Bevan's page

The power from despair ability for the Spiritualist's despair phantom says it gets +2 on attack and damage rolls against creatures that are "shaken, frightened, panicked, cowering, or subject to effects such as aura of despair and crushing despair. "

My question is, what also falls into the category of effect like aura of despair and crushing despair? does the phantom's miserable strike ability also count? What else?

After reviewing the rules on natural attacks, my reading is that unless noted as being secondary natural attacks, natural attacks are primary by default, so I would play that the battleshaping power provides the caster with primary natural attacks.

"Natural Attacks: Attacks made with natural weapons, such as claws and bites, are melee attacks that can be made against any creature within your reach (usually 5 feet). These attacks are made using your full attack bonus and deal an amount of damage that depends on their type (plus your Strength modifier, as normal). You do not receive additional natural attacks for a high base attack bonus. Instead, you receive additional attack rolls for multiple limb and body parts capable of making the attack (as noted by the race or ability that grants the attacks). If you possess only one natural attack (such as a bite—two claw attacks do not qualify), you add 1–1/2 times your Strength bonus on damage rolls made with that attack.

Some natural attacks are denoted as secondary natural attacks, such as tails and wings. Attacks with secondary natural attacks are made using your base attack bonus minus 5. These attacks deal an amount of damage depending on their type, but you only add half your Strength modifier on damage rolls...
"

You will note that it only says that secondary attacks are denoted, with the default assumption being that the attack follows the first paragraph, the rules for primary natural attacks.

I was kinda hoping for a concrete ruling, like a quote from a book or something. Sort of a "A character cannot learn spells of a higher level than they can cast" type reference with a page number.

Under the wizard recording spells from another wizard's spellbook it is similarly vague about whether or not a wizard can learn spells they cannot cast yet. In that it doesn't say that a wizard could not.

I haven't been able to find anything else on learning spells outside of normal level gain, but then again I'm sure I could be missing something.

I'm planning on creating a crossblooded sorcerer, however I know that the spells known by the sorcerer decreases by one for each spell level, meaning that normally the sorcerer would not be able to for example cast level 2 spells until level 5 even though it has spell slots for level 2 spells at level 4. My question involving Expanded arcana is this:

Can expanded arcana be used to learn (not cast) a spell with a spell level higher than a sorcerer can normally cast? For example, could I learn a level 2 spell at level 3 using expanded arcana in order to have something to cast when I start casting level 2 spells at level 4?

Here's the description of expanded arcana for clarity:

"Expanded Arcana

Your research has revealed new spells.

Prerequisites: Caster level 1st, see Special.

Benefit: Add one spell from your class's spell list to your list of spells known. This is in addition to the number of spells normally gained at each new level in your class. You may instead add two spells from your class's spell list to your list of spells known, but both of these spells must be at least one level lower than the highest level spell you can cast in that class. Once made, these choices cannot be changed.

Special: You can only take this feat if you possess levels in a class whose spellcasting relies on a limited list of spells known, such as the bard, oracle, and sorcerer.

You can gain Expanded Arcana multiple times."

My reading is unless you are picking two spells with expanded arcana, there is no limit to the level of the spell learnt, even if the caster could can not actually cast the spell learnt due to caster level.