Introduction
Occult spellcasters, such as the Bard and some Sorcerers and Witches use the Occult Spell List. Occult spells tend to be weird and frequently focus on debuffs and status conditions over direct damage. You can generally do all of the same things as other spell lists, but the ways that you do them will often be intentionally odd.
THIS ARTICLE IS INCOMPLETE. I do this as a hobby, and unfortunately I haven’t been able to complete this article yet. If you want to see this article completed, please consider supporting RPGBOT on Patreon. As I make slow, gradual progress on spell list coverage, check the Arcane Spell List Guide. It’s the largest spell list and has considerable overlap with the other spell lists. Most of the advice there applies for other spellcasting traditions, too.
Players familiar with Pathfinder 1e should note that spell save DCs have changed since previous editions. Where in 1e your save DC included the level of the spell, in Pathfinder 2e your Spell Save DC is the same for any spell that you cast (though it gets complicated if you can cast spells from multiple traditions). If you cast a 1st-level spell one turn, then a 9th-level spell the next, they will have the same save DC. Because of this change, low-level spells can remain fantastically useful at high levels.
Understanding RPGBOT’s Rating System
RPGBOT uses a 4-tier rating scheme which is simple to understand and easy to read at a glance.
- : Bad, useless options, or options which are extremely situational. Nearly never useful.
- : OK options, or useful options that only apply in rare circumstances. Useful sometimes.
- : Good options. Useful often.
- : Fantastic options, often essential to the function of your character. Useful very frequently.
Because spell lists in PF2 are available to multiple classes, rating spells often includes a great deal of nuance. Where it is often perfectly fine to skim our content and pick exclusively green and blue options, you will get more value out of this article if you read beyond our color/star ratings.
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Understanding RPGBOT’s Rating System
- Occult Cantrips
- Rank 1 Occult Spells
- Rank 2 Occult Spells
- Rank 3 Occult Spells
- Rank 4 Occult Spells
- Rank 5 Occult Spells
- Rank 6 Occult Spellss
- Rank 7 Occult Spells
- Rank 8 Occult Spells
- Rank 9 Occult Spells
- Rank 10 Occult Spells
Occult Cantrips
Cantrips are a go-to, perpetual source of magical options. Cantrips are always heightened to half your level rounded up, so they’ll match the level of the highest-level spells that you can cast. This scaling keeps Cantrips a reliable source of damage output at any level, though most spellcasters still want to rely on ranked spells when they suit the situation rather than counting on Cantrips as your only source of damage output. Because your number of Cantrips is limited, many spellcaster should try to split their options between damage and utility. A spellcaster whose only capability is damage is basically an archer with extra steps.
- (SoM): Absolutely useless.
- (SoM): Absolutely useless even for a Bard.
-
(PC1): Mediocre
damage and poor scaling. You’re gambling for critical failures to stun the
target. That’s a bad gamble against single enemies, and doing more damage to
quickly eliminate the target is a better choice. Against larger numbers of
low-level enemies, use area damage.
The biggest appeal here is that the Occult spell list doesn’t have any other offensive Cantrips which work on a saving throw instead of an attack, which is helpful when your allies are providing cover to your enemies.
Prior to the remaster, Daze dealt damage equal to your spellcasting Ability Modifier.
-
(PC1): An essential
for adventurers. Someone in every party needs to know this. You can get it
via the Arcane Sense Skill Feat, but it won’t Heighten normall, so you will
lose some of the more powerful features. Even so, it’s better to have this
at 1st level than not at all.
The remastered version of Detect Magic has different functions when Heightened from the original version. Because schools of magic went away in the remaster, the ability to identify schools of magic didn’t make sense anymore.
- (RoE): Too situational. This would be great for NPC merchants worried about adventurers trying to commit fraud, but for players this will probably never matter.
-
(RoE): Resistance to
one of the most common damage types in the game as a Reaction. Sure, the
resistance scales very slowly, but for such a small cost it’s fantastic.
Even Ancestries/Heritages which provide permanent fire resistance will
provide less resistance than Eat Fire does.
On top of that, you can can create a small burst of Smoke which can conceal creatures within it, potentially including you, which lasts for a full minute. This adds yet another powerful defensive option.
Because this doesn’t care about your spellcasting stats, it’s a fantastic Innate Spell. It’s also on every spell list except Divine, making it an easy go-to option for a huge number of characters.
