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View Full Version : Pathfinder Spheres - free-action casting with Armiger + Armorist



Serafina
2022-06-10, 08:41 AM
So, check out this interaction for me please:
the feat (http://spheresofpower.wikidot.com/practitioner-feats#toc20) Customized Bond exists. In addition to stacking levels for your weapon enchant scaling, "You may summon a customized bound weapon as a free action whenever you would be able to draw a customized weapon as a free action". This obviously gets our summoning down to a free action!
the Store Magic (http://spheresofpower.wikidot.com/armorist#toc51) arsenal trick exists, letting you add Spell Storing (http://spheresofpower.wikidot.com/weapons#toc109) to your weapons and "The armorist can store her own spells or sphere effects into weapons with spell storing as part of the process of summoning them." (fortunately, this is limited to 1/round)
you can draw your weapons as a free action due to Quick Draw, and later even more due to Lightning Draw (though note that 1/round limitation)
together, this allows you to cast a spell as a free action when you summon a weapon (as a free action), if only once per round


This is really good? Unless it doesn't work because I overlooked something?
You don't even need to dip deeply to do it - for either class, it is a short (1-2 levels) dip and a feat. Sure, to get the scaling fully online you'll want 5 levels of Armiger, but that gives you the quite good Rapid Assault? And Antiquarian exists, providing caster level, if you want to focus more on the casting (given this, you might as well).

It also does not conflict with any other actions, as far as I can tell. Meaning you could either full attack, or more likely use Special Attack Actions (e.g. the Spell Attack feat) at the same time. Assuming you manage your caster level well in some way (Antiquarians are medium casters, Armigers low casters - of course you could always cheat via e.g. Veilweaving Sphere) you can out some pretty good damage with that.


Just to use a 10th-level build (Antiquarian Armiger 5, Armorist 5) as an example:
You have CL 6, but this can get boosted by +2 for one Sphere, and will get boosted by +4 from Bound Equipment, and +1 from Mystic Enhancement - for a total CL of 13.
Make a Spell Attack with the Destruction Sphere in one weapon (so it can have it's own talents as suited to that), and if you hit, Mystic Assault will give you another attack - draw a weapon, cast a Blast either without a blast shape into it (Focused Blast will add damage there) or with something single-targeted such as Energy Tether (conveniently in the other weapon) and if that hits, it is two attacks and two destructive blasts going off in the same round! If you don't hit, just keep the weapon, it may be useful for AoOs - you can swap back to your main one next round.
With that CL, each blast can be 14D6 (or D4, D8, depending) and the second one can even add +1/die. That's a fair amount of damage, especially in addition to the attacks you are getting off.

But this can be done much earlier (level 3 at the earliest, really), just without Rapid Assault (so you'll just enchant your weapon for the next round, still very good) and with less stacking CL-boosts.

astrerouge
2022-06-10, 02:49 PM
The free action from store magic is only to store the spell, to release it you still need to hit a creature with the weapon

Serafina
2022-06-10, 03:13 PM
Well yes, you do need to hit with the weapon.
But that's presumed to happen - you're a full BAB class, or if you multi-class more with Antiquarian then still have high-BAB and get two attacks from Rapid Assault.

But the spell gets cast/stored when you summon/draw your weapon (free action).
Then, you attack - either from Rapid/Mystic Assault, or as an AoO, or just on the next turn.
If you miss? The spell isn't lost - you can just try to hit more, with an AoO, or on your next turn.

Basically, this is only an issue if you do only get one attack per turn, because in that case a miss with it will waste a free-action cast (since you can not store two spells at once).

So yeah in most circumstances, this is still a free-action spell.

Rynjin
2022-06-11, 05:06 AM
It's not a free action spell. It's a [Whatever Action You Use To Make An Attack] spell, there's a big difference there. It's a nifty trick but honestly pretty niche since there's already a Feat that lets you cast a spell as part of an attack anyway.

StSword
2022-06-11, 12:46 PM
It's not a free action spell. It's a [Whatever Action You Use To Make An Attack] spell, there's a big difference there. It's a nifty trick but honestly pretty niche since there's already a Feat that lets you cast a spell as part of an attack anyway.

It's slightly better than Improved Mystic Assault, since this trick doesn't require giving up one of the iterative attacks.

And unless I'm missing something, one could both use this trick and Improved Mystic Assault, so give up your first iterative attack to cast a sphere effect, then hit with your spell storing weapon for double the fun, finish iterative attacks.

This is also slightly better than Improved Spell Combat, since that requires the appropriate strike talent, and spending a spell point, but again I'm not seeing anything preventing the player from doing both- so sphere effect, and full attack with a spellstoring weapon that will go off with the first successful hit.