True strike?

[trikkydik]

I saw this spell in the books, and haven't seen much chatter about it.

Level 1 spell - grants +20 to your next attack.

As long as i have the "Improved unarmed strike" feat, i can cast touch attacks against even monks of equal level. (Provided i have a good dexterity modifier) still, +20 to a base attack + modifier is really high.

Disintegrate spells are essentially unavoidable with this combo.

Looking for general banter.

[Beheld]

It's a spell? You are spending a standard action to almost guarantee your next attack will hit. If you were going to hit 50% of the time, you are pretty much in same place you were already in. If you are high enough level that you don't care about level 1 slots, then like all buff routines before ambushes it provides some benefit for negligible cost.

The best uses are probably power attacking for full on a charge. Touch spells are already going to hit more than 50% of the time anyway, so for the most part you are better off just casting them without using this spell.

And yeah, you can unavoidably force someone to make a Fort save or take damage, but since you can also unavoidably force people to make a Fort Save or turn to stone, that sounds incredibly unimpressive for a two round combo.

[Troacctid]

Okay with Power Attack. Useful in Mailman builds with Arcane Fusion. Good with Quicken Spell, especially if you can do it for free, e.g. as a duskblade. Occasionally handy to have in your back pocket against high-AC enemies like will-o-wisps.

Generally, though, if you had the ability to use it at will, you would still almost never use it.

[Willie the Duck]

I saw this spell in the books, and haven't seen much chatter about it.

Level 1 spell - grants +20 to your next attack.

As long as i have the "Improved unarmed strike" feat, i can cast touch attacks against even monks of equal level. (Provided i have a good dexterity modifier) still, +20 to a base attack + modifier is really high.

Disintegrate spells are essentially unavoidable with this combo.

Looking for general banter.

Yes, making sure you hit when you absolutely HAVE to hit (such as when you have that single disintegrate spell or arrow of ____ slaying) is the time when you would use this otherwise rather pointless spell.

[inuyasha]

I like using it with the Pathfinder Rogue Talent that lets you use a 1st level spell once per day. It's useful for when you're doing some assassination and you really don't want to miss. Also, it may be useful for some people to note that it does not have a somatic component.

[martixy]

There is not much discussion because it is not very interesting - a straight up numerical bonus(albeit a large one), to one of the most routine aspects of the game.

It is only very situationally useful, most notably when you attack carries some extra effects with it you are very keen on successfully delivering. Something that is worth the action cost you expend when casting a spell that otherwise has no direct effect.

[Cruiser1]

Yes, making sure you hit when you absolutely HAVE to hit (such as when you have that single disintegrate spell or arrow of ____ slaying) is the time when you would use this otherwise rather pointless spell.
Even then, True Strike doesn't guarantee a hit, since an attack roll still misses on a natural 1. (The +20 insight bonus doesn't change that.)

[Astralia123]

Its only use at higher level is to guarentee that your certain touch spell (most likely) or ranged touch spell will hit.
It just might worth it, as sometimes a powerful spell that can end the fight instantly can only be delivered by an attack roll.


However in most cases, a fragile spellcaster need a lot more than True Strike to actually perform that attack.
And if that spell really has that much of dramatic effects, you should use limited wish to guarentee that attack whenever possible, not true strike.

[Pluto!]

I saw this spell in the books, and haven't seen much chatter about it.

Level 1 spell - grants +20 to your next attack.

As long as i have the "Improved unarmed strike" feat, i can cast touch attacks against even monks of equal level. (Provided i have a good dexterity modifier) still, +20 to a base attack + modifier is really high.

Disintegrate spells are essentially unavoidable with this combo.

Looking for general banter.
I'm confused what you mean about Improved Unarmed Strike and "monks of equal level."

You don't need IUS to use true strike, and it doesn't do anything special against monks.

True Strike does help hit high Touch AC characters like monks with ranged touch attacks, but the reason it's not something people get too excited over is that attack rolls aren't really an issue for Wizards. Most enemies don't have crazy touch ACs, so you usually don't need any help with the attack roll, and if something like a mid-level Monk does come around, you may as well just skip the Disintegrate and throw something like Baleful Polymorph or Flesh to Stone at them for more or less the same result.

[Khedrac]

There is not much discussion because it is not very interesting - a straight up numerical bonus(albeit a large one), to one of the most routine aspects of the game.
Not quite - true strike is not just a 'straight up numerical bonus', and its secondary benefit can be more important.

True strike also negates concealment miss chances... So if you only have one shot and AC is a not a problem but concealment is - then true strike is again your freind.


It is only very situationally useful, most notably when you attack carries some extra effects with it you are very keen on successfully delivering. Something that is worth the action cost you expend when casting a spell that otherwise has no direct effect.
This I totally agree with.

[Necroticplague]

You don't see much talk about it now because it was released in Core. The optimization community has had a lot of time to look at it, think of the implications, and digest it. It doesn't help that True Strike itself is relatively bland. While useful, it's not particularly interesting. There's also the action cost that limits it's use. And the fact it only applies to one attack.

[ericgrau]

It's usually better to attack twice than to true strike. Quicken true strike is slightly better, but by the level you can cast it 80-90% of your ray spells hit anyway.

Less things are immune to disintegrate and the targets normally immune to fort save spells have poor fort saves. But other creatures might save. And against undead and constructs it does very high damage rather than outright killing it. So I wouldn't be counting on my disintegrate enough to want to true strike it. I'd rather cast disintegrate twice, or disintegrate plus something else.

True strike is a mediocre spell, almost never great or good, sometimes ok.

At very low levels I've true striked a gigantic thrown weapon for reliable damage in spite of massive penalties, which IIRC was marginally better than casting magic missile twice. I've had an epic gish quicken a true strike via a rod and gloves of storing, since he could only cast 1st level spells. Never found any other uses for it in real play. I've theorized some things but the builds weren't that great overall and I never used them.