Greetings! So I'm currently toying with a pretty wealthy character who has ranks in UMD, and I thought about getting some wands.
He'll use it out of combat, so it is either long lasting buffs, or utility/after combat care.
I thought about "False Life, Greater", but it is only handful of temporary HP, so I'm not quite sure.
Dot
False life is probably more cost efficient, but if you have enough gold that your considering 4th level wands... that opens up a lot of avenues. In any case, the extra HP isn't bad, you never know when it'll save your butt.
Some other longer-term buffs that come to mind: Stoneskin, Heroism, Freedom of Movement, Resist Energy (communal maybe), Protection from Energy, Longstrider (and Greater).
I'm sure the bard/Paladin lists have some unique spells that might be useful. Ranger might also be worth a look.
Basically, anything with a durationg of 10 min/level or more would be useful. I'm betting there's a way to organize spells like that on d20pfsrd.com. I think they have a spell index tool of some sort.
dot
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I tend to go for wands and scrolls of spells that are either very, very situational or don't have any level-dependent effects (outside of duration).
Some wands that I've found situationally useful:
- Endure Elements
- Grease (this is great for getting out of grapples)
- Lesser Restoration
- Mage armor (if you wear armor, this is good if you end up fighting incorporeals)
- Ant Haul (if your GM tracks encumbrance)
- Heightened Awareness (since you can dismiss this to bump your initiative, you often end up not taking advantage of the duration)
- Longstrider
- Carry companion
- Air bubble
Higher level spells I tend to get in scrolls, because it's cheaper:
- Restoration
- Heal
- Overland Flight
- Life Bubble
- Keen edge
- Touch of the sea
- Resist energy, communal (If you don't have a caster who can cast this 7th level or higher, it's better than nothing. Also, you don't have to cast this on more than one creature, so you get a longer duration and a higher caster level.)
- Greater Magic Fang (again, better from a caster, but good enough on a scroll or wand)
Some great spells that might make good wands or scrolls (I usually end up casting these directly):
- Heart of the metal
- Versatile weapon
- Arcane sight
- Deathwatch
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I'll just leave this here.
Thank you all for your valuable input.
I didn't know there were this much of valuable spells to be wand'ed.
Gwen's list is solid, but I also find wands useful when you need a lot of a spell, but only rarely.
Mage armor
Endure Elements
Comprehend Languages
And when affordable, Lesser Restoration
Silent Image (or its bigger brothers Minor/Major Image) are also pretty useful in wand form. You just have to be creative enough so they don't interact/get their save in the first place (such as hiding behind a fake wall from a roaming creature, or something).
Even if they do save, they usually wasted at least a move action, probably a round of attacking if you use it as a distraction in battle. They'll see through it pretty easily, but still, pretty handy wands.
Fog/Mist spells would also be useful for creating cover, but not any additional effects like Stinking Cloud.
Wand of Infernal Healing > Wand of CLW.
Every time.
Also, if you're looking at 4th level wands, Telekinetic Charge is amazing. Give it to your wizard or a familiar and they can throw the fighter types right at the enemy. Great!
I'll just leave this here.
That site just about sums it up.
Look for longer duration (minute, 10 minute, hour) wands with great buff and healing benefits. Personal spells are awesome as there are few other ways to get them.
Shield
Mage Armor
Darkvision
Cure Light Wounds (great and cheap healing out of combat)
Enlarge Person
See Invisibility
Lots of great choices just look at what you need and go for it.
Stay away from offensive spells that rely on DC's and saving throws. Magic Missile, however, is a cheap "I have nothing else to do and I do not want to just waste my turn" wand at low levels.
Wand of Infernal Healing > Wand of CLW.
Every time.
Except if you're on a tight time limit, waiting (HP damage/10) minutes for party members to heal may not be possible. Also, detecting as evil can be problematic.
The druid spell list has a few (situational) gems to add to the list of things I'd want on a wand. As a lot of good spells have been listed already, I'll just add what I haven't seen yet;
Pass Without Trace
Negate Aroma
Delay Poison
Echolocation
Sleet Storm- the duration is short, but sometimes blocking vision more or less unconditionally is worth it.
Hide Campsite- the abilities of this spell vary widely based on how one defines a campsite, but at the very least it creates a nice little area for a private conversation, or "conversation"
Burrow- it's like a much more efficient but less flexible wand of stoneshape. That said, a wand of stone shape can be nice too.
boots of earth trump wand of infernal healing.
Wand of magic missile (cl5 ish) is a must if your Dm pulls incorporeal creatures out of left field.
Adhesive spittle for cost effective tanglefoot bags.
Personally I keep an aoe evocation wand around in case of a horde scenario, and wands of glyph of warding can turn combat on its head if you have time to prep the battlefield/defensible position.
At low levels, molten orb is better than acid arrow, and is independent of CL, so you can make an SR:NO wand cheaply.