I've just noticed a trend in a specific type of RPG, in which wands exist as a weapon that:
* Allows for ranged attacks
* Are typically used by mages rather than fighter-types
* Don't have ammo limits (though, for this topic, I'd accept one that has limited ammo, as long as said ammo is easy enough to get to allow it to be used as a primary weapon; in particular, if arrows are unlimited, than wand charges must be)
* Can be equipped as the primary weapon, and can therefore be used with the basic attack command as easily as a melee weapon or bow would be

Now, looking at the games where I've seen this, or at least read that they're present, we get:
* Ultima 4 (though note that the only Wand is expensive, and hence is a late-game weapon, though it's stronger than any other ranged weapon)
* Queen's Wish series
* Nox Archaist
* Realms of Antiquity

Now, looking at these games, it's evident that they're a specific type of RPG, and that type is not JRPG, nor is it modern-style WRPG. Rather, these are RPGs that:
* Have tactical combat (so that the ranged nature of wands means something)
* Are turn-based, and not just in battle (although Ultima 4 does have the moongates working in real time for some reason)
* Are overhead view tiled maps (in particular, not isometric)
* Only one of these games (Queen's Wish) will run on a modern PC without emulation (remember that Nox Archaist and Realms of Antiquity are really games developed for vintage computers and whose "PC" releases are just the game packaged with an emulator)

So, any thoughts on this? Or, any games where wands work like this, that aren't like the games I mentioned above?

(By the way, the concept is similar to the concept of cantrip spell as primary attack; this is seen in many other Spiderweb Software games (Geneforge and Avadon), as well as in Solasta and Baldur's Gate 3. The difference is that it's a spell rather than a physical weapon that's used, and therefore doesn't get equipment upgrades.)

World of Warcraft had wand wielding warlocks, mages and priests. (or at least had in vanilla and Burning Crusade. Its been over a decade since I followed that game.

Unlimited ammo, ranged (and basic) attack. Mediocre to pitiful damage whose only purpose is to preserve mana when attacking weak creatures. Against bosses they do rounding error level damage.

Necromancers in Diablo 2 often wielded wands, but not to the idea of directly interacting with monsters; they offered typically a basic + to a skill or three, and very laughable physical attack stats.

Are you mandating that the game has to be turn-based? What about [Torchlight (I have the sequel but I don't play it so I cannot confirm if it, too, has wands with infinite ammunition as primary weapons but I would expect this to be so) which is a game that does not fit any of your categories, save for range.

Is that what you are looking for?

I'm mainly making observations about the games in which I've observed this behavior, and am interested in what other games, that don't fit (like Torchlight or World of Warcraft) also happen to have this behavior.

Having range mean something is something that I would mandate for purposes of this thread, as otherwise, this conversation wouldn't really be meaningful.

(On the other hand, there are a few games that have melee weapons that do magic based damage; Queen's Wish is the one tactical example I can think of, while SaGa 1-3 (including remakes) do that with non-tactical combat.)

Well, what about staves in Skyrim? Some of them can have attack spells. They can be used by any "class" but magic-type characters skilled in the magic school of the spell will drain less charges. They do have limited charges but can be recharged with soul gems - they are harder to get than e.g. arrows but not impossible by any means.

I think the Two Worlds games also had staves as weapons which require willpower and magic skill to use but I think(?) they had unlimited charges.

The issue with these, aside from requiring recharging, is that they're not really associated with skills. That's especially true with Oblivion's version of them, where there's nothing to make staves a better option for mages than for fighters.

The need for them to be recharged is particularly significant when compared to the other main offensive magic option: Destruction magic. Thing is, magic (including Destriction) uses a resource that recharges on its own, and therefore is more suited as a primary weapon than staves which you need to go out of your way to recharge.

(Note: For purposes of this post, I'm assuming, in the Oblivion case, that the character doesn't have Stunted Magicka. The Atronach birthsign changes everything,)

Pillars of Eternity has wands. They have unlimited ammo, but ammo isn't really a thing in that game anyway.

Heretic and Hexen have wands. They're FPS though, so I'm sure you won't even consider them.

EDIT:

Oh, and that Harry Potter third person shooter.

Pillars also has scepters and rods, which are basically wands. They're differentiated as such (according to the wiki):

Wands do Pierce / Crush damage, Scepters use Crush / Slash, and Rods have more damage but lower speed and do Pierce / Slash damage.

Don't have actual data, but I had the impression that wands as weapons for mage classes is something quite common in MMOs.

Also, since you mentioned cantrips, recall that in NWN, including in some official modules, there's a Rod of Frost, casting unlimited Ray of Frost. While not equippable as a weapon, much of the time it was my weapon while playing throughout the campaigns, just keep using it while running away from enemies. Does that count?

Not sure how Path of Exile handled wands because I never played a magic user, but I vividly remember selling many wands to make the most of loot drops. They're universally 1x3 squares of inventory space and have up to 3 slots for enchantments like any weapon (of that size, or all?).

Easily my favorite depiction of wands is in Wizarding World movies just for the way they're wielded so readily by common people as guns in a red United State.

Wands as primary weapons?
Well, sharpen them up on some concrete (or actual tools if you have them) and you can maybe (if lucky) deal a lethal first blow.
They're really of more use in your boot or an equally likely unsearched area.
Given that though - metal wins due to durability, and misc uses.

Edit: if its a metallic wand, just keep moving cell to cell and hope nobody is wearing boots!

Wizardry 8 has wands that can be used as a hand melee weapon... most also have some spell effect which can go off at random or be cast a limited number of times

Those aren't the type I'm describing. Specifically:
* They're melee, not ranged.
* They work off the stats that melee attacks use. (For example, Intelligence and Power Cast don't affect them.)
* Most are usable by anyone, and those that are more restricted are generally usable by non-mages (and not always by mages).
* There's no spell effects that can go off at random.
* When used as an item, it's no longer a regular attack; plus, you don't get that many charges before you have to sell and re-buy it to recharge (something that some may regard as an exploit, and I've seen other games where the developers treated this behavior as an exploit and disallowed it). This actually feels like rods/staves in Final Fantasy 3 and 4. You equip the wand or staff, then during combat you can choose the Item command, move the cursor all the way up so that your equipped hand items become visible, then use the rod/staff as an item to cast a weak spell for free.

Worth noting, however, that:
* In original FF3 and FF4, these spells don't actually use your stats, but instead always act as though your stats are low. (This is changed in the 3D remakes.)
* In original FF3, only staves, not rods, can be used this way, Since black mages only get rods (IIRC), they don't get access to this. (Fixed in the 3D remake; black mages can equiop staves IIRC, and you get some rods to cast some mid-level spells, though by that point offensive magic is less useful.)
* Try doing this in FF5, and you'll be in for a surprise. Doing so will result in a *powerful* spell (rather than a weak one) cast, but will destroy the rod. Hope you saved! (This is, actually, worth doing; many of the next several bosses can be quickly killed by just breaking a rod or two, and these can be bought up until you reach the point where they're no longer as useful.) Not force or magic damage?

There's also Shock, Burn, Freeze, and Corrode as elemental types, and then Raw which is "Caused by venom, mental powers and rare skills. Ignores any damage reduction", but not (necessarily) magic damage, which I'm assuming the magic missiles the wands produce logically commit the crush / pierce / slash damage types anyway.