-
(PC1): Very useful,
but since this depends on a Deception check to Create a Diversion, everyone
except for Charisma-based spellcasters may struggle to make this effective.
Of course, your GM may let you accomplish quite a bit before you actually
roll to Create a Diversion.
This replaces the Legacy spell Ghost Sound, but the effects of Figment are much more versatile.
- (PC1): Every +1 matters in PF2, and a Status bonus from a Cantrip is great, but this is very strictly limited. It benefits one ally against one enemy, and then you need to Sustain the Spell to maintain the buff. That’s a huge Action cost for a +1. The math gets a lot better when it improves to +2 at Rank 6, but I wouldn’t both with this until then.
- PC1: An excellent, easy way to assist allies with important checks. This generally won’t be worth an Action in combat, but during exploration it’s fantastic. The cooldown is intentionally very long to prevent it from becoming a perpetual +1 bonus to all checks, but it’s great for things like searching, disarming traps, Recall Knowledge, and other common checks.
- PC1: A short cone with decent damage of a great damage type. This is a good choice for melee caster worried about crowds, but back-line casters shouldn’t look at this is as a good reason to rush into melee range.
- (RoE): Very dramatic, but not useful enough to justify a spell even with a 1-Action casting time. Using it on unwilling targets could be amusing, but likely won’t do any harm beyond giving away their location.
- SoM: The Action cost is way too high for such as small benefit. Compare this to the Bard’s Courageous Anthem, which affects your whole party, provides better benefits, and costs half as many Actions to cast. Yes, it’s a class-exclusive Focus Spell, but this seems to be trying to mimic the Bard’s capabilities, and it’s absolutely not doing the job.
- PF #181 (Uncommon): Both horrifying and bad.
- SoM (Rare): This would be really good against a creature whose True Name you know, but learning a creature’s True Name is a major plot point. You might get to use this against one or two creatures in an entire campaign if you’re lucky.
- PF 147 (Uncommon): A neat idea, but only useful in someone in the party is both investing in a Lore skill and also not the person you expect to Recall Knowledge.
- PC1: Very situational, and you can usually replace it with the Survival skill.
Prior to the Remaster, Know Direction didn’t let you select a previously visited location until Know Directiion reached level 7. Know the Way makes that function much more accessibe.
-
(PC1): A staple
utility. Often essential if no one has a free hand for a torch.
The pre-Remaster spell Dancing Lights was merged into Light, which can now produce a similar effect, but.
- PC1: Only situationally useful.
- Fb: Fantastic for Bards, but absolutely useless otherwise since Performance has such limited value.
- RoE: Good initial damage, consistent scaling, and good range. That’s already a
good go-to damage cantrip, but the ability to target vulnerabilities to
specific metals makes this even better. Grab some Cold Iron and some Silver,
and you’re in good shape.
While the text of the spell is vague about how much metal you need, Pathfinder Society requires you to have a “chunk” of the metal used, and those chunks have a listed value. Cold Iron and Silver are 10gp per chunk each, so 20 gp of metal gets you what you need. Your GM might be more flexible on the subject, but I think it’s a perfectly fine requirement.
- DA: Not as good or as versatile as Needle Darts, plus Phase Bolt has shorter range. Ignoring a Circumstance Bonus to AC is admittedly very nice, but it is by nature circumstantial, so you can’t guarantee consistent value from that.
- PC1: Neat, but not especially impactful. A great RP tool, but you can’t solve any serious mechanical challenges with it that couldn’t be solved my mundane means.
- PC1: Helpful for pet builds such as Summoners and characters using Animal Companions, but not useful for regular summoned creatures.
- PC1: Useful for locating and identifying magic items, ongoing spell effects, etc. Detect Magic is frequently sufficient, but sometimes you need more precision than Detect Magic offers. If your GM is strict about requiring you to identify magic items, the +2 bonus to do so will be consistently useful.
- DA: Spend a full minute during a social situation chanting magic words and waving your hands around, which produces visible magical symbols in the air, all for a +1 status bonus to Make an Impression. Definitely not useful enough to justify knowing the cantrip.
- PC1: One action for +1 AC and the potentialy to block some damage as a Reaction. This is a great use for a spare 3rd action, and, since it doesn’t care about your spellcasting stats, it’s a great innate spell. This is fantastic more melee spellcasters, but spellcasters build to fight at range may not use it often unless they’re facing enemies with ranged attacks.
