Warlock's Eldritch Blast?

[Ogrork the Mighty]

Since the eldritch blast is a ranged touch attack, does it provoke an AoO from opponents threatening the warlock?

 

[Sithobi1]

No, because it is a Spell-Like Ability... you aren't supposing a mage with a fireball prepared threatens everything around him in a 400' + 40'/lvl radius do you?

 

[Saeviomagy]

No, because it is a Spell-Like Ability... you aren't supposing a mage with a fireball prepared threatens everything around him in a 400' + 40'/lvl radius do you?

That's not what he asked.

Yes - spell like abilities provoke attacks of opportunity identically to casting a spell, including use of the concentration skill to avoid said AoOs.

 

[Caliban]

Err... Spell-Like abilities do provoke an Aoo's. Also, all ranged attacks provoke an AoO unless specified otherwise, so Eldritch blast would provoke an AoO for that as well.

Some spells (i.e. melf's acid arrow) can potentially provoke an AoO twice: once for casting the spell, and once for making a ranged attack. Eldritch blast also falls into that category.

Which sucks if you are threatened by someone with combat reflexes.

 

[Ogrork the Mighty]

Ouch. That's not all rolled up into one AoO since it's all from the same spell?

 

[Thanee]

It actually is. Caliban isn't often wrong, but here he is.

"Attack (ranged)" only refers to the Attack action, not to making a ranged touch attack, which does not provoke an AoO as part of a "Cast a spell" action but only, if you used the Attack action to make it, which of course you can't, since it is not a simple ranged attack, but a spell-like ability. The action provokes the AoO, not the attack.

So, only one AoO for throwing out an Eldritch Blast ("Use a spell-like ability" action).

Bye
Thanee

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

Some spells (i.e. melf's acid arrow) can potentially provoke an AoO twice: once for casting the spell, and once for making a ranged attack. Eldritch blast also falls into that category.

Except that the ranged attack roll is part of casting the spell, and therefore falls under the "The same action can only provoke a single AoO from each threatening opponent" clause of the rules.

A spell that creates / enspells missiles that you may later throw? Two AoOs (assuming you can even do both in a single round, anyway).

A spell that creates an energy missile, ray or other weapon-like manifestation as part of casting the spell? One AoO.

 

[Sithobi1]

oops, I thought he was asking if he could use it to make an AoO on someone...
I don't think you can provoke an AoO twice, because it is part of the action, not a seperate action.

 

[Hypersmurf]

"Attack (ranged)" only refers to the Attack action, not to making a ranged touch attack, which does not provoke an AoO as part of a "Cast a spell" action but only, if you used the Attack action to make it, which of course you can't, since it is not a simple ranged attack, but a spell-like ability. The action provokes the AoO, not the attack.

"Attacking with a ranged weapon" also provokes an AoO (which is why, for example, someone using the Full Attack action, rather than the Attack (Ranged) action, to make a ranged attack still provokes.

Now, is a Ray, for example, a ranged weapon? It counts as one for feats like Weapon Focus and Point Blank Shot...

-Hyp.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Except that the ranged attack roll is part of casting the spell, and therefore falls under the "The same action can only provoke a single AoO from each threatening opponent" clause of the rules.

Which clause is that, though?

"This feat does not let you make more than one attack for a given opportunity."... not "for a given action".

Given that the AoO for casting explicitly occurs at the beginning of casting, and any putative AoO for attacking with a ranged weapon (supposing it were ruled that a ray counts as such) obviously cannot happen until the spell comes into effect... it could easily be argued that these are, in fact, two separate opportunities.

Especially if the spell in question had a one-round casting time!

-Hyp.