Guide: Rapid-Fire Wands
Popular early-game wand builds often focus around firing cheap, high-efficiency spells as quickly as possible. This is a guide to the spell interactions that enable this, with a particular focus on the resources you're likely to find in the first three biomes.
How rapid is Rapid-Fire?
Noita runs at 60 frames per second, and this imposes the upper limit on wand firing rate: a wand can fire at most once per frame. This guide focuses on ways to improve firing rate and as-such there isn't a particular threshold, but rates above 10-20 casts per second are excellent for early game wands.
You'll also find there is a balance to strike between firing rate and mana regeneration. Firing faster increases your damage per second, but also increases mana consumption, and so reduces the time you can fire for before exhausing the wand's mana reserve. Overkill (hitting enemies with more damage than needed to kill them) can be bad if it leaves you out of mana and defenceless. Underkill (taking too long to kill an enemy) can also be bad as long fights can snowball as other enemies join in.
Spells to look out for
Spells that reduce Cast delay and/or reduce Recharge time are key to creating rapid-firing wands. This is a brief overview of the most important ones.
- This is almost required for most rapid fire wands, due to its special effects.
- Chainsaw is a highly useful spell for any and all rapid-fire wands, due to its special effect. When cast along any other spell, it modifies the cast delay to 0 frames. For a greater explanation, check the spell page, or you can watch this [thorough tutorial] made by DunkOrSlam.
- These spells all reduce either cast delay or recharge time, while also not costing much mana.
- Remember that Heavy Spread can be used on a "pointless" spell like Water, allowing you to reap the cast delay and recharge bonuses without crippling your ability to aim.
- Chaining together multiple Luminous Drills makes a drilling wand that can dig through any material.
- Using Digging Bolt or Digging Blast along with a Chainsaw can make a soft material digging wand, perfect for early game.
- These are common projectiles that modify cast delay.
- These usually can't rapid fire on their own, but putting Spitter Bolt on the starter bomb wand can give you a good demonstration of what the intended result looks like.
- Other modifiers that reduce cast delay.
- Nolla can be used to cancel any spell you've cast, only using it for its cast delay/recharge time stats.
- Remove Explosion Can be used on any old spell, it doesn't have to be an explosive to get the cast delay benefit.
Wands to look out for
Some wands are naturally suited to rapid-fire. Look for low recharge time, high mana regen and low cast delay. The starter bomb wand, as previously mentioned, has great recharge time and cast delay, but pitiful mana regen, and no capacity to play with.
Example Wands
Wand Stats & Concepts
Cast delay & Recharge time
Cast delay and Recharge time both reduce firing rate ...[todo]
Why 0.17 and 0.58?
0.17 s is roughly 10 frames (at 60fps) 0.58 s is roughly 35 frames (at 60fps)
The game counts everything in frames, and shows it to you in seconds.
Mana regen & Mana max
After delays, the main limit to how quickly a wand can fire (and how long for) comes down to mana. ...[todo]
Add Mana & Wrapping
Trick to double up on add mana by halving firing rate
Multicast
While a wand can fire at most once per frame, each of those shots can include multiple projectiles. While this guide focuses on increasing firepower by firing more often it may be more mana-efficient to cast more spells less frequently. ...[todo]
Range, Spread & Triggers
Trigger spells can be used to hide the 'bad' effects of, e.g., Heavy Spread, and also any Cast delay added inside of the trigger payload is ignored.
Optimizing your wand for short or long range is a key consideration (especially depending on the biome you are about to enter). Spread is more of an issue as range of engagement increases.