- (PC1): Only situationally useful. The best use I’ve found for this is to identify imposters or to track objects that may have changed hands. Cast the mark invisibly on your allies and refresh it when it fades, then if there’s ever a question you can touch the mark to reveal it. If it’s there, you might be okay. If not, roll for initiative, because you’ve found an imposter.
- (PC1): Just buy an instrument. The benefit here is that you can’t lose this, break this, or have it taken from you. Unless you expect that to happen on a regular basis, there is little reason to learn this.
- SoM: Too situational, and too weak when it might actually help. Cast Charm instead.
-
(PC1): Useful, but
extremely limited since the text of the spell only allows it to carry and
move unattended objects. RAW you can’t poke things, pull levers, knock
objects over, etc.
Prior to the remaster, this spell was called “Mage Hand”. The remastered version is identical, but clarifies that you can move the object in any direction.
- DA: This combines the function of a block with a worse version of Guidance. It’s not good.
- (RoE): This is a bit like morse code, but it’s not clear if you can be that precise. This improves upon Message because it doesn’t require line of sight, but it also can’t convey speech. It may be useful during heists or other forms of infiltration, but it likely won’t see constant use.
-
(PC1): Not as much
single-target damage as Telekinetic Projectile, but resistance to void
damage is rare. Don’t make this your only damage cantrip, but it’s a decent
backup option if you rely on damage which is commonly resisted like fire or
poison.
Prior to the remaster, this spell was called “Chill Touch” and had differing effects for living creatures and undead. The remastered version uses Chill Touch’s effect for living creatures.
- PC1: Too situational, and most bonuses to your speed are Status bonuses, so it won’t stack with common speed bonuses like Tailwind.
- DA: Only situationally useful, and you need to know to use it ahead of time. 2 Actions for this is too much to justify during combat, so you’ll want to pre-cast this before walking into fights.
Rank 1 Occult Spells
- (LO:DM): This could be a good way to force an enemy to move repeatedly and provoke Reactions, or it could stand still and take a bunch of damage. The scaling is pretty good, too.
- (PC1): A good precaution while resting anywhere dangerous. A wand is an inexpensive investment that can serve your party reliably for your whole career.
- (APG): Neat, but too situatonal. Most of the problems that you would solve with this can be solved using your hands.
- (LO:DM): Probably not worth a spell slot, but maybe worth a wand.
- (KCG) (Rare): Decent damage and good scaling. If you don’t need to do anything except attack enemies, and if there are buffs/debuffs making you more likely to hit, this could be really good. Knocking enemies prone on crit is great, too.
- (PC1): Every +1/-1 is significant in PF2, so a -1 penalty to attacks can be impactful. Enemies still get a Will save to resist, but you can Sustain the spell on future turns to expand the area and force the save again. Unfortunately, this is a Status penalty, so it won’t stack with penalties from conditions like Frightened or Sickened, and those conditions are much more broadly impactful than a penalty to just attacks.
- (LO:DM): A fantastic debuff, but a terribly short duration. If you time this for your allies to follow up with big attacks, spells, and special abilities, it can be fantastic. The spellcasting failure chance from Stupefied can also deter enemy spellcasters from using their scariest spells. If you can make the target Frightened, such as using Demoralize, you’ll get most of the same benefits, but many spellcasters aren’t built for Demoralize to be reliable.
- () (Rare): Great if you expect to make several skill checks or saves of the same type. A wand may be useful so that you can get an easy +1 Status bonus on skill checks.
- (SoM): Excellent single-target damage with good scaling. You get a total of 3 attacks out of the spell, and the follow-up attacks are only a single Action, so they’re easy to fit into future turns. You generally want to cast this earily in combat so that you have time to use the extra attacks.
- (PC1): An easy Status bonus to attacks. The duration starts small, so you may need to Sustain it on future turns to reach allies, but 10 feet is enough for you and ally to flank a medium or smaller enemy.
- (SoM): Extremely situational.
- (PC2): Only situationally useful. It doesn’t care about your stats, so consider a wand if you plan to use this.
- (PF #183): Extremely situational. Usually if you’re in a situation where creatures are having a disagreement, it’s either combat or you’re one of the sides in the disagreement.
