Line #32 Main/MagicMissileStorm


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11	[[quoteright:350:[[TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_26637qvkcsa31.png]]]]
12	[[caption-width-right:350:[[https://www.reddit.com/r/criticalrole/comments/ce7lz6/no_spoilers_my_painting_of_caleb_casting_magic/ Image]] by [[https://tartankiwi.artstation.com Daniel Denova.]] Used with permission.]]
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14	-> ''"Starting the confrontation alone, he singlehandedly charged the mutant and orcs with nothing but his bare hands. As soon as they were within ''magic missile's'' range he unleashed a flurry of magical energy missiles. In the space of a few seconds, dozens of ''magic missiles'' flew from his fingertips: cutting down waves of orcs with incredible speed."''
15	--> -- [[http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Magic_Missile_Stormer_%283.5e_Optimized_Character_Build%29 "Magic Missile Stormer (3.5e Optimized Character Build),"]] D&D Wiki
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17	{{Squishy Wizard}}s enjoy {{Spam Attack}}s too. For many spellcasters, their version is likely to be manifested in a Magic Missile Storm. This attack sends out a swarm of magical projectiles, likely in the form of glowing energy orbs or pointed arrow-like shapes. These projectiles will probably leave colored trails in the air as they move, spreading out to weave and turn through the air before converging and impacting the opponent in rapid succession, bombarding them with arcane fury.
18
19	A subtrope of HomingProjectile.
20
21	Compare BeamSpam, {{Roboteching}} and MacrossMissileMassacre, as an example could be this trope and one of them as well. Not to be confused with ProjectileSpell, which refers to spells behaving like line-of-sight projectiles that can be dodged.
22
23	----
24	!!Examples:
25	[[foldercontrol]]
26
27	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
28	* ''Manga/FairyTail'': Sting's [[HolyHandGrenade White Dragon Slayer Magic]] spell "Holy Ray" takes the form of a barrage of white homing beams of magic.
29	* Most of the cures in ''Anime/HeartcatchPrettyCure'' use a Forte Wave as their standard FinishingMove, which fires a large energy blast in the shape of a flower bud. The one exception is Cure Sunshine, whose Gold Forte ''Burst'' launches dozens of sunflowers instead.
30	* Several spells in ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha''. These types of shooting spells are some of the easiest and fastest to cast for a mage, and could be used as suppression fire as well as direct attacks. These spells often come with alternate versions that change the amount of energy bullets and/or the way they are fired at the enemy. In particular, if the name of the spell is followed by something like Phalanx Shift or Genocide Shift, you should be ready to block or dodge like hell as you will be faced with a veritable wall of energy projectiles. Examples of these include Nanoha's Divine/Axel Shooter (homing energy spheres whose every movement Nanoha could control), Fate's Photon/Plasma Lancer (arrow-shaped bolts of energy with limited homing capabilities. Comes in several variations and could be combined into an energy lance), Teana's Cross Fire Shoot (controllable energy spheres like Nanoha's, but could alternatively be fired as a BeamSpam instead), and Vivio's Sonic Shooter (Controllable energy orbs like her Nanoha-mama.)
31	* In ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'' one of the most basic and common offensive spells is Sagitta Magica (Magical Arrows). They come in a variety of [[ElementalPowers elemental types]] with different properties, and almost every mage is seen using the spell at one point. Near the end of the manga Negi fires off a volley of 1,001 light Sagitta at Fate, who notes that while Sagitta Magica is a low-end spell Negi has scaled it up so much that it's essentially the same as an anti-army spell.
32	* ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'':
33	** [[TopGod Arceus]]'s Judgment attack is portrayed as one of these in ''Anime/PokemonArceusAndTheJewelOfLife'', with numerous projectiles fired into the sky that then rain down like meteors and cause a comparable amount of destruction.
34	** [[AlwaysAccurateAttack Swift]] is generally depicted as a homing barrage of star-shaped projectiles made of PureEnergy.
35	* ''Literature/{{Slayers}}'': The spells Burst Rondo (weak) and Rune Flare (strong) do this.
