hunter's eye: does it need a visible target?

[blue_the_wolf]

does the ranger spell Hunters Eye need a visible target?

If I am in a battle with creature X and it goes invisible can I then use hunters eye spell naming creature X and then be able to see the creature or get a bonus against his stealth check?

or do I have to cast the spell before the creature goes invisible in order to get the benefits of the spell?

[Starglim]

The target of hunter's eye is the creature against which you want to get bonuses. You must see or touch a creature to target it.

[blue_the_wolf]

seems dumb.

should be viable as long as you know the target.

I mean... a spell like scrying does not require a target you can see right now and since the spell itself does no damage or even present any particular bonus other then the chance to see or track something its not unreasonable that you simply have to know the target as in a particular enemy you were recently in combat with.

a spell like this is so situation based that no one is going to waste a whole turn casting the spell JUST IN CASE the enemy can go invisible.

its also a 2nd level ranger spell which means he is not going to get it until at best level 7. Wizards will have see invisible at level 3, almost every other caster class will get see invisible at level 4

it should be something you can cast as needed even if thats AFTER the enemy hides, runs or goes invisible.

but thats just my opinion.

[Gauss]

Perform's a bit of thread necromancy

So, this came up in my own group and we are not satisfied with the result.

Spell description:

APG p228 Hunter's Eye wrote:

HUNTER’S EYE

School divination; Level inquisitor 3, ranger 2
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, DF
Range medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Target one creature
Duration 1 minute/level
Saving Throw none; Spell Resistance yes
Sharpening your perceptive abilities and tuning them against obfuscating effects, hunter’s eye greatly enhances your senses against the target creature. You gain the ability to perceive the target when it is invisible or ethereal as though using the see invisibility spell, and receive a +20 competence bonus on Perception checks to locate the target. You ignore concealment provided by fog or mist, blur, displacement, invisibility, and similar effects affecting the target, but not concealment provided by darkness. This spell provides no benefits to your allies, and no benefits against creatures other than the target.

It appears, by RAW that you must either see or touch the creature to use this spell. While you could touch an invisible creature (as problematic as that is) how, how can you touch a creature that is Ethereal?

This spell appears to intend (RAI) you to cast a spell and then see an invisible or ethereal creature you select. However, by RAW that cannot happen.

This may be worthy of a FAQ or Errata.

[Ruhl-Than Sage]

I would agree that according to raw you would need to meet normal targeting requirements for this spell, but it does seem reasonable that someone could still cast the spell on their next action after a target disappears, so that's how I would personally house rule it.

Blue_the_Wolf:

While this may be a 2nd level Ranger spell, that also makes it a 2nd level Hunter spell which they can get by 4th level. I would recommend looking at the Hunter if you want to build a really good tracker.

Also it should be noted that not every campaign is the same and not everything is designed to be optimal for PCs. I really appreciate at lot of spells and feats being available for NPCs that I would probably never choose as a PC.