The Tavern

I've found an early +0 rod of destruction (D7, on a DrTm who has just adopted Sif).

1) Is that good?
2) I know evocations helps on rods. But how much? If using a rod like this as a ranged option, how much would you usually prioritise Evocations?

Seems like rods might be nice on a transmuter - you don't have to worry about switching because it just melds away.

Well, most rods are really really god, you effectively got handed a self-recharging 0-skill wand of fire. Evo training is also very good with it, and I'd definitely put points in it. Maybe 7 before lair? You get really good returns from it.

1. It's great. If there's a charge in the rod, there is really no reason not to use it at the start of any moderately threatening fight.

2. According to LearnDB:

So it's kind of similar to how training Spellcasting boosts your MP regen (by raising max MP, which is what regen is pegged to) and lowers spell hunger -- but here spell hunger matters even less than for conjurations-heavy characters, because the rod's limited MP pool and slow recharge rate means you are casting less frequently. Personally, if I had a stack of recharge scrolls, I would burn some of them on this rod as soon as there was a situationally-appropriate opportunity (i.e. drained it in combat and have a good reason to use it again immediately). And I would put points into Evo (but probably not prioritize it over my core skills) until I was happy with the recharge rate, which is a totally subjective thing based on how often I think "dang, wish that rod had recharged more".

For the record: it was great. It made my transmuter all sorts of better. Two or three casts before every hard fight reliably made life hugely easier (and often just ended the fight).

Unfortunately, I suck at transmuters - it's sooo hard to remember how fragile you are - and died totally unnecessarily despite this. But I'll definitely use rods more in future, particularly early ones.