- (PC1): Against a solitary target, this is close to a save-or-suck, and unless the target critically succeeds on the save you may be able to cast Charm again if the first attempt fails. There is no limitation on creature type as there was in Pathfinder 1e, so this spell can be useful almost constantly. Consider expanding your language options so that you can talk to your new friends, and consider investing in Diplomacy so that you can permanently improve the target’s attitude toward you.
-
(PC1): A simple
crowd-control spell with a few options. Commanding creatures to run away or
drop what they’re holding is often the best option because it can force an
enemy to disarm themselves, to run out of melee (potentially provoking
Reactions), or to fall prone while flying, and the creature must then spend
Actions to address how you’ve inconvenienced them.
Command is a single-target spell with a 2-Action casting time, and you can generally expect to cause 2 Actions worth of inconvenience if the target fails their save, and they don’t take the Action(s) until their own turn, so it’s hard to do things like command an enemy to drop they weapon, then have an ally pick it up. Try to have allies Ready an action if possible. This is a great way to disarm weapon-using boss enemies, especially since this doesn’t have the Incapacitation trait.
- (PC2): Much like Harm and Heal, Concordant Choir allows you to use 1, 2, or 3 Actions. The 1-Action version deals a pitifully small amount of damage to a single target. The 2-Action version does mediocre damage in a Burst, serving as a low-level area damage spell similar to Fireball. The 3-Action version is a 30-foot Emanation, which is a huge AOE but requires you to be in the center. The damage is passable if you can catch multiple enemies in the AOE, and Thunder is a good damage type.
- (B!): Even on a Success, the target is Flat-footed until the beginning of their next turn. Since you generally use this during your target’s turn, they’ll be Flat-footed for an entire turn. This is too expensive to justify at low levels, but at high levels its an easy way to debuff important enemies.
- (SoM) (Uncommon): In fights against big, single enemies, this could be amazing. You want to use this as early as possible to maximize the effects. If you can somehow give your target Weakness to Mental damage, this is spectacular. Unfortunately, the damage dealt each time the spell applies is minor, and you need to Sustain the Spell.
-
(SK) (Uncommon): If
your party has a very effective tank who is good at drawing enemies’
attacks, this could be a great way to quickly wear down big enemies.
Alternatively, it could be a good way to discourage enemies from targeting a
squishier ally. This doesn’t allow a save, either, so it really comes down
to getting the targets and timing right.
This is especially useful if you have a Guardian in the party. Their Intercept Attack feature allows them to easily trigger this effect by doing something which they probably would have done anyway.
- (CRB): Since this wasn’t reprinted, it’s technically legal in the Remastered rules. Unfortunately, alignment doesn’t exist, so it doesn’t do anything for you.
-
(PC1): Very
situational. You’re much more likely to see an NPC cast this to trick
players than to cast it yourself.
This spell was called “Misdirection” prior to the remaster. The exact mechanics of the spell have changed significantly.
-
(PC1): Useful early
in a fight, but if you can’t get the Dazzled/Blinded effects into play early
you’re not benefiting much from the spell.
Prior to the remaster, this spell was called “Color Spray”.
- (SoM): If your party isn’t consistently applying debuffs like Enfeebled or Frightened, this can be a great way to debuff major enemies. If you’re your party’s Defender, this is a great way to keep enemies focused on you. If you’re not, this is a great way to make melee enemies struggle to fight your melee allies while you fight from a safe distance.
- (SoM): If an enemy used several Actions to do something harmless, this is a great way to waste their turn. However, it’s usefulness depends heavily on how enemies act, and the interpretation is a bit fuzzy, so your GM might accidentally nerf the spell. It also has Incapacitation. Command is more reliable.
- (SoM): This is very little damage. It is not good enough to justify casting in combat. But it has a 1-minute duration and doesn’t require you to Sustain it, so you might cast this before walking into combat. It also doesn’t care about your spellcasting stats, so it’s great on a wand.
-
(LO:DM): With a
1-Action casting time, this is a great combat buff. You might also pick up a
bunch of wands and use them on your party’s melee characters before walking
into difficult fights.
When considering if you should use this in combat, consider what other 1-Action options are available to you. Raise a Shield, using a Parry weapon, or casting the Shield Cantrip to boost your AC and potentitally block as a Reaction might provide better damage mitigation, but Endure sticks around if you don’t get hit and also affects things that call for saving throws instead of making an attack roll.
