A wand is a timer with spells strapped to it. Understanding the timer is the whole game.
How a wand fires
The wand reads its spells left to right. Each spell adds its cast delay. When the chain ends, the wand waits its recharge time, then starts again.
If your cast delay total is longer than your recharge time, the wand fires once and sits. If recharge is the longer number, you get a burst, then a wait.
The early wand
A two-spell wand wins the first biome. Pair a projectile with a modifier that adds damage, keep cast delay low, and never add a spell that multiplies casts before you have mana to pay for it.
What to avoid
- Do not stack every spell you find. Each one adds delay.
- Do not add a multicast before you have mana. It fires the burst, then you have nothing.
- Do not trust a wand you have not tested in an open space first.
Open the spell database to check the mana drain and cast delay of any spell before you slot it. The numbers decide whether the wand works.
Start with slots and recharge
A good starter wand has many spell slots and a low recharge time, not the highest raw damage. Build it as a projectile plus a damage modifier plus a trigger, then add sustainability once the base loops. A wand that fires forever clears more than a glass cannon that fires once.