even in BG1, there's only 1, maybe 2, if memory serves....

elminster

Nic_Mercy said:

Wands of sleep aren't really accessible when they are the most useful mainly due to you being poor in the early game

Thalantyr has one and it costs maybe 1900 or so. Its really not that expensive. Its not something you can afford for your first wolf attack, but it is certainly affordable in the early game.

ZanathKariashi said:

Unfortunately, there's only a single wand of monster summoning in BG2 and unless you exploit the recharging glitch, it only has a single charge. And even in BG1, there's only 1, maybe 2, if memory serves....

In BGEE You should be able to buy them in the Sorcerous Sundries.

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CoM_Solaufein

Mmmmm fire.

SionIV

The only point of BG1 i have any trouble with is the early game. The moment i'm scavenging for the correct gear for my character i'm quite vurnerable. The wand of sleep removes 90% of all danger in early game.

Wolfs? Sleep
Worgs? Sleep
Bandits with their annoying bows? Sleep
Ogres? Sleep
Hobgoblings? Sleep
Gibberlings? Sleep
An army of 20 xvarts? Sleep
Gnolls? Sleep
Ankhegs with their almost 1000xp rewards? Sleep and shoot it down before it wakes up

Once i have got some levels under my belt and most of the equipment i need for my characters, i don't really need to use wands anymore. If i'm a mage i'll use my fire/paralyze/monster summoning wand, but that's about it, and i don't always play mage.

The reason i'm saying wand of sleep is because everyone can use it (I never have int under 10 on my characters) and it's such a powerful tool to get the first few levels where you migh die. I play no-reload and atleast for me this is a vital part of getting through without dying.

Aedan

Where is the wand of cloud kill?!

elminster

Aedan said:

Where is the wand of cloud kill?!

You can only get this in BG2.

Aedan

Oh, right. Then my vote is for the wand of fire

Quartz

I was very much tempted to pick Monster Summoning or Paralyzation, but quite frankly, when your single-class Mage is in a really awful pinch and about to die, the 8d6 Wand of Frost rarely disappoints.

Fubby

Wand of Monster Summoning is the best imo. Fire is good, but imo the meatshield potential + the raw damage of ranged summons beats it.

Tyranus

Quartz said:

I was very much tempted to pick Monster Summoning or Paralyzation, but quite frankly, when your single-class Mage is in a really awful pinch and about to die, the 8d6 Wand of Frost rarely disappoints.

It's also great for dealing with those annoying Battle Horrors at the bottom of Cloakwood Mines.

I voted Wand of Paralysation. It's easily the best wand, being able to lock down the toughest baddies in the game. Going invisible and popping off this wand before mages can trigger their contingencies is great fun.

That said, I use Wand of Fire far, far, FAR more than I use Paralysation. I almost always raid the Ankheg nest with Jaheria's Potion of Invisibility to grab the wand, +1 Chainmail, and the quest item before I start doing anything. Unlimited fireballs at level 1 makes much of this game too easy.

Urd1en

Quartz said:

the 8d6 Wand of Frost rarely disappoints.

unless you lose a target's valuables - if the last taken damage is of ice type all the items become frozen and disintegrated afterwards

Urd1en

Wand of Polymorph is pretty funny. A mighty fighter or a skilled spellcaster can be turned to squirrel easily. Although, it is too rear to be popular.

brtl33

Wand of paralyzation for me. The things that wand of fire and wand of sleep eliminate aren't usually that difficult to kill, but when I use WoP on something, it's because I need to use it on that thing. The other wand might be more versatile, but for me, the WoP is the most useful because it fills a need.

Anduin

When the poo hits the veritable fan carried by the ogre mage... the wand of monster summoning can save you.

As a meat shield.

Something to get petrified first.

To set off that trap you just can't be bothered with.

When you just can't be bothered to chase kobolds around the map.

I do like the other wands. All have a use.

Wand of fire - Crowd control, or hp reductor at later levels. I like the aganazzers scorcher setting and firing it on a resistant member and close lining those gibberlings with a line of fire...

Wand of frost - Crowd control opposite of Wand of fire on its second setting. I like to close line those fire elementals with a line of... frost...

Wand of Sleep - Crowd control early on. Put that Xvart village to sleep.

Wand of Magic Missiles - Mage spell disruptor. Spell fail, now simply engage that mage in melee.

Wand of fear - Last ditch wand to save your bum when getting overwhelmed. But I dislike chasing monsters around the map. (Cue wand of monster summoning)

Wand of Paralysation - Stop em before they kill you wand.

Wand of Polymorph - Stop em before they kill you wand. But you lose the loot.

Wand of lightening - When you positively, absolutely need to kill every single drow matron mother in the room, fire one of these babies off. Just make sure you close the door before it bounces back into you... If I had not killed myself enough times with this wand it would have been a contender for top spot...

Wand of Heavens - I don't do Clerics... But if I did... Then they would probably use this on the big nasty.

mylegbig

They're overpowered, really. They're so common in BG that it completely removes the need to memorize fireball.

Wand of paralyzation is a close second. Don't use it often, but it's capable of making some powerful and very annoying enemies into complete fodder.

Malicron

mylegbig said:

They're overpowered, really. They're so common in BG that it completely removes the need to memorize fireball.

You're clearly under-utilizing the "kill it with fire" strategy.

Quartz

Urd1en said:

Quartz said:

the 8d6 Wand of Frost rarely disappoints.

unless you lose a target's valuables - if the last taken damage is of ice type all the items become frozen and disintegrated afterwards

...Thus my wording, "rarely disappoints." The odd occasion when you freeze a monster that possesses nifty gear fits the "rare" description pretty nicely, I think.