-
(PC1): An excellent
debuff against most melee enemies, but those same enemies often have high
Fortitude saves, so this may not be reliable. Still, it remains equally
effective for your whole career, so you can whip this out at level 20 to
Enfeeble 2 the big bad and still get the same results.
Prior to the remaster, this spell was called “Ray of Enfeeblement”. The remastered version also removes the initial spell attack roll, removing one of the spell’s points of failure.
- (SK): Only situationally useful since it only works on enemies with better land speed than you. Many enemies will have the same 25-foot speed which players usually get.
- (PF #147): Too situational. Use Illusory Disguise.
- (Fb): Too situational, and not very impactful when it does apply.
- (SoG) (Uncommon): You need to target creatures which are hostile to each other and hope that the paltry amount of healing is enough to discourage hostile actions. Cast Heal or Soothe instead.
- (PC1): Frightened is a great debuff, but it also wears off automatically in a few turns. For half the Action cost you can Demoralize a target. Demoralize will only make them Frightened 1, but that leaves you with two Actions to cast a different spell. Fear isn’t bad, especially since it remains equally effective for your full career, but typically you want to Frighten an enemy to set them up to hit them with a different spell.
- (Fb) (Uncommon): A perfect option for ranged or frail characters to escape dangerous situations. Unfortunately, it won’t help you if you’re bad at Stealth, so be sure that you’re at least Trained.
-
(PC1): Reliable and
flexible, Force Barrage has several great things going for it. First, it
never misses, so it’s a great option when facing foes with high defenses.
Force Barrage deals Force damage, which very few creatures are resistant to.
120 ft. range is plenty to keep you well out of harm’s way. And finally, you
can choose to cast it with 1, 2, or 3 Actions to increase the effects at the
expense of your time. Spending more Actions will get more effect out of the
spell, so it’s a more efficient use of your spell slots, but, if you need to
move or cast another spell in the same turn, you can still get some damage
out of Force Barrage.
Unfortunately, Force Barrage’s damage scaling is poor. It only adds more missiles every 2 Ranks, which doesn’t come anywhere near the damage scaling of other offensive spells.
Prior to the remaster, this spell was called “Magic Missile”.
- (B!): This could be useful against big enemies that are easily knocking your allies unconscious. Since being knocked out by nonlethal damage doesn’t make you Wounded, it’s safer to repeatedly heal allies from unconsciousness if you know that your enemy can only deal nonlethal damage for a few rounds. This doesn’t have the Incapacitation trait, but the duration is also unpredictable and short.
-
(PF #169): Forcibly
repositioning your allies can be a great way to rescue enemies who are
grappled, incapacitated in some way, dying, or generally just in a place
that they don’t want to be. If you pull your melee allies out of melee
combat, enemies may be force to spend Actions to pursue them.
If you need an alternative, consider Gravitational Pull.
- (PF #194): I cannot concieve of a situation where this would be helpful.
- (PC1): Poor damage and a pittance of Persistent Bleed Damage in a short line. If you want bleed, consider Gouging Claw. If you want multiple targets, Electric Arc and Slashing Gust as both better. Considering that we’re comparing Grim Tendrils to a cantrip, that should tell you everything that you need to know about the spell’s effectiveness.
- (Fb): Too situational. Consider Gecko Grip if you’re worried about vertical obstacles.
- (PC1): The duration is too short for the 2-Action casting time.
-
(PC1): You can
typically handle disguises with the Deception skill, but if you’re not
proficient in Deception, it may be more convenient to learn a single spell,
and since you add your level to the Deception check with this you
effectively match having Expert proficiency if you’re not already
proficient. If you’re already proficient, this is effectively a +4 status
bonus to Deception, which is hard to beat.
The remastered version of Illusory Disguise has absorbed the effects of Veil, allowing you to Heighten the spell in order to affect up to 10 willing creatures.
-
(PC1): In many
cases, an illusory object is as good as a real one. Hiding being an illusory
wall is often just as good as hiding behind a real one, especially if an
enemy doesn’t know to Seek nearby, and even then the rules for disbelieving
illusions require creatures to make a Perception check to Disbelieve the
spell before they can see through it even partially.
You can easily use this in combat to block line of sight, to create places to hide, and possibly to isolate enemies for several rounds. But fair warning: you and your allies are not immune to your illusions. Even if you know that an effect is an illusion, you still need to Disbelieve it to see through it.