36	[[/folder]]
37
38	[[folder:Fan Works]]
39	* ''Fanfic/TheNightUnfurls'': A Call Beyond is one of Kyril's non-melee weapons. It unleashes a [[StarPower small star that explodes into streaks of light]] that bombard anything in their vicinity, true to [[VideoGame/BloodBorne the game]] it is featured in. It is used in Chapter 20 of the original version to [[BreachingTheWall make a gap in a fortress wall]], which allows Kyril and his company to infiltrate the Leaping Lizard stronghold. [[spoiler:Chapter 6 of the remastered version ends with Kyril using it to insta-kill Vault and his men. Not only is this an [[OhCrap "Oh Crap!"]] moment for the ones on the receiving end, but it is also one for Olga as well -- even an experienced BlackMagic user like her has never seen such a powerful spell before. That is the day she realised the power gap between the two has never been more apparent than before.]]
40	[[/folder]]
41
42	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
43	* In the climax of ''Film/FantasticBeastsAndWhereToFindThem'', a group of twenty or so wizard policemen end up simultaneously blasting offensive spells at a single target. [[spoiler:The combined force of the spells is enough to obliterate a sentient storm of dark magic; however, trying the same thing on the magical terrorist Grindelwald fails because he's skilled enough to block each of their spells with individual Shield Charms]].
44	[[/folder]]
45
46	[[folder:Literature]]
47	* In ''Literature/TheBlackMagicianTrilogy'', Sonea, a prodigiously strong mage and the only non-aristocrat in WizardingSchool, is challenged to a WizardDuel by a bratty classmate. Although she could easily overwhelm him by raw force, she opts to use an elaborate, highly technically challenging Magic Missile Storm as her finishing move, to demonstrate that she's both StrongAndSkilled.
48	* In ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'', "Arrows of Fire" is a rare spell to fire off hair-thin filaments, each of which can punch a sizable hole in its target, carry through to a OneHitPolykill, and instantly flicker over to a new set of targets. Rand can manage a hundred filaments at a time, which utterly devastates an attacking [[OurOrcsAreDifferent Trolloc]] army.
49	[[/folder]]
50
51	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
52	* ''Series/KamenRiderDenO'' has the Boistous Shot, Climax Form's Gun Form-based 'Charge And Up' finisher is this.
53	[[/folder]]
54
55	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
56	* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'':
57	** ''[[http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/magicMissile.htm Magic missile]]'' and assorted stronger spells bearing the name "Missile Storm" in some manner are the TropeNamers, and are often depicted as this trope in video games. For so basic a spell (it can be learned by 1st level arcane spellcasters) ''magic missile'' is an extremely versatile weapon (due in large part to being incapable of missing, but also because it does force damage which is effective against incorporeal beings), and there's a number of builds that are designed around maximizing its potential.
58	*** FlavorText from the D&D Wiki article for one of them, [[http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Magic_Missile_Stormer_%283.5e_Optimized_Character_Build%29 Magic Missile Stormer]], provides the page quote.
59	** The Wand of Magic Missiles is an item that lets the user fire up to ten such missiles once per day, but using the last one has a possibility of misfiring and destroying the wand.
60	** The high-level spell Meteor Swarm does much the same as Magic Missile, but targets a huge area.
61	** 5th edition's version of the ''eldritch blast'' cantrip can shoot up to four projectiles at once, each of which is less accurate but more powerful than those of ''magic missile''.
62	* In ''Tabletopgame/{{Pathfinder}}'', magic missile is BoringButPractical. It doesn't do much damage, but it [[AlwaysAccurateAttack never misses]], it's available from level 1, and it deals force damage that few monsters have resistance against. With the right feats and a high enough level, a caster can fire fifteen in a single round, with extra feats extending the range, increasing the damage, letting the missiles turn corners, or even [[FixedDamageAttack ignore rolling damage altogether and just deal the maximum possible amount]].
63	[[/folder]]
64
65	[[folder:Video Games]]
66	* While the ''VideoGame/BaldursGate'' games don't have any dedicated Magic Missile Storm spells aside from the basic Magic Missile (which lets you fire 5 at once if your level's high enough,) from 2 onwards there are certain spells you can exploit to bury your opponent in Magic Missiles, including Sequencer spells (allowing you to cast more than one spell at once,) Time Stop (pretty self-explanatory) and Improved Alacrity (removes the delay between spell castings, allowing you to cast a spell immediately after another spell. And since Magic Missile's casting time is near-instantaneous...)
