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<blockquote data-quote="Ilbranteloth" data-source="post: 7163770" data-attributes="member: 6778044">Mechanically, RAW the answer is yes. It was rendered relatively useless with the addition of a component pouch, since that means you always have the right material component anyway. If it were a difference of a focus or having the right material components, there would be more value.However, there is one situation RAW where it makes a bigger difference, because of a couple of rules taken together.If a spell requires a material component and a somatic component, then the use of that component (including retrieving it from a component pouch) counts as the somatic component as well.So a cleric that has their holy symbol on a shield that is their spellcasting focus can use that shield to replace the material and somatic components, but only when the spell requires a material component.Since the spellcasting focus doesn't replace somatic components on their own, it can't be used in this way unless the spell has a material component. There's another thread complaining about this. My answer is simple - if that's a problem for you, allow a spellcasting focus to replace somatic components too.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Ilbranteloth, post: 7163770, member: 6778044"] Mechanically, RAW the answer is yes. It was rendered relatively useless with the addition of a component pouch, since that means you always have the right material component anyway. If it were a difference of a focus or having the [I]right[/I] material components, there would be more value. However, there is one situation RAW where it makes a bigger difference, because of a couple of rules taken together. If a spell requires a material component and a somatic component, then the use of that component (including retrieving it from a component pouch) counts as the somatic component as well. So a cleric that has their holy symbol on a shield that is their spellcasting focus can use that shield to replace the material and somatic components, but only when the spell requires a material component. Since the spellcasting focus doesn't replace somatic components on their own, it can't be used in this way unless the spell has a material component. There's another thread complaining about this. My answer is simple - if that's a problem for you, allow a spellcasting focus to replace somatic components too. [/QUOTE]

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