[3.5] Ability Enhancer Feat

[Thurbane]

Not the greatest feat out there, but the feat Ability Enhancer (Dragon Compendium p.91) always struck me as interesting.

"Any transmutation spell you cast that enhances ability scores increases the ability scores by +2 more than it normally does."

I think its fair to say this was made with things like Bull's Strength etc. in mind. But I was wondering about ways to better exploit the feat.

First thing that popped into mind was the Animalistic Power spell (PHB II, p.101): instead of getting one +2 bonus on top of normal, you're getting three +2 bonuses (total +4 Str, +4 Dex and +4 Con).

Are there other spells like this? How about the Polymoprh/Shapechange type spells?

Cheers - T

[Gruftzwerg]

Imho Polymorph/Shapechange (..) don't work here. You ability scores don't get enhanced. They get set to the average score of the target race. But the "Bite of the Were..."-line would work, since they give enchantment bonuses on Str, Dex & Con.

[daremetoidareyo]

Transmuter acf for level 5 allows you to treat any other type of spell as a transmutation spell. Might be able to squeak some cheese out of that.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

It depends on whether you interpret it as only applying to enhancement bonuses, or any transmutation spell that applies a numeric bonus to an ability score.

Draconic Polymorph in the Draconomicon is like Polymorph but it gives the form an unnamed +8 Str and +2 Con, which would be improved by Ability Enhancer if it's not limited to enhancement bonuses.

Bite of the Werewolf and similar give better enhancement bonuses to Str, Dex, and Con than Animalistic Power does, with other benefits as well.

If you go with the Spell Versatility (https://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/specialistWizardVariants.htm#transmuterVariants) ACF, you can count Elation from BoED as a transmutation, which grants morale bonuses to Str and Dex (and benefits from Spatial Awareness from Paragnostic Apostle).

[Gruftzwerg]

The biggest problem I see is, that it is a feat. And imho it's not worth to pick as a feat in almost all chases.

Most builds are feat starving and even if you would get +2 on all attributes all day it would be questionable. It's ok for low lvl campaigns for a buffing focused build. But on later lvls it's again not worth the feat. There are plenty of more useful/powerful feats that you need in most builds.

A very niche feat that is only strong at lower lvls.

[MaxiDuRaritry]

enchantment bonusesWait, is that a thing, or is this a typo?


Transmuter acf for level 5 allows you to treat any other type of spell as a transmutation spell. Might be able to squeak some cheese out of that.In a game where calling djinn to boost your stats for free isn't allowed, or the DM likes to screw over any player who does smart things like that, it would save a ton of XP if you could swap wish over to transmutation. [edit] Even better with Twin Spell, so that's 1 wish per ability score for a nice, fat +6 +5.

[Gruftzwerg]

Wait, is that a thing, or is this a typo?

the latter... I always twist those somehow.. I'm sorry^^

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

A Druid with this feat (assuming it's not exclusive to enhancement bonuses) can use it with Enhance Wild Shape, as well as Bite of the Were(wolf/boar/tiger/bear).

[Darg]

How exploitative are we talking? If we take Owl's Insight which gives a wisdom bonus equal to half your caster level and then add 2 like the feat says, you end up with +4 bonus caster levels. Repeat ad infinitum.

Sorry, that's really all I got.

Edit: Oh, right. You cast a spell when enchanting equipment correct? So theoretically it should increase the amount of bonus on ability score boosting crafted equipment.

[MaxiDuRaritry]

A transmutation (greater) consumptive field that grants you an extra +2 to Str every time it kills something?

[Biggus]

As it says "enhances ability scores" not "provides an enhancement bonus to ability scores" I've always taken it as applying to all bonus types, as long as they're from Tranmutation spells. Looking at the lists here (http://minmaxforum.com/index.php?topic=176.0) shows you can get a fair amount of mileage out of it at high levels.

A good Cleric who casts Greater Visage of the Deity (SpC), Holy Transformation (SpC), and Righteous Might on themselves gains +6 Str and Con and +2 to all other ability scores from it. Then cast Divine Power which stacks with all of them (but isn't Transmutation) for a total of +24 Str and +16 Con.

A Cleric who casts Grace, Divine Agility and GVotD (all SpC) can get +6 Dex from it.

