Mastering Metamagic

A guide to metamagic feats in pathfinder.

You’re building or leveling your spell caster and are to the point you get to chose feats.  What are these metamagic feats all about? How do I use them? Do I even want metamagic feats?

That’s what we are here for today. First we will go over how metamagic feats work. Then we will be going over each of the metamagic feats, rating them and give examples of how to use them. We will also go over other feats or traits that affect metamagic casting.

Ratings used as in various other guides. Poor choice, Fair choice, almost good, Good choice, Awesome choice. If something is multi colored there should be an explanation of why.

How to use metamagic feats:

If we are a prepared caster, such as a wizard, we can prepare our spells as a metamagic spell. For example, if we have the toppling spell metamagic feat and know magic missile we can prepare a toppling magic missile as a second level spell. These spells are prepared the same way any other spell is prepared.  When we cast our spell we cast it the same way we would cast any other spell. There is no increase in casting time.

If we are a spontaneous caster,  such as a sorcerer, we also chose to add our metamagic feat to our spell spontaneously. To do so we simply use up an equivalent level spell slot and cast. So, for example we can cast toppling magic missile whenever we have a second level spell slot to do so. When adding metamagic to a spontaneously cast spell we take longer to cast a spell. Thus if a spell is a standard action (most spells) it would now be a full round action.  This means that we won’t be able to move further than 5 feet that round.

Once the spell is cast it’s treated like the normal spell for all purposes (spell level/DC and such) except it gains the effect of the feat.

Things to consider:

Class:

Wizard: We must remember we are a prepared caster. This means we need to prepare our metamagics on our spells in advance. This makes feats that adapt to a situation (such as elemental spell or heighten spell) worse for us than a spontaneous caster. There are exceptions to this rule such as taking Preferred  Spell or Spell perfection.  If we take a metamagic feat we need to have a plan of how we are going to have it prepared. We do have a benefit of being able to take metamagic feats as bonus feats instead of using our normal leveling feats.

Sorcerer/Oracle: As a spontaneous caster, we can take more situational metamagic feats since we can choose to use them the second the situation comes up. Also with a more limited spell selection a metamagic feat can double as a new spell. For example if we took fireball as a 3rd level spell we can take elemental spell instead of using up another known spell on an evocation spell of another type. We need to consider how the metamagic feats are changing our spells when selecting new spells.

Cleric/Druid: Again we must prepare in advance. So, we must know how we would prepare it when we take the feat.

Bard: Being spontaneous once again, but now we need to pay attention to our limited spell progression. If we only get 6th level spell slots then feats that increase the spell level by 1 or 2 are much more valuable than feats that increase them by 3 or 4. Also, ways to decrease the spell level change become more valuable.

Magus: We must prepare and have a limited spell progression. One of the biggest considerations to account for are the spells themselves. Magus’s spell list really has a strong focus on evocation damaging spells. This makes us gravitate towards feats that make these spells stronger.

Role:

If our role in the party is that of a healer/buffer then we are going to want most of our feats to be geared towards improving those spells (like extend and reach). If we are specializing in debuffs then we want to make sure our spells connect and feats like persistent spell are important. If our job is to simply nuke our opponent then we want some feats that will increase our damage. We don’t need to completely focus on doing one thing, in fact adding debuffs to our nukes makes our team much stronger. But, our role is definitely something to consider.

Build:

If we build our character to focus on one spell or theme, then traits and feats enhancing that specific spell or theme become really important. Specializing in a specific spell is fun and can be really strong. There are many feats that really support doing this.

Campaign Specifics:

Level: If you know we are only going to be in a specific level range take that into account. There are some feats that are great at low level and suck at high level. Also if we won’t get higher level spell slots then taking feats that increase your spell casting beyond what we can cast simply does not make sense.

Stealth/ diplomacy: If we know we will be using stealth or utilizing a good about of diplomacy rounds prior to our fights there are certain feats that become much more useful.  

Metamagic feats:

The numbers before the feat is how many levels higher the spell slot needs to be to cast it.

0 Merciful Spell: Not taking up a higher level spell slot is interesting, but why would we want to deal nonlethal damage?  Maybe we want our targets alive. Maybe we have a feat that lets us do something with nonlethal damage. Maybe it’s a flavor choice.

1 Bouncing Spell: If we fail to affect our original target with our spell we can try again on a second target. This is best used on our spells that allow our targets a save to ignore. My main issue is that either we want to hit the main guy with the targeted spell or we would use an aoe spell to hit multiples.  Example: Use with Hideous Laughter.

