Benben
First Post
Playing devils advocate, the Dual Spell has a prerequisite of 2 metamagic feats, which would mean a higher cost than Arcane Prep. + Quicken Spell.jgsugden said:
I'm not sure that this feat is all that bad. The halving of caster level neuters damage spells, and keeps the especially bad instant kills out of the hands of non-Epic casters. The caster level restriction also works to hinder abuse against high level opponents with Spell Resistance.
The charm person problem doesn't seem very bad. Casters will probably have access to higher level variants. I haven't run the math but in a lot of cases I would rather cast a single DC 19 Charm Monster than two Charm Persons at DC 15 against a single target. For multiple targets I would rather toss out a Mass Hold Person than just two Hold Persons. The higher save and extra targets is well worth the higher necessary caster level. Although I just noticed that there is no Charm Person, Mass variant in the SRD.
Actually, Dual spell seems to target the middle point between the normal and mass versions of most spells. Its major advantage is allowing mid and high level casters do something with their lower level spell slots.
Defensive and Buffing spells do get a boost out of this, but 3.5 gives mass versions of many buffs, and again Dual Spell just helps the middle point between having access to Bull’s Strength and not Mass Bull’s Strength. Defensive spells definitely get a boost, Spell Turning vs. Dualed Stoneskin+Minor Globe gives the general advantage to the Dualed spells. That being said what other metamagic feats are good for improving defensive and buffing spells? Empower and extend see a lot less use for buffs and defensive spells than they did in 3.0. As a game design element I like this feat for adding a little padding to a well worn area.
Summoning class spells are my biggest fear. Druids at 14th level+ would be able to bring in swarms of Unicorns for swift healing and poison control. This feat would work better by stating that only spells with a casting time of 1 action or less qualify for the feat.
Classes that prepare their spells are not helped by this feat at all. Binding spell slots together drains their resources faster and limits their already limited flexibility.
Spontaneous casters seem to be the big problem. 3.5 stepped away from the 2 spells/round philosophy and bringing in Arcane Prep as a legacy feat can fix that problem. In fact it’s a better choice for them with the lower feat cost, and being able to move and cast. The ½ caster level is bigger hit to them with their retarded spell level advancement. A Wizard needs to be 18th level to dual 5th level spells, while a sorcerer needs to be 20th.
With the restriction that only spells with a casting time of 1 action or less qualify for the feat, then I don’t see Dual Spell being any more attractive than Twin Spell or Quicken.
Edits for Formatting and Colours.
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