Arcane manipulations question

[Melcar]

I was wondering, after being told that my understanding of this feat was wrong, if anyone here could explain the feat.

Now it is my understanding that this feat allows a mage to break up spells. So if you had a spell that was actually a level 18 spell (because of meta-magic), you could, instead of having an actual level 18 slot prepare that meta-magiced spell in two level 9 slots or 3 level 6 slots? So on and so forth.

Is this the correct interpretation?

[Erik Vale]

Nope, you have it the wrong way around. If you had a level 18 slot, you could put two level 9 spells in [or some other variation that added to 18 levels], but not the other way around... That's what Ultimate Magus is for.

[Elxir_Breauer]

From what I gathered, it works more like a reverse form of Versatile Spellcaster from Races of the Dragon. Instead of combining two spell slots of the same level to make a new one of the next level up, you break a higher level spell slot into lower level ones for more options of lower level spells. If you break a 9th level spell slot up, you get spell slots in any combination totaling 9 spell levels. If you somehow managed to get an 18th level spell slot (not possible from what I understand, as even Epic Spells take up a 10th level Spell Slot, theoretically) you could break the slot itself down into a couple of 9ths, but you couldn't prepare an 18th level spell in two 9th level slots to make up for the lack of an 18th level slot.


Elxir Breauer, at your service...

[Chronos]

Epic Spellcasting won't give you 18th (or 10th) level slots, but Improved Spell Capacity can. Though you'd need to get pretty far into epic to get that many feats for it.

[Melcar]

I'm quite sad that my interpretation was not the correct one. This makes the feat a lot less powerful so to speak. Are there any things that actually does what I believe the feat to do? Or do I need to simply come op with my own feat for this?

[OldTrees1]

I'm quite sad that my interpretation was not the correct one. This makes the feat a lot less powerful so to speak. Are there any things that actually does what I believe the feat to do? Or do I need to simply come op with my own feat for this?

Well "No and yes".
No, there is nothing remotely similar to the "use 9 1st level slots to cast a 9th level spell".

However there is
Versatile Spellcaster feat[cast a Nth level spell with 2 N-1th level spell slots]
and
Ultimate Magus 3 class feature[sacrifice a Nth level slot from one class to use a +N metamagic on a spell cast from another class]

Together a Wizard/Sorcerer/Ultimate Magus could sacrifice 2 4th level Sorcerer slots to cast Cone of Cold[5th level spell] and sacrifice a 4th level Wizard slot to add the Twin spell[+4] metamagic effect to the spell.

[With a box]

Or play StP Erudite