1 Disruptive Spell: The anti spell caster metamagic. Let’s use this example: 2 casters level 4 both with a +4 caster stat. Now we cast Disruptive Magic Missile at our opponent. Next turn they have to make a concentration check of 15+ the spell level (let’s say magic missile so 16). They get a +8 so they need to roll and 8 or higher to shoot us back. Spell focus and similar effects would make this more difficult. We will only take this in a high magic campaign, likely not even then.

1 Ectoplasmic Spell: Obviously it’s only going to be useful against very specific creatures. Let’s examine: It will cause our non force spells to do twice as much damage to incorporeal creatures. more important is that it lets our non damage spells hit twice as often. Ethereal are a bit more complicated rules wise. If we are going to be encountering these types of creatures and situations a lot this is probably blue, otherwise it’s red. For damage, force spells always hit these creatures dealing full damage and are probably fine for dealing with them if they are just encountered on occasion.

1 Elemental Spell: This is the metamagic of choice when specializing in a specific spell, such as fireball. When we come across an enemy resistant or immune to the element of our spell we simply change the element. One downside is we have to choose an element when we take the feat, so to have 2 optional elements we need to take the feat twice. There are also other options to change the element such as using the Admixture archetype for wizard or specializing in a spell that let’s us choose the element. Depending on our character build this is either a must have or completely useless. Example: turning our fireballs into frostballs when encountering a red dragon.

1 Enlarge Spell: This feat is absolutely worthless when reach spell exists. If I could rate it lower I would. Do not take this feat.

1 Extend Spell: This can be used on spells that have long durations to make them even longer. One trick is to cast long duration spells the night before an early morning adventure and have those buffs last most of that adventure. Extended Overland Flight lasts 2 hours per level instead of 1 hour per level. Before we pick this feat, we need to figure out how  we are going to use it. If there is a difference for us between that hour/level spell being 22 vs 11 hours get it, if not move on.

1 Flaring Spell: Dazzles creatures affected by fire/lightning/light spells. Lets see, -1 to attack rolls and perception checks. Frankly there are simply better options. Flaring fireball makes affected targets -1 to attack and perception rolls for 3 rounds. If I could rate this lower, I would.

1 Focused Spell: There are better, more universal ways to get +2 to your DC’s.

1 Heighten Spell: This is the exception to the rule that a spell retains its level. What does increasing a spell’s level do? For starters it increases the DC for saves against the spell. Secondly, it increases the duration of some of the other metamagic effects of the spell. For example a heightened dazing fireball will now daze targets for 4 rounds instead of 3.

1 Intensified Spell: This is one of the better ways to increase damage as we gain levels. It does need us to have the caster level to increase the damage though, so we don’t need to take it too early. This is only good for blasting builds, but necessary if we want to get the most from our spells. Even when we are blasting it is often better to add a debuff than to try to get some extra damage in. I see this used the most in magus builds using shocking blast. Intensified shocking grasp does 10d6 damage at level 10.

1 Lingering Spell: This causes our spells to stay around for the rest of the round ideally to prevent movement and gain concealment. Lingering fireballs could be placed to prevent a group from rushing us and give our group concealment from an opposing group.

1 Piercing Spell: When fighting things with spell resistance we need everything we can to cut through that resistance. Giving us a +25% chance to break through their defences is really strong.

1 Rime Spell: Limited to cold spells, but a really strong debuff. -2 to attacks, -4 dex (thus -2 ac, possibly -2 more attack), move at half speed, and need a DC 15+ spell level  concentration check to cast a spell. Rime Frostbite is one of my favorite level 2 magus spells. A Marid Sorcerer can cast a Rime Frostball (Fireball changed to cold damage) to deal some damage and significantly debuff the opposing team.

1 Selective Spell: Want to throw that AoE evocation spell, but your friends are in the way? Just use selective spell and it won’t affect the spaces you are standing in. Selective Fireball is a great way to help your team in battle with a 4th level spell.

1 Silent Spell: A situational feat for encountering silence or if you want to stealth. If silence is utilized in our campaign this becomes a near must have. Along with still spell this is really good in a political intrigue type campaign where you can buff during diplomacy rounds without others noticing. Becomes blue/purple in those types of campaigns.

1 Still Spell: I have never needed this feat. Sure there are hypothetical situations, like being tied up, but it’s more flavor than anything in my opinion. As with silent spell becomes higher rated in high diplomacy campaigns where you want to cast spells without others noticing. Also worth noting is this lets us cast spells while grappled, so if we are playing in a game where that will happen often, this may be worth taking.

