Wand of magic missile
| / | |
|---|---|
| Name | magic missile |
| Appearance | random |
| Abundance | 5% |
| Base price | 150 zm |
| Weight | 7 |
| Type | ray |
| Maximum charges | 8 |
| Spell | magic missile |
| Monster use | May be used offensively by monsters. |
The wand of magic missile is a wand that appears in NetHack.
Contents
Generation
A Wizard may receive a wand of magic missile as part of their starting inventory.
There is a 5% chance that a randomly-generated wand within the dungeon and its branches will be a wand of magic missile. Monsters may generate with the wand as a random offensive item.
Shopkeepers have a 1⁄4 chance of being generated with a wand of magic missile.[1]
Description
Zapping the wand in a given direction will do a fixed 2d6 damage to monsters in its path, unlike the spell of magic missile; the ray can rebound off wall and hit targets repeatedly. Magic resistance negates this damage, as does reflection.
Engraving with a wand of magic missile will give a unique message, but does not auto-identify the wand.[2]
Strategy
Wands of magic missile are the least effective attack wand, dealing only 2d6 damage and lacking useful secondary effects - they are best used liberally in the early game as a form of disposable ranged attack as it will soon be almost worthless. The wand's damage can be increased to a somewhat respectable 4d6 by bouncing the ray off a wall behind your target.
It is possible to use a wand of magic missile to engrave in the dust while levitating. If you're already levitating and want to engrave Elbereth, you can use this to save a charge from a more useful wand of digging, fire or lightning, since engravings will not erode while you are levitating.
Arguably the best use of a wand of magic missile in the late game is to throw it at an intelligent monster. They may elect to pick it up and use it over any more deadly innate attacks or ranged weaponry that they possess, and most late-game players will have reflection, rendering it harmless while damaging the zapping monster and/or other surrounding monsters if they are not resistant.
History
The wand of magic missile has been present in the game since Hack 1.21, a variant of Jay Fenlason's Hack.
Origin
The canonical D&D spell of Magic Missile was a stereotypically puny level one wizard spell that quickly became a staple of the wizard class, as it was effectively a homing attack with each bullet doing its own damage roll; this can easily rack up significant damage, short of the target having magic resistance. The magic missiles of NetHack lack this homing property.
In Rogue, a wand of magic missile did 1d4+1 damage unless a given monster saves vs. magic ("The missile vanishes in a puff of smoke");[3]; this is a rough translation of the spell into the world of Rogue. In Hack, it would always have the appearance of an aluminum wand and dealt 2d6 damage;[4][5] the latter trait was carried over into NetHack.
Messages
- The floor is riddled by bullet holes!
- You engraved on the floor with a wand of magic missile.
Variants
In several variants, engraving with a wand of magic missile will auto-identify it.
