Whenever you compare Chromatic Orb to the other 1st level spells of the wizard and sorcerer, then the benefits become even more clear. Burning hands does some serious fire damage in a 15-foot cone, but it does allow enemies to dodge out of the way with a Dexterity Saving Throw. But it does require your very squishy wizard to be very close to the enemies you are attacking, and if they don’t die, they’ll be coming after you. Magic Missile is a pretty powerful and useful spell that always hits and deals force damage. However, the damage output is pretty low with 10 force damage done on average. It might kill the low level enemies you fight, but it won’t do too much against bigger foes unless others have whittled them down first. Finally, Ice Knife is a pretty good spell, and it can do some good initial and some good splash damage. However, you need to be able to throw it whenever two or more enemies are 5 feet apart from one another, which doesn’t happen as often as you think. Of course, you should pick spells based on other things than raw damage, as you can pick a spell for characterization or because your character will look cool while casting it! It really doesn’t matter, but if you are looking for damage and also versatility, then this spell overpowers the rest of the 1st level choices.