1 Toppling Spell: This is a great early level feat. The problem is that bad guys quickly get CMD’s that we won’t be able to overcome. We can pick this up in a low level campaign or hope to retrain it later. Toppling magic missile adds a trip attempt for each missile for a level 2 spell. This is blue from 1-5 shifting to red at around 15+.

2 Burning Spell: Usable with fire or acid spells. Causes our spells to linger and deal an extra amount of damage on the next turn. This will cause fireball to deal an extra 6 damage to everyone affected by it on the next turn after we cast it. For an increase in 2 caster levels I expect way more.

2 Concussive Spell: Only usable with sonic spells. If you are going to use sonic use this. This effect does not allow a save, if they take damage they get the debuff. -2 to most relevant rolls, including saves, for a number of rounds equal to the spells level. Sonic is a very limited selection of spells (making this red if we don’t plan to take sonic spells already), but makes for great flavor if you want to make a character based on it. Use with Shout for a 6th level spell gives bad guys in a cone -2 to attacks, saves, etc for 4 rounds and a chance to deafen them.

2 Empower Spell: This is one of the main ways to increase the damage of your spells or increase our healing power. It’s typically better to add more debuffs to a spell than increase its damage, but if damage is what we are looking for this is one of the best. Empowered Cure Critical Wounds now heals 1.5 * (4d8 + caster level) damage.

2 Persistent Spell: This is much better than bouncing spell at least since it basically targets the same target twice. Let’s use an example of our target needing an 11 to save from our spell. He currently has a 50% chance, if he saves he now has another 50% chance to save again giving him an overall 25% chance to save. This is like increasing our save DC by 5. The higher our DC the better this feat gets.

2 Sickening Spell: Another great debuffing Metamagic. -2 to every roll including saves making it easier to land our next spell (and other casters spells to land theirs). A sickening scorching ray weakens your opponents for 2 rounds with a level 4 spell.

2 Thanatopic Spell: Frankly if I’m fighting undead, I’ll use spells that hurt undead.

2 Threnodic Spell:  I don’t see the point. If I want to play a mind controller character, I’ll play it in campaigns that don’t involve undead.

2 Thundering Spell: Deafened isn’t a debuff I like to use. It lowers initiative and gives some spells a chance to fail.

3 Dazing Spell: This is powerful. Adding daze to a damaging spell makes the targets who fail their save unable to act for a number of rounds equal to the spells level. For example, put this on a fireball and the targets who fail their reflex save cannot take any actions for 3 rounds. That’s probably the rest of combat and if not simply hit them with another one...

3 Echoing Spell: For increasing our spell by 3 levels we get to cast this spell a second time. If  we are really low on spells per day I could see wanting to use this. But, it’s much more likely we are going to want to cast a stronger spell and find another way to fix our limited casting issue..

3 Maximize Spell: Seems really good until we actually look closely at it. For 3 spell levels you maximise the damage of your spell. Let’s look at fireball. A maximized fireball at 10 deals 60 damage, an average non maximised will do 35, so maximized is adds 25 damage. Empower on the other hand would average 52.5 damage for only 2 spell levels. I would take empower and intensify feats before taking this one.

1-3 Reach Spell: It’s a fairly strong effect. For each range increment we increase the spell by it increases the spell level by 1. It’s best effects are letting us cast buffs or heals that would otherwise be touch spells at range. It’s also great for turning touch attacks into ranged touch attacks which will use dex instead of strength to hit and keep us further away from our opponents.

3 Widen Spell: Usually we can hit all our opponents just fine without this feat.  The spell level increase is just way too much.

4 Quicken Spell: Quicken is one of the best effects, but also one of the highest costs. Getting to cast more than one spell during a turn is priceless. Early game it is simply out of reach. Mid game reserve it for rods. Late game, get this feat. Note this rating is intended for high level game play or if we have a way around the +4 spell level requirement.

Ways to Influence Metamagic

Bloodline:

Arcane: If we are planning to use a lot of metamagic, then arcane is a good bloodline to choose. Any time we use a metamagic feat the DC on the save increases by 1. At 3rd level we gain the ability to cast 1 metamagic spell per day without increasing cast time (+1 every 4 levels). We then get to give +2 to all saves from 1 school of magic. And finally as a capstone at 20 we no longer have increased cast times for our metamagic spells. (get a robe of the archmage to get this at 16 instead of 20). These are great reasons to go arcane, but sorcerers are typically built around themes and other bloodlines are typically more thematic.

Wizard School:

Universalist: Gets an ability called metamagic master at 8 that lets us spontaneously add a metamagic feat to a spell we have prepared. This is a strong ability if we were already planning to go universalist, but not enough to pick universalist on its own.

