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Message: <blockquote data-quote="MrMyth" data-source="post: 5421343" data-attributes="member: 61155">Good to know, and thanks for the response. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />  Keep in mind, my point wasn't that it was useless - sure, you canuse it a few times per encounter, and have it be about as effective as any other at-will. My point is that in those situations, it isn't more effective than another at-will. Claiming that a low-level wizard who doesn't use it 1/3 of the time is making a mistake... I just don't see it.  You mention it only being a difference of 2 to 4 damage. First off, it really depends on how much the wizard has invested in dealing damage. With no bonuses at all, sure, 1d6 or 1d8 vs a flat 2 damage is indeed about that amount. Adding in Arcane Reserves is another +2 damage. Gauntlets of Blood is another +2 vs bloodied enemies. What about if we have a Staff of Ruin? Dual Implement Spellcaster? Implement Focus? Suddenly, we are comparing 7 or 8 damage up against 18 or 20 damage. Unless we have really poor chances to hit, Magic Missile is definitely starting to come out behind.  Now, of course, not everyone will have all of those investments. So let's look just as the ones you mention, Arcane Reserves and Gauntlets of Blood (likely to be in use by the time we're out of Encounters and focusing fire on enemies close to death.) We can have our automatic Magic Missile for 7 or 8 damage. Or we can deal 1d6+9 damage with a 60% hit chance - giving us around 7 to 8 damage... plus slowed. Thus, both are pretty much just as good in that situation.  Now, will there be times when the MM will finish someone off when Ray of Frost would have missed and been useless? Sure - but probably just as many times when MM will auto-hit and leave the enemy with a few hp left, when Ray of Frost could have hit and finished it.  I'm not saying MM is useless. I'm just saying it is only better than other At-Wills in a very specific set of circumstances, and those circumstances will only come up once in a blue moon. The rest of the time, the Wizard without MM is just as well off as the Mage who gets it for free.  And, honestly? The above scenario is comparing it to Ray of Frost. There are probably other At-Wills a good wizard will have that bring much more to the table.   Only in a one-shot, admittedly. Actually, specifically given to a less experienced player on the theory that they had MM to fall back upon for ease of use - but, in this case, I don't think it was ever cast. And the mage was perfectly effective, and I can't recall any situations where using MM instead of another at-will would have been especially useful.</blockquote>

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