The duration is long enough to let you do all sorts of useful stuff, and if you prepare it at higher Ranks the spell can be permanent.
- (PC2): Too situational. It’s more likely that the players will encounter this spell in effect while adventuring.
- (KCG): Decent damage with a good rider effect and good scaling, but Poison resistanceis common.
- (): Too situational for use while adventuring. Once you can cast the 7th-Rank version you might get some value in turning some of your belongings invisible while establishing a home base. A sheet of metal that’s permanently invisible makes for a very sturdy window.
- (PC1): Very situational, but I just know that there are players out there who are going to cast this on looted items to try to get more gold when they sell it. As a GM, remember that when creatures interact with the affected item they can attempt to Disbelieve the effect, and if word gets out that the players are trying to swindle people with this spell the players might have trouble trading with people who know their reputation.
- (DA): A great option for Forced Movement that will rmeian impactful for your whole career. The 1-Action version is enough to get you out of melee, to break grapples, or to trade Actions with a target. The 2-Action version likely won’t see as much use, but the improved range and double push range are significant. The 3-Action version is tempting if you get swarmed, but try to avoid needing it. If you find yourself needing it consistently, Gale Blast will do the same Emanation push on the same save, only takes 2 Actions, and also deals damage.
- (PF #194) (Rare): Too situational.
- (LO:DM): Only situationally useful, but a situation that occurs frequently. I wouldn’t take this early in your career, but at high levels it’s a great use a low-level spell slot.
- (PC1): Only situationally useful, and player characters will rarely use this in any way that’s actually impactful. However, they’re very likely to encounter it as an obstacle.
-
(SoM): Absolutely
spectacular. Movement is crucial in Pathfinder, so using this to prevent
enemies from getting into melee with allies or to slow their escape can
absolutely change the course of an encounter. This is an excellent spell for
your entire career.
This spell has saved my party at least twice in hard encounters. Forcing enemies to spend extra Actions to Stride meant fewer actions attacking us, and I’ve been lucky enough to have major enemies critically fail the save, allowing me to walk them right between two of our melee party members to get easy flanking.
- (PC1): Tempting if you like to use shields, but the Repair activity is more effective, doesn’t require a spell slot, and doesn’t have a Bulk limitation. You could save this for days when you’re not adventuring, but even then proficiency in Craft is easy to get and just as good.
- (LO:DM): Very situational. In a real world, this would be a great way to send messages. If you could cast this at Rank 9, it would be a great way to permanently record small bits of information. Imagine an art museum where all of the plaques are replaced by 5-minute narrations.
-
(PC1): Extremely
situational.
Prior to the remaster, Mindlink was only on the Occult spell list.
-
(PC1): If you fight
unarmored, Mystic Armor will replace the benefits of a well-enhanced
Explorer’s Outfit at the cost of a single spell slot. Sure, spell slots are
valuable, but the amount of gold you save will be considerable. You need to
cast higher-Rank versions of the spell to get the increasing benefits, so I
recommend using your second-highest Rank spell slot.
Prior to the remaster, this spell was called “Mage Armor”.
- (SoM) (Uncommon): Only useful if your GM has somehow made Games Lore a useful enough skill to justify putting resources into it. Once you can cast Rank 5 spells, the +2 bonus to Earn an Income is significant, but you have had to live with Gaming Lore for up to 8 levels before you saw that benefit, and I don’t see that happening for most people.
- (PC2): Situationally useful. How good this is comes down to some combination of what your GM knows and is willing to share and what has been written about the object in the adventure you’re playing or in your GM’s notes. In the best case scenario, this could reveal exciting and useful lot details. In the worst case scenario, your GM either won’t or simply can’t give you the information that this spell is intended to provide.
- (Fb) (Uncommon): Absolutely fantastic in every way. It’s a Reaction, it’s a powerful debuff without Incapacitation, and on a Critical Failure it can waste the rest of your attacker’s turn. For a Rank 1 spell, this is absolutely incredible.
- (LO:DM): If Low-Light Vision and Darkvision weren’t so common, this would be great. Against enemies like humans that lack special senses, this is almost as good as Blindness, but without the Incapacitation trait.
- (PC1): Situationally useful if you want to sneak your pet into a place where they might not be welcome, but your pet can’t willingly exit and you can’t dismiss the spell, so you’re putting your pet totally out of reach for 8 hours.
