Orbs vs Rays

[Fenris-Wolf]

Hi guys,

The Sorceress in my party relies heavily on ranged touch attack spells, which is why she took point blank shot and and precise shot at the first opportunity. Unfortunately this has led to a rules question about whether or not those feats would apply to her orb of acid spells; there is a passage in the Players HB that states that they apply to Ray spells but it says nothing about orbs, probably because there were no orb spells in that book.

I checked the Complete Arcane but I didn't see any rules about about how orbs should be treated. So which is it? It would make sense if it applied since they are virtually identical except for the terminology, but it wouldn't surprise if Wizards simply forgot to add something that addressed the issue. Oh, and can I get a reference for the appropriate rule if it exists?

Thx and Cheers,

[ericgrau]

What page is that on? I only see that they apply to ranged weapons and I think all ranged touch attack rolls qualify.

[Phelix-Mu]

Complete Arcane clarifies some of the issues revolving around weapon-like spells. I'm pretty sure that Point-Blank Shot and Precise Shot will work on any ranged spell that requires an attack roll, but someone else with more certainty will likely pop up shortly.

[Eldaran]

I checked the Complete Arcane but I didn't see any rules about about how orbs should be treated.

Check page 85 of Complete Arcane. They count as weapon-like spells because they require an attack roll, so those feats do apply to them.

[Fenris-Wolf]

Thx Guys,

I checked pg 85 and it was exactly what I needed :smallsmile:


What page is that on? I only see that they apply to ranged weapons and I think all ranged touch attack rolls qualify.

pg 175 of the Players Handbook has a section on ray spells and how they work; they can be treated as weapons, thus benefiting from certain feats, crit on a 20 for double damage, etc.