magic missile always hits again???

[Lord Phoenix]

so is it true that in 4E magic missile was changed and it now hits automatically, and does shield still counter it? personally i liked the fact that in 3rd magic missile always hit but with all the changes done to 4th to make everything fair and equal and everyone is on par with everyone else, it just doesnt seem right that magic missile would be an exception to this change.

 

[Sunseeker]

I don't know if there's a way to counter it, but yes, in 4e, Magic Missile always hits.

Personally, I'd mod it and make you roll, but it would only fail on a nat 1.

 

[Holy Bovine]

so is it true that in 4E magic missile was changed and it now hits automatically, and does shield still counter it? personally i liked the fact that in 3rd magic missile always hit but with all the changes done to 4th to make everything fair and equal and everyone is on par with everyone else, it just doesnt seem right that magic missile would be an exception to this change.

It does hit automatically now. In our group we are finding that when the wizard is down to just firing MM every round the party is in deeper s*** that we thought. We came within a hairs breadth yesterday of TPK and that MM wasn't really helping (although the wizard did fire off every encounter & daily he had!)

 

[UnknownAtThisTime]

It does hit automatically now. In our group we are finding that when the wizard is down to just firing MM every round the party is in deeper s*** that we thought. We came within a hairs breadth yesterday of TPK and that MM wasn't really helping (although the wizard did fire off every encounter & daily he had!)

To me the MM auto hit really shines as a ranged basic attack when the warlord grants the action to the Wizard. In certain circumstances, two 'auto hits' even with relatively low damage can be very effective in a round.

 

[Plane Sailing]

Shield doesn't still counter it.

Because the damage is an 'effect' and doesn't include a dice roll it misses out on lots of crit-based goodness and damage enhancing additional effects, so it isn't a bad thing in many ways.

 

[Neonchameleon]

so is it true that in 4E magic missile was changed and it now hits automatically, and does shield still counter it? personally i liked the fact that in 3rd magic missile always hit but with all the changes done to 4th to make everything fair and equal and everyone is on par with everyone else, it just doesnt seem right that magic missile would be an exception to this change.

MM does automatically hit - and does quite low damage that scales poorly. It's balanced (actually slightly weak) in terms of damage per round against other at will powers - and hardly the most odd of the wizard at will attack powers (that honour goes to Storm Pillar; no direct damage when you cast it at all but it creates a giant tesla coil that zaps any enemies who try walking past and entirely prevents them moving through).

 

[DracoSuave]

Man, they should introduce this onto the Frequently Asked Questions.

Q: Does Magic Missile automatically hit?

A: MAGIC MISSILE DOES NOT AUTOMATICALLY HIT!

It automatically damages as an effect. Anything in the game that has anything to do with hits, or misses, or attack rolls, or damage rolls, have nothing whatsoever to do with Magic Missile.

The difference is HUGE when you deal with abilities like Sneak Attack.

 

[renau1g]

And when you deal with items that do bonus damage on a hit or effects that trigger on a hit, etc. That's also a big deal. The power is (IMO) the worst power for a wizard from their list.

It is only useful to remove a minion from the board... I've never had problems dealing with minions before though so that is pretty marginal

 

[Azlith]

It is only useful to remove a minion from the board... I've never had problems dealing with minions before though so that is pretty marginal

And in a limited circumstance with the feat Inescapable Force against insubstantial foes. An auto damage of 1d10+9 that is not reduced is pretty nice.

Also, a Brooch of Shielding pretty much protects against Magic Missile with a daily to protect against non-melee attacks.

 

[malraux]

It's not bad if you are a human wizard and thus get 3 at-wills. MM has a place (long range, auto damage, several minor synergies like its a basic attack, there's a daily that works with it, etc) but it's just as controllery as pretty much any other wizard power.