Divine Metamagic: Heighten, Minimum Caster Levels & Ability Scores for Spells

[Endarire]

Greetings, all!

Let's assume I'm a Human Cloistered Cleric1 who channels positive energy with the feats Heighten Spell (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#heightenSpell), Divine Metamagic: Heighten Spell, and Summon Elemental. I have 9 daily Turn Undead uses, or enough Turn Undead uses to Heighten a level 1 spell to level 9. (This feat combo is to fuel the reserve feat Summon Elemental for 9 rounds per use.)

Let's also assume that, for some reason, I want to actually cast a level 1 Cleric spell I've Heightened to spell level 9 via Divine Metamagic: Heighten.

(Note that Heighten Spell actually increases the spell level unlike most other metamagics. And remember that as a Cleric1, I can spontaneously convert/cast a small number of spells.)

1: What is the minimum amount of WIS I need to cast a level 1 spell Heightened this way?

2: Could I convert this spell to a level 8 cure spell (that is, mass cure critical wounds)? If so, what is the requisite minimum caster level to cast this converted spell? (This SRD section (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicOverview/castingSpells.htm#casterLevel) is unclear what the minimum caster level would be in this case.)

3: Since I can use DMM: Heighten to meet prereqs to cast divine Cleric spells from levels 0 to 9, does this mean I also get extra spell slots for spells above spell level 1? If so, what spell slots do I get, and what are the RAW references for such? What would be the minimum caster level to cast spells from these slots?

Thankee!

[Dagroth]

Greetings, all!

Let's assume I'm a Human Cloistered Cleric1 who channels positive energy with the feats Heighten Spell (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#heightenSpell), Divine Metamagic: Heighten Spell, and Summon Elemental. I have 9 daily Turn Undead uses, or enough Turn Undead uses to Heighten a level 1 spell to level 9. (This feat combo is to fuel the reserve feat Summon Elemental for 9 rounds per use.)

Let's also assume that, for some reason, I want to actually cast a level 1 Cleric spell I've Heightened to spell level 9 via Divine Metamagic: Heighten.

1: What is the minimum amount of WIS I need to cast a level 1 spell Heightened this way?

2: Could I convert this spell to a level 8 cure spell (that is, mass cure critical wounds)? If so, what is the requisite minimum caster level to cast this converted spell? (This SRD section (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicOverview/castingSpells.htm#casterLevel) is unclear what the minimum caster level would be in this case.)

3: Since I can use DMM: Heighten to meet prereqs to cast divine Cleric spells from levels 0 to 9, does this mean I also get extra spell slots for spells above spell level 1? If so, what spell slots do I get, and what are the RAW references for such? What would be the minimum caster level to cast spells from these slots?

Thankee!

1. You would need a 19 Wisdom.

2. You can't, because you don't actually have 8th level spell slots.

3. You don't, because you don't actually have a 9th level spell slot (or any beyond 1st level spell slots).

You heightening the spell with DMM would only effectively increase the save DC for the spell (assuming it has one). The reason Heighten works (vaguely, and usually not in the way people think) with Versatile Spellcaster is because you trade 2 lower level spell slots to cast a higher level spell. Note that it's only to cast a higher level spell, not actually gain a higher level spell slot and thus you don't get bonus spells.

[The_Jette]

As a side note, you should first ask your DM if he'll allow you to use Divine Metamagic with Heighten Spell. It's a topic of much debate on this forum.

[Endarire]

Also remember that Heighten Spell actually increases the spell level unlike most other metamagics.

And remember that as a Cleric1, I can spontaneously convert/cast a small number of spells.

[The_Jette]

Also remember that Heighten Spell actually increases the spell level unlike most other metamagics.

And remember that as a Cleric1, I can spontaneously convert/cast a small number of spells.

What you're failing to take into account, though, is that (assuming your DM allows the DMM/Heighten Spell combo to work) you're applying Heighten Spell spontaneously to the spell as you're casting it. Because you're casting it, you can't suddenly change it mid-cast to be a different spell. If you had any other bonus that increased based off the spell level (like a +x/spell level of healing) then that would be based off the new spell level. But, you wouldn't be able to change what spell you're casting after you were already in the process of casting it.

[Dagroth]

Now... and this is really iffy...

You could cast a DMM-Heightened Cure Light Wounds and "hold the charge". Then you could use that to fuel the Touch of Healing Feat.

Again, iffy... and you'd need a high enough Wisdom (19, to cast 9th level spells) to "cast" the Heightened CLW in the first place.

[Kaleph]

Post removed since already covered by previous explanations.

[VisitingDaGulag]

Endaire, you've heard this before. DMM only works with metamagic that have a set cost. Heighten doesn't. DMM can't reduce variable heighten's "cost".

Did I also mention doesn't actually have a cost? It relies on a different mechanic intrinsic to spellcasting: using a higher level slot for a lower level spell. This isn't a cost. But once you do that, you can then use the heighten feat to raise the level of the cast spell to the level of the slot (or effective slot if mixed with other metamagic).

So there are two RAW reasons why DMM+heighten doesn't have any effect. RAI its also clear because allowing 9th level spells at ECL1 is borked