67	** The Infinity Engine used for Baldur's Gate can actually handle literally eleven magic missiles being fired from a single spell, but the only way to see it is to install a GameMod that actually uses this capability.
68	** ''VideoGame/BaldursGateIII'' has multiple spells like this from ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragonsFifthEdition''.
69	* ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}''
70	** The "A Call Beyond" spell, which bombs an area with magic missiles. It's actually treated as an off-hand weapon (represented by a small, etherial creature that looks like a sea slug), since the game uses Enchanted Device Magic.
71	** At enough Insight, certain enemies, such as the Hemwick Witches, have a lantern covered in eyeballs that lets them spam ''Call Beyond.''
72	** Ebrietas, Daughter of the Cosmos is the source of the spell, and she casts it in salvos of 3.
73	* ''VideoGame/CrescentPaleMist'': Yunou's Rowanveld PM is essentially a variation of this. When Pale Mist is around her, pressing Special (or Down, Down+Special) will unleash [[StormOfBlades a storm of magical swords]] against her foes.
74	* Several of these are found in the ''Souls'' series. Both [[VideoGame/DarkSouls Dark Souls 1]] and [[VideoGame/DarkSoulsII Dark Souls 2]] have them in the form of the various Soulmass spells, along with the Pursuers in the original (changed to Affinity in the sequel). The sequel adds a number of these spells, including [[DeathOfAThousandCuts Soul]] [[DeathFromAbove Shower]] and [[ShortRangeShotgun Dark Hail]].
75	* ''VideoGame/DawnOfWar'': the Chaos Sorcerer's Doombolt.
76	* ''VideoGame/DiabloIII'': The Wizard's Arcane Torrent skill fires small pinkish/purple filaments at a targeted location, bombarding any enemies in the vicinity.
77	* ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'' has the Missile Barrage spell which fires twelve magic missiles at a time that correspond to the caster's staff element. With certain weapons, the amount of missiles fired doubles to 24, and with each individual projectile being able to [[CriticalHit crit]], dealing high damage and potentially triggering Masterwork effects in the process, this entry-level spell becomes downright devastating when set up right. It also cools down fast, has amazing synergies with most {{Prestige Class}}es and can be switched between single target and fire-and-forget area bombardment modes, making it one of the most powerful and most versatile spells in any mage's repertoire.
78	* ''VideoGame/DragonsDogma'' has the Magick Cannon spell, which summons a magical orb that when struck, launches a single homing magic missile at an enemy. Its upgraded version, Great Cannon, fires three of the same magic missiles per hit. The Mystic Knight class has multiple multi-hit skills; one of them, Full Moon Slash, hits the cannon five times. And the player can summon multiple cannons, potentially launching approximately thirty magic missiles per second.
79	* In ''VideoGame/DustAnElysianTail'', it's possible to do this by having [[ExpositionFairy Fidget]] fire a couple of magic projectiles, then use [[WeaponTwirling Dust Storm]] to give them more energy and home in on every enemy on the screen.
80	* ''VideoGame/EldenRing'' also has this in the form of "Pest Threads", an incantation used primarily by the Kindred of Rot; the player can also purchase and use this incantation.
81	* ''VideoGame/FairyBloomFreesia'' has two of these magical attacks, that can be rapidly cast the create the effect:
82	** The Swallow attack, where, from Freesia's back, comes a "a magical blast that splits into multiple homing bullets."
83	** The Peacock attack, where a large and small orb of blue light accelerate forwards from Freesia, a distance, then home in on enemies, turning around, if necessary. But, both orbs move together, and are treated as a single hitbox.
84	* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'':
85	** The recurring spells Matra Magic and Holy are frequently depicted in this manner franchise-wide.
86	** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'': [[HumongousMecha Alexander's]] [[LightEmUp Divine Judgment]] is depicted in this manner. [[BigBad Kuja's]] [[DesperationAttack Ultima]] combines this trope with DeathFromAbove.
87	** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'': The Holy spell manifests in a similar manner as Divine Judgement.
88	** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'': Ashe's Heaven's Wrath and Penelo's Evanescence and Intercession.
89	** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'': Alexander returns with this, as the summon for Hope, the game's resident SquishyWizard. Hope's LimitBreak attack, Final Resort, is also this.
