Wands / Rods of xxx Bolt

[AceRimmer]

In the past, I've played priests. Now I have a L32 warrior. And at no time have I really used a wand or rod of acid, lightning, fire, or frost bolts. It seems to me that by the time I find them, I have a missile weapon that deals out equivalent damage. And yet they tend to sell for more than chump change.

I guess I'd like to know if you have a game-play style that uses bolts a lot, and why are they valuable?

[saarn]

Starting to use them more with my current mage-- rod of frost/fire bolt do average of 54 damage, and if you succeed in activating, they don't miss. They also don't run out. So far this is better than my heavy crossbow (+8,+9) with standard ammo. Not sure if this is much justification though.

[Zikke]

I have found that I always sell or squelch these on every character I make.

[PowerDiver]

In the past, I've played priests. Now I have a L32 warrior. And at no time have I really used a wand or rod of acid, lightning, fire, or frost bolts. It seems to me that by the time I find them, I have a missile weapon that deals out equivalent damage. And yet they tend to sell for more than chump change.

I guess I'd like to know if you have a game-play style that uses bolts a lot, and why are they valuable?

Warriors are high-damage chars, so they do not care. For low damage chars, they make a difference. I had a recent priest still carrying 2 rods of elec bolts at DL 41, in addition to single rods of fire and acid bolts.

[PowerDiver]

I also used plenty of bolt wands, but throw them away when out of charges.

[Neuro]

I used rods/wands on my Iron Man ranger character, to conserve ammo, but in the end I squelched them once I found enough arrows and Tenser's.

Sadly, he died to an offscreen mana whirlpool.

[Pete Mack]

I use rods of Light for offense against Trolls and Orcs with any character. Otherwise, I use Rods only as a Mage. I used to use wands and rods with many characters, but they have been nerfed recent releases and so are not worth the effort. I just use an enchanted bow instead.

[Whelk]

I guess I'm in the minority, but I love finding these rods. There's something fun about zapping your foes with a rod of fiery/frosty/electric/acidic doom. I sell wands because I don't like that they're consumable (they tend to be my main money source in the earlier levels). Rods, on the other hand, are some of my favorite finds.

[Maupin]

I usually play a priest and love rods in the early part of the game... just for shooting running monsters in the back.

And a stack of rods of frost bolt really helps whittle down some of the early uniques if you run out of ammo.