-
(PC1): The servant
can perform Interact Actions, so it may be able to do things like triggering
traps, activating magic items, administering potions to allies, etc., but
the spell is Sustained so you’re still committing an Action every round to
get an extra set of hands. Unfortunately, you can’t simply issue commands to
your servant and take a nap while they mop your floors or something.
Prior to the remaster, this spell was called “Unseen Servant”.
- (PC1): Not much damage, but it can make your target Sickened, which is an excellent debuff. Unfortunately, this has the Nonlethal trait, so it can’t outright kill your target, but it can knock them unconscious. In many cases, that’s good enough.
- (RA / SoM) (Rare): A Wand of this will let you cast it at the beginning of the day (or the night before) and use the bonus whenever you like. This is one of the easiest Item bonuses to Recall Knowledge available, but you might prefer Insight Coffee if you’re going to rely heavily on Recall Knowledge.
- (PC1): Simple, reliable, and effective. Not very exciting, and it won’t win fights on its own, but it’s still a decent buff. The Rank 3 version turns it into an aura, though the 10-foot radius isn’t amazing.
- (SoM): If you were a professional wizard in a real world, this would be great. But this isn’t a game about magical accountants sorting through the kingdom’s treasury, so you’re unlikely to use this ever.
- (PF #203) (Uncommon): Too situational and too hard to predict when you’ll need this.
- (SoM): Another spell that would be very useful in a real world, but which is totally useless in a game that takes places in your imagination.
- (PC1): All the benefits of Runic Weapon, but it may apply to multiple Strike options. Creatures that fight unarmed often have multiple types of attacks (monks changing stances, character with both teeth and claws, etc.), and this allows them to switch between them without giving up the buff.
-
(PC1): Players
likely won’t have +1 Striking weapons until around level 5. Before then,
Runic Body and Runic Weapon can provide a massive boost in effectiveness to
martial characters. The 1-minute duration will only last through a single
fight, but casting this on turn 1 will frequently yield more damage output
at low levels than casting an offensive spell.
At higher levels, the relative benefits of uprading a weapon may not be worth the cost to cast this at 6th or 9th Rank since you’re no longer doubling the weapon’s damage dice. Increasing a weapon’s damage dice by 50% or 33% is not as impressive as 100%. Also, your higher-Rank offensive spells will be much more impressive.
Prior to the remaster, this spell was called “Magic Weapon”. The base effects were identical, but there was no benefit for Heightening the spell.
- (PC1): Great on allies that are already Wounded and who need to stay out of the fight. This may protect allies enough to still participate if they can stick to non-hostile actions like healing and support options.
-
(PC2): Both
hillarious and very effective. Even on a Success, the target takes a -1
Status penalty to Will saves, making it easy to hit them back on your next
turn. If they fail, Stupefied imposes a percentage chance to fail to cast
spells which might cause enemy spellcasters to effectively waste their turn.
You might even Stun them if they roll poorly. This doesn’t have
Incapacitation, either, so it’s fantastic against powerful enemies.
For best results, pair this with Overselling Flourish and you have a response to essentially anything offensive which an enemy might do to you.
- (KCG) (Rare): Decent damage and good scaling. If you don’t need to do anything except attack enemies, and if there are buffs/debuffs making you more likely to hit, this could be really good. The Persistent damage on crit is pretty good, too. There’s a lot of overlap here with Ignition, so you only want to use this on turns when you’re going to spend 1 Action to cast the spell, then 2 Actions to make two attacks with it, and you only want to do that when the numbers are tilted in your favor. If enemies have debuffs like Clumsy, Frghtened, or Off-Guard and if you have buffs like Courageous Anthem, you’re in good shape.
- (SoM): Maybe useful in situations which call for intrique, eavesdropping, or spying, but you won’t use this often. Unfortunately, this doesn’t appear to affect or deter spellcasting in any way.
- (LO:DM): Extremely situational. It’s possible that you can use this in a hexcrawl with Efficient Explorer to distribute the Lore skills without multiple people taking the Skill Feat, but even then it’s minimally useful.
-
(RoE): Extremely
situational. This is not an offensive spell. The offensive parts are there
in case you somehow manage to use this inside by shooting a ceiling, and you
will rarely be able to do that without catching yourself in the 30-foot
burst.
The 30-foot AOE is impressive for a 1st-Rank spell, but the “must go straight up” limitation makes it nearly impossible to use this offensively without friendly fire.