90	** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'': The RedMage's level-3 LimitBreak attack, Vermillion Scourge, creates a large magic sigil on the target area where a barrage of magical bolts are fired, creating a mighty explosion. The Summoner’s level 3 Limit Break, Teraflare, has them [[WillingChanneler channel the power of Bahamut]] to bombard a large area with exploding magical projectiles.
91	** ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy'': This is [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII Ultimecia's]] entire fighting style, particularly with Knight's Blade and Knight's Arrow. The [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII Cloud of Darkness]] does this for some of her attacks which are otherwise [[ProjectileSpell Projectile Spells]]. For single attacks, there's [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX Zidane's]] Scoop Art and Solution IX, [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyI Garland's]] Blaze, [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII Squall]]'s Fire Barret, and [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyX Yuna's]] charged Impulse. Holy and Ultima used by various characters are also present.
92	* The "Chaser" spell from ''VideoGame/GinormoSword'' makes you fire out a huge amount of homing magic projectiles. It's pretty much the best spell in the game.
93	* ''VideoGame/GoldenSun'' has several summons that take this form: Mercury hits the enemy with blasts of water, Atalanta with hundreds of magic arrows, and Boreas with huge chunks of ice.
94	* In ''VideoGame/GrimDawn'', the Arcanist's ''Panetti's Replicating Missile'' skill. Once this baby fires up, it will multiply on impact and flood the screen with magic projectiles.
95	* Artesia from ''VideoGame/HeroesOfNewerth'' is a hero built entirely around spamming magic missiles. Her main ability is a long-range, semi-homing magic projectile with a low cooldown, she has a passive which fires smaller magic bolts at enemies with each spellcast, her second ability reduces the cooldown of her missiles while firing bolts around her, and her ultimate summons a beacon which copies her spellcasts.
96	* ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'':
97	** Series-wide there's the Ragnarok attack, which fires a storm of energy beams that converge on enemies.
98	** ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'':
99	*** Sora's Wisdom Form shoots out flurries of homing magic shots from his Keyblade.
100	*** Xemnas shoots his [[LaserBlade Ethereal Blades]] as projectiles, sometimes from his hand and sometimes creating a line of them in the air that fire at once. In his final attack, he shoots literally ''thousands'' of these projectiles at the protagonists, who have to spend a solid 30 seconds doing nothing but blocking incoming blasts from all directions in order to survive.
101	*** Xigbar can do this with his magic bullets.
102	** ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep'': There are generally three types of Shotlocks -- fire several projectiles in waves, fire a barrage continuously, or perform dash attacks. Many of the former two categories fit this trope.
103	** In ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts3DDreamDropDistance'', [[spoiler:Young Xehanort]] can fire projectiles in this manner.
104	* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'': Ganondorf does this as a DesperationAttack.
105	* ''Franchise/MassEffect'' does this with some [[MagicByAnyOtherName biotic]] attacks from the second installment on.
106	* Once you reach a certain point in ''VideoGame/NeoTheWorldEndsWithYou'', you gain access to the ultimate form of your LimitBreak called the Killer Remix, which can only be activated by reaching 300% Groove and involves Rindo and his allies teleporting above the arena before bombarding everything on the field with an utterly destructive storm of psychic blasts.
107	* ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights'' and ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights2'' escalate the standard D&D ''magic missile'' spell with two spells titled ''[[https://nwn.fandom.com/wiki/Isaac%27s_lesser_missile_storm Isaac's missile storm]], an AreaOfEffect spell that rains {{Roboteching}} magical projectiles across an eight-meter radius. It's not great against multiple targets, but if there are more missiles than targets, they'll converge, meaning it's extremely effective against a single target.. For a not quite so literally "magic missile" version there is also ''[[http://nwn2.wikia.com/wiki/Flame_Arrow Flame Arrow]]'', which may confuse some players because [[http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/flameArrow.htm the 3E Standard Reference Document]] has the pen-and-paper version as an enchantment to be applied to projectiles, rather than its NWN implementation as a barrage of fireballs.
108	* ''VideoGame/{{NieR}}'' has two of Grimoire Weiss's spells, "Dark Blast" and "Dark Lance". Dark Blast rapidly fires small, individually weak projectiles, and unleashes a small swarm of homing projectiles when charged. Dark Lance fires larger and stronger projectiles, and when charged, creates multiple projectiles that are launched in quick succession. Various enemies are also capable of unleashing barrages of magical projectiles that would feel at home in a BulletHell shooter.
