Wand
| A stick. Maybe it's magical.
"[The principle of selection] is the magician's wand, by means of which he may summon into life whatever form and mould he pleases." -William Youatt, _Sheep: their breeds, management, and diseases; to which is added the Mountain Shepherd's Manual_, ch. III. 1837. |
A wand is a magical device that contains several charges of a specific spell or effect. Each wand weighs 10.0 aum.
A player may zap a wand in the inventory with the v key (that is, evoking it). This releases its magical effect at a target of the player's choice, and one charge of the wand will be depleted. A wand does not normally show how many charges it has left; this information can be gathered either by identification or by using a wand with sufficient Evocations skill. However, the game will record wand usage, so that the player can see how many times a wand has been zapped. Unlike rods, a wand does not have to be wielded to be used, and can even be used while the player's wielded weapon is cursed.
A wand with no charges left is empty, and will not function (but will still waste a turn as you discover this). Wands can be recharged using a scroll of recharging, even if not emptied. Deep Dwarf characters possess a racial ability that also lets them recharge wands, though at a permanent MP cost.
Zapping a wand will very often identify it, so long as the effect isn't resisted and it has unambiguously revealed its nature (zapping a wand of digging into empty space, for example, will not identify it).
A wand's spell power equals 15+2.5×Evocations, though this is still limited by the spell power caps for the spell cast. For monsters zapping wands, the power is normally 30+hit dice, although this can vary greatly depending on the type of wand.
Monsters that can pick up items will often pick up wands and zap them at you. A few monsters may start with wands in their inventory. Monsters above 13 hit dice will not bother with them.
Xom is greatly stimulated (200) when you: use an unidentified wand near a monster; or, use a wand of random effects on yourself or others.
List of wands
| Wand | Description | Max charges: initial / upon recharge |
Usable by monster |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cold | Shoots a bolt of cold | 16 / 15 | Yes |
| Confusion | Confuses the target temporarily | 16 / 24 | Yes |
| Digging | Creates a tunnel through the targeted wall tile | 16 / 24 | No |
| Disintegration | Disintegrates the target or object | 16 / 24 | Yes, but damage is reduced to 2/3 of normal |
| Draining | Shoots a bolt of negative energy, reducing target's HD (and XP) | 16 / 12 | Yes, reduces player's XP only |
| Enslavement | Charms the target temporarily | 16 / 24 | No |
| Fire | Shoots a bolt of fire at the target | 16 / 15 | Yes |
| Fireball | Sends a ball of fire at the target, which explodes into a 3x3 region of fire when it hits something | 16 / 9 | Yes |
| Flame | Shoots a puff of flame at the target | 28 / 24 | Yes |
| Frost | Shoots a puff of frost at the target | 28 / 24 | Yes |
| Hasting | Speeds up the target's movement and actions temporarily | 8 / 9 | Yes, on self |
| Heal wounds | Significantly heals the target | 8 / 9 | Yes, on self |
| Invisibility | Turns the target invisible temporarily | 8 / 9 | Yes, on self |
| Lightning | Shoots a lightning bolt at the target | 16 / 12 | Yes |
| Magic Darts | Shoots a magic dart at the target | 28 / 24 | Yes |
| Paralysis | Paralyzes the target temporarily | 16 / 24 | Yes |
| Polymorph other | Target reforms as a random creature | 16 / 24 | Yes, but monsters only use it about 1/5 of the time
Note that monsters using this wand will cause the character to mutate (usually badly) instead of polymorph |
| Random effects | Randomly selects any other wand (except disintegration) and duplicates its effect | 28 / 24 | No |
| Slowing | Slows the target temporarily | 16 / 24 | Yes |
| Teleportation | Teleports the target after a few turns | 16 / 9 | Yes, on self and player |
External links
E. Grasland's excellent spoiler on wands (now out of date)
