Wand of Accuracy question

[Syrsuro]

New House Rule idea (with no real precident in RAW):

The player can use the wand bonus either before or after the roll.

If they choose to use the power before the roll, it affects all enemies affected by that power.
If they choose to use the power after the roll, it affects only a single roll.

This attempts to satisfy both the suggested goal of helping them out with AoE spells without creating a hugely unbalanced benefit.

Carl

 

[Caliban]

Yes, but a orb or staff specialist is probably more likely to be using an orb or a staff than a wand specialist.

Also, those who have benefits from heavy blades tend to use them more than other weapons.

It's hardly a mental stretch.

Granted, your main implement is most likely to be the type you are specialized in. But even a Heavy Blade wielder can use a heavy thrown weapon as a backup for those foes they can't reach with their blade. As you say, it's hardly a mental stretch.

Also, with Mage Hand it's just a minor action to switch between implements when you want to use a special ability of one. And if you didn't need to move, just another minor action to switch back.

And if you are an Orb or Wand wizard you can choose to hold a second Orb or Wand in your other hand.

Once you get a few levels under your belt, it's feasible to have a few extra implements of different types so that you can take advantage of their properties or daily powers.

 

[Tony Vargas]

For now, I will be ruling that it applies a constant +1 to wizard implement powers (when a wand is used) and a one time bonus that is applied after the roll but before they are sure whether or not it hit. This seems to solve its overall wimpiness without making it too powerful.

New House Rule idea (with no real precident in RAW):

The player can use the wand bonus either before or after the roll.

If they choose to use the power before the roll, it affects all enemies affected by that power.
If they choose to use the power after the roll, it affects only a single roll.

This attempts to satisfy both the suggested goal of helping them out with AoE spells without creating a hugely unbalanced benefit.

Both good ideas.

 

[Al'Kelhar]

There is one reason to take Wand of Accuracy - if you want to multiclass as a warlock, you can use your wand as your implement for your warlock powers too. Also, given that your character's primary 'warlock' stat (Con or Cha) is likely to be lower than his or her Int, the bonus to attack roll from the Wand of Accuracy is handy when applied to a warlock attack.

Cheers, Al'Kelhar

 

[Turtlejay]

I am surprised that nobody has mentioned the magic item angle. A wand wizard will be using a wand most of the time, and those wands are pretty nice. Really nice. Nothing says that you can't be an orb wizard who primarily uses a wand as an implement, I guess.

Jay

 

[Gruns]

Something new...

I just found something to try to nudge the fence sitters in the direction of "You can use the Wand power AFTER the attack roll". In the PHB pg 208 in the Multiclass Feat section, Student of the Sword mentions the use of the weapon talent. It specifially mentions that the +1 bonus to the attack roll is added to the next attack roll you make. Granted, the book surely doesn't follow the same format for, well, anything, but at least it's a little something.
Gruns

 

[Caliban]

Looks like they updated the 4e FAQ recently:

http://www.enworld.org/forum/newreply.php?do=newreply&noquote=1&p=4555892

26. Can I wait until the Dungeon Master has determined if I have hit or not to use my Wand of Accuracy class feature?

Yes, you can use this ability at any point during the resolution of the power.

 

[simen]

Looks like they updated the 4e FAQ recently

Say I use a Ray of Frost (Int vs Fort) and I roll a 5 on the dice and with +7 then resulting in a 12, and I have +2 to dex. The creature I want to attack has a fortitude of 15 (my player doesn't know that).

So the DM says I misses, but can I ask "Does it hit if I use wand of accuracy?". Or do I have to guess that a +2 will do it and maybe waste the power for that encounter.

 

[Mengu]

Say I use a Ray of Frost (Int vs Fort) and I roll a 5 on the dice and with +7 then resulting in a 12, and I have +2 to dex. The creature I want to attack has a fortitude of 15 (my player doesn't know that).

So the DM says I misses, but can I ask "Does it hit if I use wand of accuracy?". Or do I have to guess that a +2 will do it and maybe waste the power for that encounter.

You can ask. The response will be up to the DM. But based on the FAQ, I'd say the DM should be accomodating in this case, and tell the player if using the wand of accuracy would turn the miss into a hit.