Diablo III- Skills Article CXXVIII: The Wizard, Primary Skills- Magic Missile

Magic Missile: Launch a missile that deals 110% weapon damage as Arcane damage.

Magic Missile is likely the most basic Primary Skill in the entirety of Diablo III.  A simple single projectile, the fact that it deals Arcane damage is nearly negligible- many Wizards will have Magic Wands equipped, which frequently deal Arcane damage and like Magic Missile, launch a single projectile that hits a lone target.  This means that the primary purpose of Magic Missile is the extra 10% damage- and while it’s nothing startling, it’s a useful and basic increase.  Magic Missile’s real power, however, is in two forms- its runes give it a lot of versatility for one.  The other is that, as it costs nothing to perform, it makes a passable way to spend your time once your Arcane Power runs dry, as you wait to recharge.

Charged Blast: Launch a missile that deals 143% weapon damage as Arcane damage.

One of the larger direct increases to damage available as a rune (proportionately speaking- a 3/10 increase), Charged Blast follows the old Demon Hunter maxim, ‘And then I do it even harder’.  A good base rune for the spell, but chances are you’ll find yourself choosing a different rune before long if you keep using Magic Missile.

Split: Launch a spread of three missiles that deal 50% weapon damage as Arcane damage each.

Your basic multi-pronged attack, Split uses a sixty-degree three-way shot arc, so while it can be nice against nearby clusters of enemies, most of the time the extra blasts are unlikely to hit much in an uncluttered screen.  The damage isn’t very impressive either, so this really isn’t a rune you’re likely to be attracted to.

Penetrating Blast: Launch a missile that deals 110% weapon damage as Arcane damage and has a 70% chance to continue on past each target it hits.

This rune is for dealing with distant crowds, particularly when said crowds have been weakened by your secondary and hotbar skills.  It still isn’t going to win any prizes for flashiness or power, but it stands a good shot of taking out multiple targets if you’ve already weakened them.

Attunement: Launch a missile that deals 110% weapon damage as Arcane damage and restores 4 Arcane Power when it hits.

If you’re sticking to Magic Missile as your Primary skill and you find yourself waiting longer than you like to regain Arcane Power, this rune will restore your resource faster.  Not the most efficient way to do it, given the other Primary Skills available- but then, Magic Missile has always been about reliability more than anything else.

Seeker: Launch a missile that seeks out and hits a target for  121% weapon damage as Arcane damage.

This is actually where Magic Missile becomes useful on its own- while Penetrating Blast makes a good inexpensive finisher, Attunement is reliable Arcane Power recovery, and Charged Blast is decent damage, Seeker lets you stand and fire at will without bothering to aim.  This can be a great boon in a crowded battlefield when you’ve run short on Arcane Power, since you don’t have to retarget when the thing you were firing on dies.