4e Fan Creations and House RulesWorking on variant powers? Statting up a PC race or your version of a monster? Creating or converting an adventure? Put it here!
Magic missile is currently not that good - the best thing about it is the long range, but the higher damage pales in comparison with the damage of Cloud of Knives or the pure stopping power of the ray of frost.
So, to make it a bit better, what about allowing it to ignore cover (though not total cover)?
That would be a nice nod to the automatic hit it had before and puts it firmly into the sniping niche.
I still want it back to "auto hit". But how to scale the damage so it is fair... just the old d4+1? (a lot less than the 2d4+4 most wizards would deal)
Magic missile can be used as a basic attack, but I will admit that it isn't a particularly big deal at the moment.
If you want to retain the "always hits" flavor, one way is to structure it similar to the fighter's reaping strike power:
Hit: 1d6 + Intelligence modifier damage.
Increase damage to 2d6 + Intelligence modifier at 21st level. Miss: Half Intelligence modifier damage. If you wield a wand as an implement, you deal damage equal to your Intelligence modifier.
I figure you usually have a 50% chance of missing so cut the damage in half (1d4 + 1/2 your Int modifier). The guarantee of always hitting means that this power is a little better (especially when you need a particular minion to be dead) but, as you said, magic missile is not as uber as the other powers anyway so it's probably balanced.
In a way, I'm kinda surprised that they didn't go the Reaping Strike route with magic missile. It's not particularly weak, at any rate. I'm guessing it could do just Int / 2 damage on a miss, similar to a 1h reaping strike.
Magic missile can be used as a basic attack, but I will admit that it isn't a particularly big deal at the moment.
If you want to retain the "always hits" flavor, one way is to structure it similar to the fighter's reaping strike power:
Hit: 1d6 + Intelligence modifier damage.
Increase damage to 2d6 + Intelligence modifier at 21st level. Miss: Half Intelligence modifier damage. If you wield a wand as an implement, you deal damage equal to your Intelligence modifier.
this could be a good basis for another at-will spell
to justify the hit on miss I would see it more like an exploding missile
FireLance's suggestion is great, it has a very different feel and it's a feel I like.
But Magic Missile as printed isn't bad. It has a higher base and potential damage, MUCH better range and is a Ranged Basic attack. It doesn't sound like much but I think that Ranged Basic is what makes it, considering that the Warlord has four class powers through Paragon tier that allow a character in range to make a Basic attack, two of them targeting "allies in range." The Wizard with Storm of Swords and Ray of Frost, if he's lucky, can swing his staff if there's anyone close enough and that's about it. The Wizard with Magic Missile is throwing an extra 2d4+Int into the mix targeting probably anyone he wants.
FireLance's idea is cool, but at the moment I'm gonna say, "If it ain't broke..."
I like magic missile. In fact, I even made a paragon path, the Master of Missiles, for its casters today. You can see it if you look up the magic missile tag. However, a don't think that magic missile is underpowered. Most powers of other classes deal 1d10 damage on average, since most decent weapons deal 1d10 damage, and other powers do too, but 2d4 means you're rolling 2 dice, giving you 2 damage minimum. And anyway, you can always take a few feats to improve your missiles, or if your a real missile fanatic, take my paragon path!
I think it should have kept the multi missle feel so at epic you fire 2 2D4+ int mod missles instead of 1 aat 4D4+int mod.
I will second that.. one from either hand... that connects with the original too... in fact we could go further you always get two attacks each with 1d4 pick one for the int mod and similarly a wand mod only goes to one.
Two attacks are less likely to both miss... not quite reaping but.
A version of Magic Missile I'd written for something was...
Magic Missile
Range 20
Target: One or two creatures within 3 squares of each other
Attack: Int vs. Ref, two attacks
Hit: 1d4 + Int force damage.
Special: If both attacks are targeted against one creature and both hit, it is instead treated as a single hit for 2d4 + Int damage and is pushed 1 square. If either attack criticals, it is treated as a critical hit. At 21st level, the damage increases to 2d4 + Int or 4d4 + Int if both hit a single target.
Effectively gives increased accuracy, ability to hit two critters, makes it more interesting for the wizard, etc.
But, I also think that Magic Missile should be more effective than a ranged basic attack with a long bow and that at-wills in general should always be better than basic attacks. So, that'd be a harder sell in a standard game.
Though it not counting as a basic attack is - probably - a disadvantage. Maybe.
Last edited by keterys; 1st July 2009 at 04:37 PM..
A version of Magic Missile I'd written for something was...
Magic Missile
Range 20
Target: One or two creatures within 3 squares of each other
Attack: Int vs. Ref, two attacks
Hit: 1d4 + Int force damage.
Special: If both attacks are targeted against one creature and both hit, it is instead treated as a single hit for 2d4 + Int damage and is pushed 1 square. If either attack criticals, it is treated as a critical hit. At 21st level, the damage increases to 2d4 + Int or 4d4 + Int if both hit a single target.
Effectively gives increased accuracy, ability to hit two critters, makes it more interesting for the wizard, etc.
But, I also think that Magic Missile should be more effective than a ranged basic attack with a long bow and that at-wills in general should always be better than basic attacks. So, that'd be a harder sell in a standard game.
Though it not counting as a basic attack is - probably - a disadvantage. Maybe.
In general I agree that at-will's need to be better than basic attacks but I am slightly less specific about weapon... Wizard's are not bound by weapon damage an improvised fighter ranged at will is a d4 rock thrown at somebody after all.
I like the push if 2 hit somebody that is rather of cool.
No reason these need to be magic missile by the way...
some could be called Spell Shot or Firelance (add a fire keyword to his)
or Arcane bolts or similar things... but it does mean you
have to shoot for competitive instead of better
Silly question: why not just give Wizards Magic Missile as a Class Feature, rather than making it take an At-Will slot? It's iconic, has no effect other than damage, and counts as a Ranged Basic Attack. To me, Magic Missile is the arcane equivalent to swinging a sword: a simple burst of energy that's one of the first offensive options a Wizard learns. It doesn't punish the Controller for choosing an At-Will that doesn't control, but at the same time keeps around a spell that's ubiquitous in the DnD legacy.
I have similar problems with the Warlock's Eldritch Blast, but that's also an issue with how the class is set up and presented, so I'll leave that for another time.
One of the wierd attractions I have for the spell is that as generic damage the spell is so nicely skinnable ;-), additionally mix in with the feat Reapers touch and its a conjurers blade. or hands that glow and explode when I touch something like iron fists oops comic book influence...
I'm liking the idea of having multiple missiles that are able to target more than one enemy. 1d4 at each tier, but only the first gets int. bonus. This seems to give the controller a bit more control. I could also go with push or even slide 1 square if you picture the missiles like guided rockets that could hit from any side.
As far as the counting as a ranged basic atk, I have yet to use that ability. I'm not even sure I can think of a time when I get a freeranged basic atk. Maybe another class power gives this, but it would seem to go to the front line fighters. I wonder changing this part to make it a basic atk, both melee and ranged would beef up the spell a bit.
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