Ocular Spell Shenanigans

[Marthinwurer]

I was just playing a one shot tonight, and I was trying to think of how I could get use an extra feat for a Mailman sorcerer from a flaw. I decided to take Ocular Spell. This is basically the poor man's arcane fusion: you can cast any two spells, as long as you're fine with them being 60 foot rays and taking two rounds to prepare. According to the RAW thread, you can target yourself with a ray, so put true strike in one eye and whatever other spell you want to deliver in the other. My favorite choices for low level (six and below) that I have just come up with are combust, shocking grasp, and the lesser orb line. Now, I'm groggy and about to go to bed, so you can point out all the flaws while I sleep :smalltongue:

[Zombulian]

I was just playing a one shot tonight, and I was trying to think of how I could get use an extra feat for a Mailman sorcerer from a flaw. I decided to take Ocular Spell. This is basically the poor man's arcane fusion: you can cast any two spells, as long as you're fine with them being 60 foot rays and taking two rounds to prepare. According to the RAW thread, you can target yourself with a ray, so put true strike in one eye and whatever other spell you want to deliver in the other. My favorite choices for low level (six and below) that I have just come up with are combust, shocking grasp, and the lesser orb line. Now, I'm groggy and about to go to bed, so you can point out all the flaws while I sleep :smalltongue:

Wait... So what do you want?

[Marthinwurer]

You spend two rounds putting both true strike and a high powered spell in each of your eyes with ocular spell. Then, as a full-round action, you target yourself with true strike, and then get the +20 to hit for the other. It's a good first round opener.

edit: oops, you wanted what I want, not clarification of what you're supposed to do. Honestly, I just want to share this and get confirmation of whether it works.

[Cruiser1]

You spend two rounds putting both true strike and a high powered spell in each of your eyes with ocular spell.
Not allowed, unfortunately. :smallfrown: Ocular Spell can't be used with Range: Personal spells such as True Strike (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/trueStrike.htm).

The classic (ab)use of Ocular Spell is to convert touch and variable range spells to 60 foot fixed range rays, which (assuming spell stacking rules) makes normally illegal spells eligible for Persistent Spell. Once virtually every spell can be persisted, you can optimize builds to the level of Priya the Prismatic Priestess (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=280365). :smallbiggrin:

[Marthinwurer]

Ok, thanks! I guess I missed the line that said that...

[Zombulian]

Ok, thanks! I guess I missed the line that said that...

Eh not really a bid deal. You can quicken True Strike and fire off two Scorching Rays/Combusts in one round. So that's pretty decent, especially for a Spellwarp Sniper build.

[Chronos]

Yes, but only one of them would gain the benefits of True Strike, which explicitly only affects one attack roll.

Still, though, ranged touch attacks usually aren't too hard to hit on, anyway. By the time you can pull off tricks like this, you may well be hitting on a 2 even without the True Strike.

[Zombulian]

Yes, but only one of them would gain the benefits of True Strike, which explicitly only affects one attack roll.

Still, though, ranged touch attacks usually aren't too hard to hit on, anyway. By the time you can pull off tricks like this, you may well be hitting on a 2 even without the True Strike.

Yeah, heck just shoot another Scorching Ray with that quicken.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Get Arcane Thesis: Enervation, along with Ocular Spell, Split Ray, Sanctum Spell, Twin Spell, and a Lesser Rod of Maximize.

Sanctum Spell heightens it by -1 level, making it count as a 3rd level spell and a valid target for a lesser metamagic rod.

With Incantatrix 10, you get -1 metamagic cost to all of your metamagic feats, so Ocular is +1, Split Ray is +1, and Twin is +3. You're using five metamagic feats counting the rod, so Arcane Thesis reduces the total metamagic cost by five, allowing you to still cast it from a 4th level slot with everything attached.

Set two of those up ahead of time, and you can spend a full round action to fire four rays which each deal eight negative levels, targeted at one to four opponents in any combination you want.

Just to point out, an E6 Dread Necromancer with Versatile Spellcaster can do this, and is almost guaranteed to one-shot four opponents in a single round, or his own party if he were so inclined.

[Zombulian]

Get Arcane Thesis: Enervation, along with Ocular Spell, Split Ray, Sanctum Spell, Twin Spell, and a Lesser Rod of Maximize.

Sanctum Spell heightens it by -1 level, making it count as a 3rd level spell and a valid target for a lesser metamagic rod.

With Incantatrix 10, you get -1 metamagic cost to all of your metamagic feats, so Ocular is +1, Split Ray is +1, and Twin is +3. You're using five metamagic feats counting the rod, so Arcane Thesis reduces the total metamagic cost by five, allowing you to still cast it from a 4th level slot with everything attached.

Set two of those up ahead of time, and you can spend a full round action to fire four rays which each deal eight negative levels, targeted at one to four opponents in any combination you want.

Just to point out, an E6 Dread Necromancer with Versatile Spellcaster can do this, and is almost guaranteed to one-shot four opponents in a single round, or his own party if he were so inclined.

Since when is Ocular Spell a metamagic? I didn't know it increased effective spell level...

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Since when is Ocular Spell a metamagic? I didn't know it increased effective spell level...

The feat's name ends with [Metamagic].

The feat's text doesn't end at the bottom of the page, it continues at the top of the right column:
"An ocular spell uses up a spell slot two levels higher than the spell’s actual level."

[Waddacku]

But can you apply Split Ray after Ocular Spell? Ocular Spell specifies a single ray (which also means it makes scorching ray worse than if it was un-metamagicked).

[Zombulian]

The feat's name ends with [Metamagic].

The feat's text doesn't end at the bottom of the page, it continues at the top of the right column:
"An ocular spell uses up a spell slot two levels higher than the spell’s actual level."

Well I'll be...

[Zanos]

But can you apply Split Ray after Ocular Spell? Ocular Spell specifies a single ray (which also means it makes scorching ray worse than if it was un-metamagicked).
The example given in the ocular spell text is actually scorching ray, and it specifies that you get all of your rays from each spell. You use ocular spell to store a metamagic'd version of the spell in your eyes.

[Elderand]

I know this is an old post but I'm curious as to how and Incantatrix 10 with whose feats and everything set up ahead of time deals any neg levels?

Because it's using the enervation spell ?

[TwistedFaith]

I realized that after the fact of the post. sorry