Spells need to hit a target even when I can cast them just once a day?

[KungFury]

I have several spells (in fact most ranged spells other than magic missile) which do miss their targets very often. I must say that I am a bit disappointed by this because I can only cast these spells one time a day.
What is the purpose of a spell caster if he can fail so often and has just a hand full of spells ready each day.

Am I making something wrong? What do I need to improve their hit chances? I have Int of 20.

[Mr.Suitss]

Thats normal lol

[KungFury]

Originally posted by KyoKunChan:

Thats normal lol

Dont say this :(

[Dynellen]

Depends on the spell. Some are guaranteed to hit, some require you to make a (ranged) touch attack against the opponent's touch AC and your attack bonus there depends on your dexterity+base attack bonus, not int.

[Ando]

Hi Biff.
As i have read in other Threads a painfull lot of spells are like firing a ranged weapon and Need a high dex stat to hit the enemy :) hope it helps!

Edit: like Dynellen said ^^

[Shadenuat]

Use True Strike spell.

[Darkfireslide]

So under spell descriptions you might see something like "Ranged Touch Attack." These spells make a ranged attack to hit their target, thus a higher Dexterity makes them more likely to hit their target.

More importantly, without two feats (Point Blank Shot-->Precise Shot), if you attack an enemy who is in melee with a friendly character with a ranged attack, you take a -4 to your attack roll because your character is trying not to hit his ally.

Hope that helps. Cheers!

[Myst]

Sadly this is how spells in the DND world works.... Depending on your type of magic user though determines how many spell uses you get a day.... Things like Cleric can only use that spell slot once... so usually make it something that happens no matter what. Things like sorc's can multifire spells. Downside is cleric can choose from ALL their spells before a long rest.. sorc... once you learn it.. THATS IT can't pick it again it's yours for life!

[GreyFox]

That's normal but what I'd like to see is being able to target to ground with bombs/potions and some spells even won't let you just target the floor when you should be.

Love in DO:S that you can use almost all the spells on a target or the floor for various effects. I know it's hard to do what you can do in PnP to come up with stuff but a few things + the common sense stuff would be great like Grease + Fire or burning up web(s).

[Slifar]

Spells actually tend to have a higher chance to hit than weapons, since most spells are touch attacks, and touch attacks target touch AC (Effectively AC when you ignore the target's armor and shields). That said, ranged touch attacks will use your dexterity on the attack rolls, and melee will use STR iirc.

This is pretty fair, because spells are SIGNIFICANTLY more powerful than normal weapons. Perhaps not at level 1, but as you gain levels and they scale up... Whoo boy. Snowball at level 3 is what, 3d6 damage at range? That's more than any weapon/ability combination available to you will be able to do by a good margin. And then Snowball also has effects beyond that.

[Myst]

you CAN just read what the spell says... if it says tagets a POINT then you can target the ground also hold control when aiming and it helps bunches... there also under game options the way to unsnap to creatures.

[Myst]

And as Slifar said... yeah 1d3 cantrips SUCK but magic doesnt matter til lvl 4 -5 when Armor means nothing to you.... since magic touch AC is different than normal hit ac

[Lemming]

Also most enemies have very high acs compared to their tabletop counterparts. This makes ranged spells rough to land, as it isn't just armor that is raised.

[Morgian]

Get used to the fact that magic has been nerfed a lot since AD&D, the melee types are the kings of the battlefield now (and of course the archers *duck*).

With several spells you have to roll a touch attack, which puts you square into melee range of the enemy. Assuming you hit, the enemy gets a save to avoid the effect or take less damage. So you are spending a limited resource and may fail twice (or thrice if the enemy has SR) applying it. Meantime the fighter swings away two or three times a round for 1d8+8 without tiring...go figure who is more effective.

Other spells require no attack roll, but allow a save to avoid or mitigate it. This is at least one roll less to pass. You can take spell focus, which raises the DC for the save by 1 (doesn't stack), but for only one of the eight types of magic. You can buff yourself with INT, WIS or CHA (whatever you need) to gain another +2 DC, unless you already wear an item doing that. And that is pretty much all you can do on that front.
If in game, you can get bouncing spell or echoing spell, which give you additional chances on applying a spell.

The most powerful spells of all are those which buff your fighters. Haste is cheap, affects the whole group, and grants everyone a bonus attack. The point with buffs is that there is no saving throw to overcome, they always work. This is the only reliable form of magic available.
When I said fighters, that also goes for animal companions and summoned critters. Casting haste and prayer on your group - and a summoned monster or two - will get you more damage than casting two damage spells.

Some higher level spells are better, but I have yet to see if they are even implemented, and if yes, in what form.

[danglibit]

There is a game breaking bug that affects spell casters in the game as well that causes your miscast rate to rise and renders your spell casters virtually useless. there are also reports of certain feats not working or activating correctly on casters as well.

[Procrastinating Gamer]

It's the nature of magic in both DnD and Pathfinder (the latter since its mechanics were based on the 3.5 edition of the former) - magic, once it really gets going, is quite powerful and is countered by the spells having the chance to fail for various reasons depending on the spell involved.

The two most common are either the spell requiring an attack roll, or the target getting to make a saving throw against it (the latter can have a couple of effects depending on the specific spell involved and what, if any, relevent abilities the target has).

Most "ray" spells (Scorching Ray, the 1d3 damage cantrips, Disrupt Undead, etc) will mention in their description that they involve making a "ranged touch attack" - this is a ranged attack roll, same as what would be involved in firing a crossbow (so 1d20+Base Attack Bonus+Dexterity Modifier) but going at the target's Touch AC, which ignores any bonus from actual armour; beam just has to touch them like you're shining a laser pointer on them.

There are many spells, however, were you simply designate your target or target area and then that person (or people if it's an AOE) have to make a saving throw to either avoid the effect or reduce the damage. Burning Hands, for example; it's a basic cone-shaped AOE extending a short distance from the caster. Everyone who's in that AOE when the spell goes off takes 1d4 points of fire damage per caster level of the guy firing it (so a 4th level Sorcerer casting it would be automatically dealing 4d4 damage). Those same targets, however, would make a Reflex Saving Throw to only take half damage. A lot of spells that target the mind (like, say, Hideous Laughter) can be negated entirely on a successful save.

Magic Missile is that rare kind of spell that fits into neither of these - it simply automatically hits and the target can't do a damn thing about it. Unless they have a Shield spell up. Or have some other kind of defensive spell based around a barrier of raw force (the same kind of energy used in Magic Missile, if you're wondering why).

The ever-classic Fireball fits into that "saving throw based" category - you simply choose where the fireball detonates and everyone caught in it has to make a Reflex Saving Throw to take half damage.