I don't know if it's intentional or not, but i've noticed when playing a Wizard, whatever my weapon is i'm using increases my spell's damage greatly. when using a wand it takes me 4 shots to kill a carrion bat with arcane missle, but when i equip a short sword, it only takes one. it also increases the damage of ray of frost.
Every skill in the game, including spells, uses the damage values of your current weapon. If you have a sword that is an upgrade from a wand, the sword will deal more damage.
