Cheesy Wands, Staffs and Scrolls

[Lark]

Warning: This posting contains stinky cheese.

All items you can cast spells with can be divided into two categories:
1) These items let you aim the spell at the ground (eg: wand of fear, the fireball function of the wand of fire, wand of summoning, the harp of discord, scrolls of hold monster) They don't let you target items.
2) These items don't let you target the ground (eg: wand of paralyse, the agannazars scorcher function of the wand of fire, wand of lightning, the fireball function of the book of infinite spells, azlaers harp, scrolls of hold person) They do let you target items.

Items of category 1 are well and fine. Items of category 2 show interesting capabilities if you target items with them:

I) They ignore the line of sight requirement, ie you can shoot through walls.

Let me give an example: Enter a dungeon. Scout ahead with farsight. Make out the bad guys in the next room gathering around a chest. Fire your staff of lightning at the chest, the spell will pass through the wall. Once the lightning bolts have passed the wall and reached their destiny they will behave like ordinary lightning bolts and proceed to bounce of the walls, frying everything that happens to be in their path.
Most of the items of the second category will fire spells that will affect only a single target, which is of not much use. Who cares to paralyze chests or to polymorph some leftover loot. Some spells will however, although aimed at a single target, affect an area, like the lightning from the above example.

However, there are exeptions: Cone effects are stopped by obstacles. Though you can for example fire your Wand of Frost or Scroll of Prismatic Spray at an item in the next room, the effect will not pass the wall.
Moreover some spell items behave unexpectedly. The spell Hold Monster can be aimed only at a single target, the scroll of the same spell on the other hand can be fired at the ground. The deathspell works the other way round, it can be targeted at the ground, the scroll of the same spell cannot, and thus be cast at an item in the next room (and killing everything that is subjected to its effect).

II) Items that are supposed to have a random effect change to a fixed and much more powerful form.

There are two spell items that cast spells at random: The wand of the apprenti and the wand of wonder. The Wand of the Apprenti is supposed to fire either a fireball or a cone of cold or a lightning bolt. If you target an item, you will get a fireball AND a cone of cold AND a lightning bolt instead.

The Wand of Wonder is even more impressive: Instead of a random (and often useless) result, you get the combination of a fireball PLUS a lightning bolt PLUS a stinking cloud PLUS a web, cast in rapid succession. You could hurl a volley of spells at your opponents by pointing the wand at the loot of the first casulties in a battle. Since the Wand of Wonder moreover has an impressive reach you can easily combine point I) and point II) for truly amazing results.


But beware, especially shooting through walls is stinking cheese, so use it at your own risk. I hope this posting was informative. Comments and opinions are welcome.


Lark

[edit: typos]

[UserUnfriendly]

OH
MY
GOD!!!

Ok, i had no idea...the ability to bypass walls makes the wand of lightning...godlike!!!:speech: :speech: :speech:

You might try with the staff of magi, with its fireball/lightning effect per charge... (best of all, just stick the staff in a bag of holding for instant recharge...)

the cheese i had known about the wand of wonder is rather more simple...twenty percent of the time, it will petrify anything...i mean including dragons anything...thus allowing you to save, petrify firky, and use stone to flesh, repeat for free experience...

but I had no idea that this happens with wands...

highly impressive bit of research...

(to be honest, i don't really work on my guide anymore...real life, you know..)

[Miscreant]

Wow, if there is anything that would pull UU out of the wordwork it is a quality post like this. Extremely refreshing post in the midst of redundant questions, spammy polls, and ad hominem attacks. Bravo!

[Sytze]

I have to agree: Excellent bit of research. This is something I would've never discovered myself. Mostly because I hate wands, but also because I probably wouldn't have thought about such a nifty idea.

The opportunities this offers are great, even though this is pure cheese. Thanks for sharing, though.

[Lark]

Items that can be (ab)used, to shoot spells through walls:

Scrolls:

Agannazars Scorcher
Glitterdust
Knock (you could open chests in another room , for what it's worth)
Remove Fear
---
Hold Person
Hold Undead
Lightning Bolt
Remove Fear
Remove Magic
Slow
---
Confusion
Greater Malison
Hold Monster WILL NOT WORK (surprisingly)
---
Chain Lightning
Death Spell
---
Charm Undead
---
Word of Power:Blind

I haven't included spells, that have no Area of Effect, exept Knock.
I haven't included Spells that produce cones, since the effect won't pass walls (although they can be fired at items in in the next room).
---

Wands:
Wand of Fire - Agannazars Scorcher
Wand of Lightning - Lightning Bolt
Wand of Wonder - Fireball+Lightning Bolt+Stinking Cloud+Web
Wand of the Apprenti - Fireball+Cone of Cold+Lightning Bolt
---
Staffs:
Staff of Power - paralytic Lightning Bolt
Staff of the Magi - Lightning Bolt+Fireball
Staff of Thunder and Lightning - Lightning Bolt; Call Lightning (works indoors!)
---
Armour:
Skull of Death - Death Spell
---
Weapons:
Carsomyr - Dispel Magic
Celestial Fury - Lightning Bolt
Purifier - Dispel Magic
---
Misc:
Azlaers Harp - Remove Fear
Book of infinite Spells - Fireball; Stinking Cloud; Lightning Bolt

Lark

[edit: typos]

[Deadalready]

This is amazing actually, surprised you thought of something that was unknown to User Friendly.