Wanding

Wanding refers to attacking a foe with a wand or staff, usually on auto attack. Since wands and staffs have extremely low DPS, and are the sidearms of characters with powerful attack, shutdown, and support spells around which their primary roles are formed, wanding is not often a primary form of attack.

Applications

Nonetheless, wanding is useful at times. It is most likely to occur in the following scenarios:

• An offensive caster is out of energy, their skills are recharging, or they are waiting for the right moment to unload big, slow, high-energy, or long-recharge spells.

• A player is dissuaded or prevented from using spells due to shutdown such as Backfire.

• A foe is under an effect such as Glimmering Mark whose benefit disappears when a skill or spell strikes them.

• A caster is trying to trigger an elemental on-hit effect like Spinal Shivers or Mark of Rodgort.

• A player is trying to strip a hit-negating effect like Reversal of Fortune to help the team's damage dealers, without wasting energy.

• A caster is trying to interrupt an easily interruptible skill or a dazed foe.

• A foe without healing support is near enough to death that using a skill to kill it would waste too much energy.

• A spike has been called, where the damage from a few wand hits might tip the balance from "near save" to "target down".

• A party is winning by a large enough margin that healers/support characters do not need to perform their tasks and can attack safely.

• A melee character is trying to build adrenaline while at range.

• A player is trying to pull NPC enemies, or pressure player foes out of wand range.

• The foe is extremely vulnerable to the wand's damage type; for example, a Holy damage wand used against an undead foe or a player wearing Tormentor's Insignia.

• Trying to counter foe's health regeneration. A hit to target foe will stop that foe's natural health regeneration.