109	* In ''VideoGame/PillarsOfEternity'' Minoletta was an expert at this as most of her spells involve a barrage of magic missiles. This culminates in ''Videogame/PillarsOfEternityIIDeadfire'' where her final spell, appropriately called Minoletta's Missile Salvo, is a magical M3 (M4?) concentrated in a small area.
110	* The Dark Magician class in ''VideoGame/{{Rappelz}}'' gets a spell called "Darkness Arrow" that is more accurately described as a MacrossMissileMassacre of [[CastingAShadow shadow-element magic]].
111	* ''VideoGame/RagnarokOnline'' mages can use the Soul Strike spell to this effect, firing up to five spirit projectiles at once.
112	* In ''VideoGame/SakuraWars2019'', Claris's LimitBreak attack, "Arbitre D'enfer", casts a swarm of magical bolts upon multiple enemies -- or in the case of bosses, concentrates magical bolts on them.
113	* ''VideoGame/SorcerorsMaze'', a 90s ''Breakout'' clone for the [=PlayStation=] have a power-up that splits your ball into a hundred balls, filling the entire screen with projectiles destroying everything onscreen. This particular power-up can insta-clear any level within seconds, but sadly [[ContractualBossImmunity you're not allowed access to it during boss segments]].
114	* While the Fireball spell in the ''[[VideoGame/TalesSeries Tales]]'' games normally fires three projectiles, [[VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia Rita Mordio]] can fire as many as ten [[EvolvingAttack if she uses it often enough]].
115	* ''{{VideoGame/Terraria}}'' has a weapon called the Crystal Storm, which can fire magic crystal shards at a rate of 8.5 a ''second''.
116	* ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' is a fantasy-themed BulletHell series. This trope is basically the premise.
117	** Even amongst Touhou, special mention has to go to series deuteragonist [[CuteWitch Marisa Kirisame]], whose entire arsenal is either this or somewhere on the line between KamehameHadouken and WaveMotionGun. One of her shot types is even called "Magic Missile", though unlike most examples of this trope, Marisa's attacks exclusively fly straight, as, by her own admission, she focuses on power and flashiness above all else.
118	* ''{{VideoGame/Undertale}}'': This is the most common way that bosses try to kill you. Special mentions go to Flowey, who in his very first appearance, fires an [[UnblockableAttack inescapable ring of bullets]] at you, and [[WakeUpCallBoss Undyne the Undying,]] who can have 40+ magic spears on screen at the same time.
119	* ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII'' has the Goblin Tinker's Cluster Rockets, magical missiles that bombard an area and stun all units inside (and is often modified to make it a more literal magical barrage).
120	* Quite a few spells in Ernothian trilogy of ''Videogame/MightAndMagic'' is like this. There are spells like Meteor Shower or Starburst that summon magical meteors or stars in the sky to rain down on your enemies, Shrapmetal that shoots multiple heated metal chunks in front of you, Sparks, that do the same but with [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin sparks]], the list goes on...
121	* In ''VideoGame/CrescentPaleMist'', Yunou's primary means of dealing damage is using her Rowanveld PM by using the Pale Mist wisp expelled from enemies after striking them with her sword, or expelling her own Pale Mist reserves by pressing Down, Down + Special or performed immediately by double tapping Triangle while holding on the second press.
122	[[/folder]]
123
124	[[folder:Web Comic]]
125	* ''WebComic/TheGamer'': [[TheHero Han Jee-Han]]'s main attack was, for a long time, spamming mana arrows. Due to his insanely high mana regeneration, he could keep it going on forever.
126	* ''WebComic/TheGreatWizardTranscendent'' Mikhail could fire multiple magic missiles and alter the paths at once with his experience.
127	* In ''WebComic/TowerOfGod'', the simplest way to attack with Shinsu seems to be to create a Bang, a glowing sphere (and basic unit) of Shinsu, and hurl it at your enemy. Those who can control multiple Bang can make a Magic Missile Storm by launching several.
128	[[/folder]]
129
130	[[folder:Web Video]]
131	* ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'': Scanlan possesses a Wand of Magic Missile that can release up to nine missiles in one blast.
132	[[/folder]]

Context Main / MagicMissileStorm