- (PC1): Despite being heavily weakened compared to Pathfinder 1e, Sleep is still a good spell, but you need to reconsider how you use it. Its effects no longer depend on the targets’ hit points, and work on a normal saving throw more like other spells. The area of effect is small, so rather than clearing whole encounters by putting them to sleep, you may need to target a few creatures that are clustered together, then either sneak past them or eliminate them without drawing the attention of other nearby creatures. Also note that this has the Incapacitation trait, so it won’t work reliably on challenging enemies.
- (PC1): The Occult spell list doesn’t include Heal, so this is your go-to healing option. It heals almost as much a 2-Action Heal, and provides a nice bonus to mental saves for a full minute.
- (PC1): Only situationally useful. The healing is very slow, and it takes from the caster instead of just healing the target like you would with something like Soothe or Heal. The value here is that it doesn’t cut into your action economy, and it stays in place for 10 minutes. I’m not certain if that’s worth it. If you have a ton of easy ways to heal yourself, this could be a good way to keep your party’s melee characters alive while you fight from a safe distance and heal yourself as needed.
- (SK): Only situationally useful. Unless you’re in a game where Haunts feature heavily, there is a vanishingly small number of enemies to which this applies. A +2 Status bonus in an Emanation is fantastic, but you’ll likely never get to use this. Consider a scroll if you’re worried since this doesn’t care about your stats.
- (): More whimsical than Summon Undead, but Summon Undead has more options and they’re frequently much more useful.
- (PC1): A huge number of summon options across the level spectrum with a ton of great tactical uses.
-
(PC1): While it
won’t be especially helpful at low levels when your spell slots are
extremely limited, this is a great option at higher levels. The 1-Action
casting time allows you to cast this before casting another spell,
dramatically improving the reliability of higher-level spells which require
attack rolls like Disintegrate.
Prior to the remaster, this spell was called “True Strike”.
- (SoM): Very situational. If you do need this, you’ll almost certainly know with enough advanced warning that you can get a scroll or prepare it.
-
(KoL) (Uncommon): If
your party doesn’t depend heavily on Reactions, this could be a great way to
make your party’s action economy more efficient and to capitalize on good
positioning. However, you need to spend some time thinking about how your
party will use the benefits and if it’s worth the Action cost to Sustain the
Spell. You also need to consider if you want to cast this on yourself, which
reduces the percieved Action cost since you also get to move as a Reaction,
but which greatly reduces the spell’s impact unless you’re casting the Rank
5 version.
For example: As of this writing, my current party is a Bard (me), a Druid, a Rogue, a Swashbuckler, a Warpriest Cleric, and a Witch. Our Rogue, Swashbuckler, and Warpiest Cleric are all built for melee, and our Cleric has the Champion Dedication Archetype to get Champion’s Reaction. Our Rogue and Swashbuckler both depend heavily on movement, but their only Reacitons are Opportune Riposte and Nimble Dodge. Our Warpriest Cleric uses Champion’s Reaction almost every turn. This means that our Rogue and Swashbuckler are both great candidates for Synchronize Steps. I could commit one of my Actions to keeping the spell going, which would let my allies turn their largely unuses Reactions into movement, which could be a huge impact.
This becomes massively more impactful with the Rank 5 verion because you’re spending just as many Actions to Sustain the Spell but improving the action economy of 150% more allies. Allies can also afford to be more picky about using their Reaction to move if one ally needs to Stride while another needs to Step.
- (SoM): For characters built to rely on Feinting, this is massively impactful. Grab a whole stack of wands and use this before any combat encounter where you have time to prep before initiative is rolled. Unfortunately, the overlap between characters who like to Feint and characters who can cast this is pretty small, so it’s utterly useless for most characters.
- (PC2): Only situationally useful. You might use this to send potions or other consumables to allies in combat, but it requires a pretty specific situation to justify this.
- (PC1): Only situationally useful, but it can be very effective if your GM plays along. Creatures need to Seek to Disbelieve the illusion, which means that they either accept the source of the sounds or spend Actions attempting to figure out what’s happening. Figment may be more useful, but a supportive GM could make this very fun.
Rank 2 Occult Spells
- ():
- : Situational. This requires a lot of buy-in from the GM in many cases, so it can be hard to use this effectively. If your GM does well with illusions, they’ll probably handle this well too.
