Eldritch Blast and Metamagic SLA feats

[Marlowe]

OK, so according to Complete Arcane and the SRD, a warlock's Eldritch Blast is a spell-like ability of a level equal to half the warlocks level rounded down. They can also be improved by the quicken and empower SLA feats in the monster manual.

However, going by the tables provided for those monster feats, this can never actually happen. To just use Quicken SLA as an example: You need to have 12 caster levels in order to quicken a level 1 SLA. However, at level 12 your Eldritch blast counts as level 6, so that's not going to work. I suppose you could argue you could fire off a level 1 EB for 1d6 as a quickened SLA, THEN fire off your main blast, but that's just goofy. By the time you can fire off a quickened level 6 SLA you are level 20, meaning your Eldritch blast counts as level 10.

That's all the rules I can find, yet it seems they're not complete, as I keep seeing builds using these feats. I've also noticed some off-hand comments that EB counts as a level 1 SLA that simply scales with caster level (meaning the Empower and Quicken feats start working at level 6 and 12 respectively). This seems a reasonable way of playing it, but it doesn't seem to be what the rules actually say.

What have I missed? What level does EB count as for the purposes of Metamagic SLA feats? And if it is something other than "half your warlock level rounded down", where does it say so?

[Snowbluff]

Well, that is certainly a pickle. You can use your invocations quickened, and using EB raw is never a good way of dealing damage. Eldritch Glaive (and the far superior Eldritch Claws) are way better.

[Demon of Death]

OK, so according to Complete Arcane and the SRD, a warlock's Eldritch Blast is a spell-like ability of a level equal to half the warlocks level rounded down. They can also be improved by the quicken and empower SLA feats in the monster manual.

The Complete Arcane Errata changed that, it now reads as this:


Page 7: Eldritch Blast
Second paragraph of the Eldritch Blast ability
description: Change “An eldritch blast is the equivalent of a spell
whose level is equal to one-half the warlock’s class
level (round down), with a minimum spell level of 1st
and a maximum of 9th when the warlock reaches 18th
level or higher” to “An eldritch blast is the equivalent
of a 1st-level spell. If you apply a blast shape or eldritch
essence invocation to your eldritch blast (see page 130),
your eldritch blast uses the level equivalent of the shape
or essence.”
Any other references to eldritch blast being something
other than the equivalent of a 1st-level spell should be
disregarded.
Any other references claiming that eldritch blast is not
an invocation should be disregarded.
A warlock can use eldritch blast at will

[Snowbluff]

The Complete Arcane Errata changed that, it now reads as this:

Yeah, I thought so as well, but I didn't have the errata to back me up. You can go ahead and apply MetaSLA to you Eldritch blast, but it's still not very effective unless combined with the melee options.

[nedz]

Some Examples

Eldritch Blast is a level 1 SLA
Applying Eldritch Spear would make it a level 2 SLA
Applying Vitriolic Blast would make it a level 6 SLA
Applying Eldritch Spear and Vitriolic Blast would still make it a level 6 SLA

[Marlowe]

Thanks for the quick response--I was sure I was missing something crucial. And I was pretty sure it was the errata. However I couldn't find it on-line.

I hereby declare this thread is now about kittens.

[Duke of URL]

Yeah, I think the original intent was to allow the Warlock's EB to scale in terms of overcoming effects based on spell level, but then they realized they screwed the Warlock out of the metamagic SLA feats they actually intended the Warlock to use.

Note the former problem is overcome by adding a shape and/or essence to the blast anyway.

If your DM is amenable, a simple formula to determine the equivalent MM SLA feat for any Metamagic feat would be that the minimum caster level would be equal to: (effective spell level + metatmagic level adjustment) x 2. E.g., to use Fell Animate (+3) on a 4th-level spell equivalent SLA would require a minimum CL of (4+3)x2 = 14.

[Chronos]

I hereby declare this thread is now about kittens.Ooh, good call, Tibbits make great warlocks.

[nedz]

These do come with a level limit, there's a table in the MM. So even though you have the feat you may not be able to metamagic all of the shapes and essences you know.

[Darth Stabber]

Ooh, good call, Tibbits make great warlocks.

Agreed. ALL HAIL THE ELDRITCH KITTEH!!!!!!!!!!1!!!1!!!1

[Lateral]

Ooh, good call, Tibbits make great warlocks.

Better dragonfire adepts, though. I prefer firebreathing kittens to laser kittens.

[Marlowe]

Do Eldritch kittens have to take Leaps and Bounds? Or is that a houserule?:smallconfused: