Spell specialization isn't working, and it needs to be fixed.

[AllieButt]

I just came back to the game after not having touched it for a few years, because I was inspired to finally take on unfair mode. The build I'd decided on going with, required me to take a multiclass dip into sorcerer in which I needed spell specialization aimed at magic missile for my second level to help out with the boss in the labyrinth under Kenabres.

Lo an behold, spell specialization doesn't work at all for level 1 spellcasters. Going to Google and on the discussions thread on Steam, and I come to learn that this is a bug affecting all spellcasters, and that the bug has been in the game for months by this point and has yet to be fixed. This isn't a small glitch or bug, this is something that massively impacts spellcasters across the board, and shouldn't be something that should go unnoticed. I know for a fact spell specialization worked in the past, and something Owlcat did in an update borked the feat entirely. And I know for a fact multiple people have reported this bug to Owlcat.

Not gonna lie peeps, this entire fiasco took the winds out of my sails quite a bit in regards to my unfair run, and I'll be holding off on playing WotR again until they fix this, and if they don't then well... I just won't be playing again.

[Razer]

ok

[hilburnashua]

Been that way for a long time, not getting fixed.

And no, it is absolutely not a big deal.

[IceLancer]

come on man, damn! "massively impacts spellcasters across the board"
really? a single spell feat is such a game changer for you? cool down man. feat is not even relevant at all.

[pete3great]

Originally posted by IceLancer:

come on man, damn! "massively impacts spellcasters across the board"
really? a single spell feat is such a game changer for you? cool down man. feat is not even relevant at all.

Yeah, I main spell casters and never use it because, well, it's not all that useful. I wouldn't even know it was broken if people who like wasted feats didn't complain about it on the forum. (Long story short, it's better to take feats that are going to affect your spells more broadly than hyper-focusing on one spell ).

[AllieButt]

I love how all of you are seemingly entirely okay with a game you paid money for, having broken features whether you use them or not. And yes, the feat is in fact not as useless as you all claim it is when you play on Unfair, where a spellcaster needs all the additional damage they can get, especially right at the start of the game when it's at it's hardest due to not having viable gear or abilities. But whatever floats y'alls boat I guess.

[IlluminaZero]

This does really suck and its really another reason why allowing respec shouldn't change game difficulty. Broken feats and patches that fundamentally change mechanics shouldn't cripple a character for the entire >=core playthrough.

Addendum: Although on re-reading - This is a bug that specifically only affects level 1? If so while it still sucks you can work around it to put it very lightly. IE reach level 2 or choose a different feat at character creation startup...

[AllieButt]

Originally posted by IlluminaZero:

This does really suck and its really another reason why allowing respec shouldn't change game difficulty. Broken feats and patches that fundamentally change mechanics shouldn't cripple a character for the entire >=core playthrough.

Addendum: Although on re-reading - This is a bug that specifically only affects level 1? If so while it still sucks you can work around it to put it very lightly. IE reach level 2 or choose a different feat at character creation startup...

I've read of people who are affected every time they get a new spell. So basically, at every level when a new spell is gained, that spell won't show up with the SS until the following level. That's not intentional, seeing as in the past this wasn't a problem and it displayed the new spells you gained just fine, and SS outright wouldn't show up at all as an available feat unless you had spells that met the requirement to get it.

The reason why I talked about level 1 in particular was because it negatively affected the build I wanted to go with on Unfair difficulty. So no, it isn't limited to level 1.

[zeeb]

Spell Specialization is pretty trash considering it doesn't increase DC.
But this is a Pathfinder issue and not an issue exclusive to this title.

[AllieButt]

Originally posted by zeeb:

Spell Specialization is pretty trash considering it doesn't increase DC.
But this is a Pathfinder issue and not an issue exclusive to this title.

For sure, I wouldn't call it a fantastic feat, as there are undoubtedly stronger ones to use later on in the game if you play on the more balanced and even difficulties. The reason I'm frustrated in particular, is because it's decent for a boost in damage in the very early game, and that extra damage is a basically a necessity if you play any kind of caster on Unfair difficulty. Then again, Unfair is the furthest thing from balanced, and a lot of things fall short on that difficulty. But early on when you have little to no gear, and very few levels to work with, any extra amount of damage is useful. Especially against enemies like the water elemental and Hosilla.

[zeeb]

Originally posted by AllieButt:

Originally posted by zeeb:

Spell Specialization is pretty trash considering it doesn't increase DC.
But this is a Pathfinder issue and not an issue exclusive to this title.

For sure, I wouldn't call it a fantastic feat, as there are undoubtedly stronger ones to use later on in the game if you play on the more balanced and even difficulties. The reason I'm frustrated in particular, is because it's decent for a boost in damage in the very early game, and that extra damage is a basically a necessity if you play any kind of caster on Unfair difficulty. Then again, Unfair is the furthest thing from balanced, and a lot of things fall short on that difficulty. But early on when you have little to no gear, and very few levels to work with, any extra amount of damage is useful. Especially against enemies like the water elemental and Hosilla.

I feel that Spell Specialization is only really viable for Sorcerers with elemental bloodline and when you pick it you lock yourself into using one spell and one spell only, pretty much. Fireball, fireball, fireball, all day long, etc.

I dislike it for those reasons, but if you want to do damage then yeah, it's a must. It pretty much speaks for itself that it is a core feat to pick for doing damage as a spellcaster considering how bad it is overall (All it does is increasing spell level by 2 and it doesn't even ignore the inherent level cap on some of the spells, like Magic Missile capping at 5). But hey, at least the martials aren't feeling worthless anymore, right?

Cynicism and sarcasm aside, best of luck to you.

[Drake]

I've only ever used spell specialization with greater dispel magic to get +1 caster level (because there isn't much better to pick for a dispel caster). For everything else any metamagic feat is better to slot in.

About the bug, it's temporal data error. You can't get the spell because you don't have it yet since you pick feats before spells when leveling up.
Sometimes picking something else then picking the spell and going back to pick the feat works.
By the way it's not just for spells, it also happens with any power having dependancies that are resolved in the same level up. It's becasue there is always an order to get data.

What they could do to prevent the error is to make you pick spells before feats. But that would require some rewriting of the character creation engine. So not happening.

[AllieButt]

Originally posted by Drake:

I've only ever used spell specialization with greater dispel magic to get +1 caster level (because there isn't much better to pick for a dispel caster). For everything else any metamagic feat is better to slot in.

About the bug, it's temporal data error. You can't get the spell because you don't have it yet since you pick feats before spells when leveling up.
Sometimes picking something else then picking the spell and going back to pick the feat works.
By the way it's not just for spells, it also happens with any power having dependencies that are resolved in the same level up. It's because there is always an order to get data.

What they could do to prevent the error is to make you pick spells before feats. But that would require some rewriting of the character creation engine. So not happening.

It's just odd. I genuinely wonder what caused this issue to happen to begin with from a development standpoint, since it very much used to work in the past without issue. Clearly they changed something at some point that messed with the system they had previously. I noticed it with a first level dip into sohei monk as well, since I was unable to even see boon companion. I wasn't specifically aiming to take it since it was a level 2 pick, but in the past that used to be they very first suggested feat to take.

TLDR: Clearly a ball was dropped at one point, which caused all of this to become a problem in the first place.

[mbradtke]

pretty niche feat, can be useful for blasters i guess, you can still use the feat, you just have to choose the spell 1 level later if you didnt own the spell on lv up, the bug is just as niche as the feat itself.... maybe it will be fixed, but you can def. still use the feat, so no big deal honestly

[Faust]

In fact, you have to take it while already having the spell for it to work.

Personally, I only use it with abjuration since it is the way to increase your dispel capacity while allowing you to increase the DC of the other schools.

Like this

-Spell Focus (Abjuration)
-Greater Spell Focus (Abjuration)
-Dispel focus
-Greater dispel focus
-Spell Specialization: Dispel/Greater Dispel )
-Ambuscading spell

To increase the DC of the spells, just take
-Mythic Spell Focus (Abjuration)
then Expanded arsenal in the other schools.

[Talosia]

Its the same bug thats affecting the loremaster offclass spell selection im guessing.