Traits:

Magical lineage, Metamagic master (aka wayang spellhunter): These traits let us pick a spell and each trait gives us a free level to spend on metamagic feats. They also stack, so we could get both and get  2 free levels for metamagic feats. The only issue is that they are spell specific. Still really, really good.

Feats:

Spontaneous Metafocus: Lets spontaneous casters cast metamagic spells without the increased casting time. What this really accomplishes is increased movement on the turn we cast our metamagic spells. It’s a nice option, but not a necessity.

Spell Perfection: The only downside is waiting until level 15 to get it. Cast a spell normally and add a metamagic feat to it for free, no increased cast time, no increased spell level. Let’s take our wizard with 2 intensified fireballs prepared. We casts 1 and apply quickened metamagic feat to it. This does 15d6 damage as a free action. Then we casts our second level 4 spell of the turn another intensified fireball, this one we empower. It deals 22d6 more damage for 37d6 damage total in the turn. Make sure to get Quicken spell if you intend to get this.

Other ways to make spells more powerful

Traits:

Gifted Adept: Cast 1 spell at +1 caster level. This is really good for getting as much out of your chosen spell as early as possible. Again it’s only for 1 spell and you will eventually grow out of that spell.

Magical Knack: If you intend to dip into another class this will keep your spells as strong as they should be for your level.

Feats:

Spell Focus / Greater Spell Focus: Increase the saves on our spells by 1 for each feat.

Spell Penetration / Greater Spell Penetration: +2 for each feat to overcome spell resistance.

Spell Specialization: Treat the spell of your choice as +2 caster level. When you outgrow a spell you simply switch it to a new one.

Metamagic Rods: 

Metamagic Feats can be stored in metamagic rods that can be used to apply the metamagic feat to a spell as its being cast. This is one way prepared casters can apply situational feats to their spells. They are available for every metamagic feat and come in 3 versions. Lesser applies the feat to spell levels 3 or less. Normal applies to spells 6 or lower. Greater applies to level 9 or lower. Each rod can be used 3 times per day. I don’t need to go over each feat, but will point out some that are good to use as a rod.

Cost: the cost is determined by what type of rod (lesser, normal, greater) and how many spell levels the spell would be increased if using the feat.

1 level- 3,000 gp (lesser), 11,000 gp (normal), 24,500 gp (greater)

2 levels- 9,000 gp (lesser), 32,500 gp (normal), 73,000 gp (greater)

3 levels- 14,000 gp (lesser), 54,000 gp (normal), 121,500 gp (greater)

4 levels- 35,000 gp (lesser), 75,500 gp (normal), 170,000 gp (greater)

Quicken- 35k is a lot of gold to help with level 3 spells. According to wealth based level we should be able to afford these around level 10-12. A bard or Magus in that range is only casting level 4 spells, so this will let us cast almost any spell we know as a free action 3 times per day. Being able to quicken haste or slow in the first round of combat is very powerful. For perspective, a sorcerer will be able to cast quickened haste without a rod at level 14.

Elemental- I find this one to be really strong for its cost. Esp if we specialize in a specific spell or damage type. For 9k or around level 6-8 we can get 3 elemental rods that are not the element we have chosen and use them whenever we come across anything strong against our chosen element. Even casters who don’t focus on evocation spell are likely to use them sometimes. Being able to take 1 spell and use it as our spell for multiple elements for a simple 3k is really strong in my opinion.

Any 1 or 2 level metamagic feat we don’t plan to use more than 3 times per day  but want to have available is probably worth grabbing as a rod.

Other items: 

Robe of the Archmage: Specifically for sorcerers of the arcane bloodline. This lets us use our bloodline powers more times per day and lets us pick up our bloodline capstone 4 levels earlier. If we are going to be arcane sorcerers we will get this if available.

Staff of the Master: This is a very interesting staff. In addition to having spells it can cast we can use charges in replacement of increasing the spell level of our spells. So, if we want to quicken a spell we would use 4 charges from the staff and cast the spell at its normal level.  A staff starts with 10 charges. To recharge a charge we need to learn ray of enfeeblement and cast it into the staff as we regain our spells/ prepare our spells for the day. We can recharge 1 charge per day.

Thanks to contributors helping me out on the forum and helping me gain different points of  view. Visit the discussion here: Metamagic Guide, looking for feedback. 

Thank you:

137Ben, Captain Von Spicy Wiener, Pauljathome, BigDTBone, Kyrt-rider, Wraithstrike, Avr, Darigaaz the Igniter, PSusac, Stuart Haffenden,  alchemicGenius, andreww, strayshift, Cap. Darling, Gregory Connolly,