Piercing[]
Piercing Shot allows a projectile to hit an enemy multiple times but also enables friendly fire. Note that it subtracts 16 projectile damage(1), potentially rendering the projectile harmless (this may be desirable in some cases(2)). You can offset this using increase damage modifiers.
Lifetime[]
The lifetime of projectiles may be extended using a variety of spells. This allows it to get in more hits before it expires.
Homing[]
Homing allows projectiles to follow/stay on top of an enemy. This synergizes well with piercing. There are a variety of homing spells and each has its own use case. Note that multiple stacks of homing will not increase the homing range but only increase the strength of the homing towards its target.
- Homing is effective but may target enemies closer to you behind walls.
- Short-range Homing works exactly the same as homing but targets enemies within a shorter distance. This may be more effective in areas with many walls. (Homing would target enemies behind walls and get stuck on them rather than what the player is looking at)
- Projectile Area Teleport enables the projectile to stay directly on top of an enemy.
- Aiming Arc is useful for guiding projectiles. It can be used to effectively nullify Omega Sawblade's deadly homing towards the player
- Rotate Towards maintains the projectile's velocity and only changes its direction. This is useful in more niche situations, particularly when paired with projectiles whose damage is dependent on its initial and terminal velocities such as Bouncing Burst and Arrow. Other varieties of homing lose velocity when making sharp turns, thus reducing damage dealt.
Drilling[]
Drilling Shot may help prevent projectiles from getting stuck on obstructions. It enables spells to strike enemies through walls and also disables bouncing.
Damage Type[]
Piercing Shot deducts 16 points of projectile damage. However, other sources of damage remain unaffected. Examples include electrical, physical, explosive, freeze, "heal", etc.
The spark bolt effectively has 0 projectile damage but it retains +5 freeze damage. Therefore, it is able to deal damage.
Triggers[]
Every projectile has a delay before it can land another hit. For some projectiles this may be longer. However, most projectiles (once piercing is applied) can attack every frame. The game runs at 60 frames per second.
A piercing trigger projectile will cast its payload every time it strikes an enemy. The mana cost is only deducted when you first cast the wand. It will not deduct mana every time it triggers.
Since piercing enables friendly fire for the projectile, it can be lethal to the player. On the other hand, it reduces damage by 16 which may render your projectile harmless. The actual source of damage may then be placed inside the trigger to make a safe damage dealing wand.
The spark bolt deals 0 damage. However, for every frame it is in contact with the player/an enemy, it spawns a spitter bolt. This will happen 60 times a second. This is player safe.
Mana Cost[]
Most of the aforementioned spells are costly to cast. Add Trigger can mitigate these costs.
(See also: Expert Guide: Advanced Spell Specifics - Add Trigger Spells)
Spells that pierce by default[]
Some spells innately pierce. No piercing spell is necessary. This is quite useful as piercing is expensive and can be rare. Notably, mists, clouds, circle of spells, note spells, omega sawblade, pinpoint of light, and flock of ducks all pierce. Most static projectiles pierce as well. A comprehensive list can be found here. Damage modifiers may be required as some of them do not have any damage by default.
Mists have a long lifespan, but they only tick every 25 frames.
Note spells tick every single frame but require lifetime increases otherwise they only have 2 frames of lifetime.
Other Interesting Combinations[]
Damage Field attached to a homing projectile can do a fair bit of damage. Notably, it can bypass Sauvojen Tuntija's shielding allowing for a safe and cheap kill.
Electric Arc requires two projectiles. In this example, homing mists are used which have a high lifetime. The electric arc continuously deals tremendous electric and explosive damage.
Most static projectiles have piercing, drilling, and very long lifetime. The circle spells also tick faster than mists at 15 frames per tick and will pass through all terrain unhindered which can easily decimate an entire biome. The boomerang spell/perk can be used to keep them near you as you traverse the world if so desired.
