It's official: Magic Missile will be a class feature.

[Nightfly]

...at least for the Essentials sub-build.

Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game Official Home Page - Article (Wizard Preview)

Good call. Magic Missile is not worth an at-will slot -- in either its old version or the post-errata version -- but without it, wizards lack a ranged basic attack, and usually lack anything that can go more than 10 squares. Kudos to WotC for simply making it a free spell. They should have done that from the beginning.

Three new at-wills are listed in the new preview as well. One of them, Arc Lightning, seems to be a replacement of sorts for the old MM: Range 20, Int vs Ref, 1d6+int damage, one or two targets. The damage is slightly less, but the fact it can target two monsters makes it vastly better than the old Magic Missile IMHO. Many builds will love the fact that it's lightning damage, too.

 

[fba827]

I also noticed that it appears encounter spells will also be in the spellbook (whereas for the PHB wizard, it is just daily and utility) - though what "being in the spellbook" means for a mage may be different than what it means for a wizard ...

 

[Mengu]

"Every mage learns this spell as part of his or her arcane studies."

Why couldn't they just say wizard instead of mage, and include that as part of the update? I mean they rewrote the whole power, they could just as easily have added the feature to the base class instead of the build (or type, or subclass or whatever we're calling these thingamajigs).

 

[ppaladin123]

Beguiling Strands is excellent. Close burst 5, enemy only, targets will, has the psychic keyword, does damage and pushes each enemy up to 3 squares! I am glad that it is available to any wizard regardless of build.

That said, I think I'll be switching my wizard over to a mage at some point. I have a feeling that the specialist school benefits will be worth more than the implement mastery benefits. Free magic missile looks pretty nice too.

Incidentally, is the mage spell book different from the wizard's spell book? It looks like the mage does not get to learn additional spells at each level (two utilities and two dailies) like the wizard. On the other hand, it looks like the mage never has to switch out his powers; always keeps them in the spellbook once learned and can prepare whatever he wants (though not two of the same power). Even the paragon path daily goes in the spell book, so a mage can decide to swap it out for a lower level daily!

 

[Obryn]

Time will tell what the other features are - but these At-Wills certainly aren't overpowered in comparison. It looks like Wizards are finally getting a Divine Bolts, though, so that's pretty cool. And Range 20, no less!

The power progression is unchanged - the only question will be whether or not Mages get extra Encounter powers in their spellbooks.

Wizards are an interesting case, though... I think that giving them Magic Missile At-Will, along with whatever else they gain from their schools, might be a significant power-up over an implement mastery feature. Time will tell, but this could hint at some power creep.

With that said, I hope there are some better At-Wills in the book. These are interesting, but Arc Lightning would be the only one I'd choose over an existing At-Will.

-O

 

[YourSwordIsMine]

So does this mean a human "Mage" will have 3 at-wills AND Magic Missile? That would be 4 at-wills...

 

[fanboy2000]

That's what I'm thinking. Combine that with cantrips, and I can have a lot of fun.

 

[Dice4Hire]

4 azt wills plus cantrips (new cantrips maybe) is a pile of versatility.

I lik the new mage a lot, those At-wills are strong, and the upper level abilities sound interesting.

I'm getting quite exceited for Essentials now. Good job WOTC!!!!!

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Great news! A built in ranged basic attack is what we called for... and got

 

[erf_beto]

hmmm... I like it as a class feature, but wasn't this was supposed to be the warlock's shtick? Actually, it's better than the current warlock, as he is forced to take Eldritch Blast as one of his two at-wills. I think I can almost smell an errata...

And Arc Lightning just robbed the greatest advantage of the pre-errata Magic Missile: Range 20. It's like it killed MM, took some of its stuff, and then MM reincarnated with automatic damage...

Either way, I approve this. In fact I'm hoping them to errata most Wizard at-wills to increase their range, so they can better control the battlefield. Ray of Frost should be a priority in this case.

As for the Essential Spellbook, it doesn't mention anything about adding new spells to it. I hope - dear god, I hope - they are not limited to two spells per level, becoming much more like adding rituals. It's all magic, right? why should they be treated differently? (I know, I know... "balance" :\... [rant] I say screw balance! I want to collect enemy spells! I want to have the right magic attack for the right time! [/rant])