The Druid spell Aura of Vitality (SpC) gets you a further +2 to Str, Dex and Con which stacks with all of the above. It's accessible to Clerics via the no-XP version of Miracle, although it's questionable which AE works in this case, as while AoV is a Transmutation spell, Miracle isn't.

A Bard can cast Inner Beauty (FCI) and Nixie's Grace (SpC), which as they're both 10 minutes/level can potentially give +4 Cha all day with a couple of Metamagic Extend Rods for 11,000GP each. Combines with Snowsong (FB) which is also 10mins/level (but not Transmutation) for very large all-day Cha buffs.

Paladins who cast Righteous Fury (SpC) and Bull's Strength on themselves get +4 Str out of it.

I once built an high-level team of a Paladin, Bard, Cleric and Sorcerer who made extensive use of it. A lot of their spells which weren't buffs were divinations (so they usually had a few rounds warning to buff before a fight) and they spent a lot of effort protecting themselves from Dispel and Disjunction. The Cha bonuses in particular were very useful, Cleric got lots of extra turn attempts to power Divine feats, Paladin's saves and attack bonus when smiting were astronomical, and the Sorcerer and Bard's save DCs were very high.

Oh, and Bite of the WereX gets +2 Str and Con from it as well.

Edit: oh yes, forgot about Druids with their Owl's Insight, and Enhance Wild Shape with its unnamed bonuses. Should probably have put one of those in my team as well.

[MinimanMidget]

Transmuter acf for level 5 allows you to treat any other type of spell as a transmutation spell. Might be able to squeak some cheese out of that.

At that point, it's worth mentioning Augment Summoning in this conversation.

[el minster]

I believe there is also a PrC which gives the same ability as the feat but for spells cast on you in CC called Paragnostic something or other

[Tytalus]

Team Solars makes good use of this feat: https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?188138-Team-Solars-%28Archiving%29

[Thurbane]

I believe there is also a PrC which gives the same ability as the feat but for spells cast on you in CC called Paragnostic something or other

Paragnostic Apostle has Mind over Body, which increases CL by 1 for transmutation spells that grant ability bonuses or penalties. Was that the one you were looking at?

[Troacctid]

Greater enlarge person lasts for 1 hour/level and grants a bonus to Strength. Ditto for greater reduce person and Dex.

[el minster]

Paragnostic Apostle has Mind over Body, which increases CL by 1 for transmutation spells that grant ability bonuses or penalties. Was that the one you were looking at?

No, Paragnostic Initiate on the next page

[King of Nowhere]

the problem with this feat is that enhancement spells give +6 instead of +4. but since you already have the +6 item, the bonus is still irrelevant once you have enough money.
if you could get some bonus above what is granted by items, then it could be useful in a buff-based build. or one could take it at low level and retrain after.

[daremetoidareyo]

Imbue summons feat with the bite of the werecritter lines gets good mileage

[Doctor Despair]

the problem with this feat is that enhancement spells give +6 instead of +4. but since you already have the +6 item, the bonus is still irrelevant once you have enough money.
if you could get some bonus above what is granted by items, then it could be useful in a buff-based build. or one could take it at low level and retrain after.

It is helpful for an Artificer, who can change the type of bonus an item grants from Enhancement to anything of their choice, with some restrictions, using Item Alteration.

[Thurbane]

No, Paragnostic Initiate on the next page

Ah, I see it now: Physical Augmentation. But only for spells that are cast on you, rather than any you cast on others. Also, you only get to pick one physical ability score to apply it each time you select the ability.

As usual, the devs were far too conservative, and not wanting to give anything too nice to mundanes. :smallfrown:

[Gorthawar]

Should be decent on a war weaver. Animalistic power with +4 on all physical attributes for the whole team with one casting seems nice. And that's available at level 7 where the wbl covers 1 or 2 +2 items only. At higher levels you'll have to look for spells that give different type of boni.

[Mordaedil]

Chasing Perfection is a spell that is often overlooked as it is kinda high level for a +4 bonus to all stats, but it definitely is one of those that gives this feat a huge mileage. You might have +6 items at this point, but probably not for every stat and this spell makes you a versatile powerhouse with one casting.

Also there's Tenser's transformation which is maligned spell for good reason, but combined with this feat and using some clever shrink item and enlarge weapon, you can shrink a colossal greatsword into a small greatsword and with enlarge weapon negate all size-related penalties to wielding a weapon. And then you've got a pretty nice berserker mode that makes the fighter flush with jealousy.