Wand Of Sleep

Pingwin

Is there a restriction on the level of creatures that can be affected by the Wand Of Sleep?

I never usually bother with it but I noticed that it's description, unlike the Sleep spell, doesn't mention only affecting level 3 and below critters, and it has a different save (wands for the wand vs death with a -3 penalty for the spell) so I figured that it might be useful later on in the game when the spell has become useless and bought the wand from high hedge.

As far as I can see though, the wand has no effect on powerful opponents, can't see any save rolls in the log so presumably it has the same restrictions as the spell.

jsaving

Same limitations as the sleep spell, unfortunately. It is only useful against foes you would easily defeat anyway.

Zaxares

Sleep is invaluable at early levels when you're facing large numbers of gibberlings and kobolds and the like, but yeah, as you start facing off against more powerful foes it rapidly becomes obsolete. Generally I'd say by the time you're level 5+, you can safely dump Sleep from your wands and spellbooks. Web and Stinking Cloud remain quite useful, however.

Pingwin

Ah well, I thought it would give Imoen something useful to do in the early levels of her mage dual class. I suspected that it might just be a poor description and it would be as useless as the spell. My party has just got back from the Cloakwood Mines and I've got so much gold I don't know what to do with it so i can probably cope with the fact that I've wasted 2K on a wand that isn't as advertised. Next stop High Hedge to demand a refund.

StummvonBordwehr

Pingwin wrote: »

Ah well, I thought it would give Imoen something useful to do in the early levels of her mage dual class. I suspected that it might just be a poor description and it would be as useless as the spell. My party has just got back from the Cloakwood Mines and I've got so much gold I don't know what to do with it so i can probably cope with the fact that I've wasted 2K on a wand that isn't as advertised. Next stop High Hedge to demand a refund.

Actually the ingame descriptions are correct.

I find the wand very useful. Anybody can wield it, and it does wonders against kobold and xvarts.

Even Ankhegs can be affected, which makes low level xp farming that more safe.

Pingwin

If the descriptions are correct then the wand of sleep should work regardless of enemy hit dice. From my experimentation with the wand so far it seems that it is ineffective against high hit dice opponents with no sign of there being any saving throws in the logs.

Aerakar

I think 5 hit dice is the max enemy level the spell and wand effect.

I find it very useful throughout BG1 until the endgame and through parts of SoD. It is useless in SoA.

Very_BigSword

Forget about it against named humanoid opponents. But it is still useful for most of the game. MVP against bandits, black talon elites, kobold commandos, ankhegs, wolf packs, ogre berserkers. Maybe regular doppelgangers too, can't remember trying it on them.

Any literate character can use the wand so fighters and thieves can pop off a charge before engaging while your casters do something else.

sarevok57

Very_BigSword wrote: »

Forget about it against named humanoid opponents. But it is still useful for most of the game. MVP against bandits, black talon elites, kobold commandos, ankhegs, wolf packs, ogre berserkers. Maybe regular doppelgangers too, can't remember trying it on them.

Any literate character can use the wand so fighters and thieves can pop off a charge before engaging while your casters do something else.

dopplegangers only have 4 hit dice, so it should work on them as well

Zaxares

The spell does state that monsters with 4HD or more are unaffected, so I think Sleep wouldn't work on Doppelgangers. Still worth a try though, as by the time I started to run into them I'd long since stopped memorizing Sleep spells in favour of MOAR MAGIC MISSILES! XD

Maurvir

Zaxares wrote: »

The spell does state that monsters with 4HD or more are unaffected, so I think Sleep wouldn't work on Doppelgangers. Still worth a try though, as by the time I started to run into them I'd long since stopped memorizing Sleep spells in favour of MOAR MAGIC MISSILES! XD

The description states 5HD or better, not 4, so I believe Sarevok57 should be right. However, that would probably be limited to ordinary doppelgangers, not greater ones, which means that even in BG1 the opportunities for using it are fairly slim.

That said, I can't seem to find an official figure on how many hit dice creatures have.

Permidion_Stark

I think doppelgangers have four hit dice (4D8) but according to the wiki they all have 28 hit points in BGEE so they must have got some pretty lucky rolls. https://baldursgate.fandom.com/wiki/Doppelganger

Grond0

There's not necessarily a direct relationship between hit dice and HPs. Ogre berserkers for instance have 50 HPs, but only count as 4 HD. Ankhegs are even worse, with 52 HPs but only 3 HD. Those apparent anomalies go right back to P&P when some creatures were described not just as having a certain number of HD, but additional HPs on top of those. That's why some apparently pretty tough creatures can still be affected by sleep (and dopplegangers are 4 HD, so they are vulnerable to sleep).

You can see the levels (HD) of creatures in EEKeeper or Near Infinity.

Humanoid_Taifun

According to the rules, doppelgangers should be immune to Sleep spells. Their appearance is also described as resembling an elf's. Maybe these things are correlated?

sarevok57

greater dopplegangers have 9 HD

Ignatius

As a solo no-reloader I have become severely addicted to the Wand of Sleep. Not only is it one of my very first purchases from High Hedge, but I usually sell it with one charge and buy it again (for usually more than 10k gp) for 100 charges, typically when I am lvl4/5.

Gibberlings, kobolds, xvarts, hobgoblins, bandits, half-ogres, ogres, ankhegs... all those encounters are made so easy when you have that wand in hand... it's a great comfort of mind if your sole character is a non-fighter type.

Aerakar

@Ignatius I usually buy early as well and always quick slot it on my thieves to help in group combat and with those pesky 10 bandit or kobold encounters. I much prefer it at lower levels than wasting an orb from the necklace of missiles.

Of course later in BG I rarely use it, but do usually keep it on a cleric or thief just in case.

Ignatius

@Aerakar : the One Gift Lost is indeed another BG1 essential which does cover a similar "crowd control item" spot... with 2 key differences:
- you can get hurt by fire damage if you're not careful
- RP wise, it does not feel the same walking around throwing fire bombs or sending everyone to sleep

My solo clerics like to carry both