Warlock Eldritch Blast & Invocations questions

[Wolfix]

I have a couple of questions for you good folks out there concerning Warlocks:
1) Say I have a warlock of 7th level that wants to cast a Sickening Eldritch Blast, what equivalent spell level would the sickening save DC be based on? Would that be 2nd level for the Sickening Blast invocation itself, or 3rd level for the Eldritch Blast (warlock level / 2)?

The quote from the book that has me kinda confused is this: "When a warlock applies an eldritch essence invocation [Sickening Blast in this case] to his eldritch blast, the spell level equivalent of the modified blast is equal to the spell level of the eldritch blast or of the eldritch essence invocation, whichever is higher."

The text seems to indicate clearly enough that the sickening save DC in this case would be based on a 3rd level spell, the higher of the two, but I'm still doubting for some reason and I don't know why. Perhaps I just need someone to confirm this .

2) A short one here: can a warlock use 'casting on the defensive' for his Eldritch Blast so he won't provoke an AoO? It mentions clearly that his invocations can be cast defensivly, but it says nothing about that in the his Eldritch Blast section.


Thanks!

 

[Thanee]

1) No doubt necessary. You said it yourself, it's clear enough.
2) I'm sure he can... it's a spell-like ability like any other.

It is possible to make a Concentration check to use a spell-like ability defensively and avoid provoking an attack of opportunity, just as when casting a spell.

Bye
Thanee