I've just started a Sylvan Sorcerer who is built and intended as a debuffer and party buffer. So far my spells are ear piercing scream and sleep and the early stretch goal is to buy a level 1 wand to lean on until my casting opens up.
Ideally I'm looking for something to spam every fight for constant benefits until I'm about level 4 or 5.
No Colour Spray!
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Your options include, but are not limited to:
-Magic missile. (Can't go wrong with this one)
-Enlarge person (1 round casting time, but fun)
-Comprehend languages (Situational, but very useful)
-Grease (A classic)
-Hydraulic push (Become squirtle)
-Lucky number (Cost effective since it lasts 24h)
Also, make sure you put ranks in Use Magic Device in order to pick up some cleric spell wands later on.
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As default wands have both minimum caster level and minimum caster stat, you won't want anything that involves a save; minimum stat for 1st level spells is 11, so you will be looking at a DC of 10 + 1 (spell) + 0 (stat modifier) for a whopping DC of 11. And of course things that last rounds per level are looking at one round.
Hmmm, let's see:
1. Obscuring Mist - I'm not a big fan myself, but a lot of people swear by it for potential battlefield control, area denial, or cover for an escape if need be. Would last 1 min and has no save, so a definite plus there.
2. Burning Disarm - Enemy makes a save. They fail, they take 1d4 fire, they make it they drop their weapon. 1d4 is still potentially a big deal at level 1 (and only level 1 really) and disarm is handy sometimes.
3. Infernal Healing - I'm assuming healing isn't your problem, but if it is, Infernal Healing is a great wand. At a flat 10 hp gained per use regardless of CL, it is much more cost effective than a wand of Cure Light Wounds, though of course it takes longer to work.
4. Shield/Mage Armor - Mage Armor can be used on others, but doesn't stack with armor. Shield is only for you, but sometimes you just need that extra AC. These spells are generally better to have wands of instead of wasting spells known on them (at least Mage Armor with its 1 hr/lvl duration; yay 50 hours nonconsecutive for 750 gold). I'd add them to your shopping list at some point.
Really there's not too much for level 1 wands offensively due to the super bad DCs and CL 1.
Blood money?
I wish, but it doesn't work for a two reasons, one in general and one specific to the topic.
General reason: Using a wand is a standard action, while Blood Money is normally a swift. So you cast it as a standard... and Blood Money says that it works on a spell you cast in the same round. So unless you are using a Quickened spell with your Blood Money wand, it literally cannot function.
Specific reason: Even if the general reason wasn't there, Blood Money is does nothing by itself as it instead powers stronger spells. The PC in question has no stronger spells to power with it, so it does nothing.
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I've always liked the magic missile wand. I see it as a better option than using a light crossbow (which is common among low level mages). It has 110' range, no attack roll, does 1d4+1 damage (average 3.5 damage that always hits versus average 4.5 from the 1d8 for the Light Crossbow but it misses a lot), and no DC. It can be blocked by the Shield spell, but most targets won't have Shield, but on the plus side it can affect incorporeal targets and is useful against certain other opponents for one reason or the other.
Even with it's low DC, Grease is an interesting alternative.
Unless you know you'll be doing it a lot, Comprehend Languages and various other utility spells are NOT worth spending 750 gp to get a wand. These are better handled by dropping 100-200 gp on 4-8 scrolls in a variety pack. You could buy 2 Scrolls of Comprehend Language, 1 Scroll of Protection from Evil, 1 Scroll of Mount, 1 Scroll of Infernal Healing, 1 Scroll of Endure Elements, 1 Scroll of Unseen Servant, and another potentially useful spell like Enlarge Person, Magic Weapon, Ant's Haul, Swift Girding, Mage Armor, etc., etc., all for 200 gp. Mix and match given your campaign and what you think you'll need. If your group doesn't have a healer, you'll need more Infernal Healing, or the group may need to invest in a Wand of Infernal Healing OR Cure Light Wounds. If your group includes heavy armor types (who can't sleep in their armor) and your GM hits your group with encounters during the night, Swift Girding or Mage Armor will make you the heavy armor guy's favorite PC (and you may want more than 1 scroll).
At low level your best bang for the buck will be magic missile. Not having to roll to hit and affecting non corporeal targets means it is never really useless. Even at higher levels it can be used to finish off a foe with only a few HP left.
Since a sorcerer does not get a lot of spells wands are his bread and butter. Even some 0 level wands may be useful if you don’t have the spell on your list, or another caster does not have it. I am assuming you have the staples like detect magic and some sort of light.
Disrupt Undead is great when facing undead.
Mending will allow you to fix all the sundered items
After you gain a couple of levels the following wands will also prove worthwhile. Many will aid the party as a whole so the cost may be split.
Detect Secret Doors lasts for 1 Min which should be enough time to check a room where you know there is a secret door but no one managed to find.
Endure Elements lasts for 24 hours so is a must have in a desert or cold environment.
Mage armor lasts for one hour so is great if you have some warning. If you have a monk in the party he will love you.
Magic Aura is great for hiding the aura of magic items.
Shield is good because most combat don’t last longer than a minute.
Theft Ward last a full day so is great to protect items you have been sent to get.
True strike works well as a wand sine it effects your next attack and last until the end of your next turn.
I've just started a Sylvan Sorcerer who is built and intended as a debuffer and party buffer. So far my spells are ear piercing scream and sleep and the early stretch goal is to buy a level 1 wand to lean on until my casting opens up.
Ideally I'm looking for something to spam every fight for constant benefits until I'm about level 4 or 5.
No Colour Spray!
Burning Hands, Grease and Lucky Number definitely come to mind, as does Protection vs. Alignment. I'd actually recommend against Magic Missile - you'll basically get the same benefit from Acid Splash (especially with a vial of acid as a focus) as you would a 1st level Magic Missile spell, although the range won't be as good.
Grease would be the better 'in-combat' option while Lucky Number would be ideal between combats, just refreshing it on each character as needed. Burning Hands won't deal much damage and it'll put you in harm's way a bit, but its an area-effect damage spell at low levels which is rare.
Sylvan sorcerers can be really strong at low level, especially since you always have the option to 'hit it with my animal companion'. I highly recommend you consider Adopted: Animal Friend as a trait.
This can always use a good repost
Spamming every fight for constant benefits? The only 1st level spells I'd consider suitable for this purpose are burning disarm, gravity bow, mudball, magic missile, ray of enfeeblement and maybe shield.
If you're the party buffer, shield only benefits you.
Magic missile is always a good spell, but the moment you hit 3rd level, your own casting will make the wand a suboptimal choice.
Gravity bow only affects your arrows/bolts, but that's fine if you routinely provide ranged support for your group.
A wand of Magic Missile or Mudball sound very useful. Knowing my GMs penchant for Incorporeal monsters I might need to get Magic Missile...
Mudball sounds way too fun though, the DC11 would be really easy to make but blinding a person until they can act sounds useful.
-Lucky number (Cost effective since it lasts 24h)
Is lucky number actually that useful? It's a one-time bonus that has roughly a 5% chance of triggering at any given time. It seems that it would be more useful to invest in a wand of guidance or something, as at least you could control when it comes up.
I agree that it's cheap,.... but looking at it, it may still be overpriced.
Utility wise there is some scope especially for more situational spells (e.g. Animate Rope, Unseen Servant) as you do not have that many spells known.
I can say that we had a Bard in Skull n Shackles who cast Unseen Servant upon waking every day and found myriad uses for it. In fact, between it and Mage Hand she had most of the crew convinced that the ship simply responded to her unspoken commands...