Currently, the top of my list is 'Elemental Spell' from the APG.
There have been others, and I'll add them as I find them, but what's the point of Elemental Spell, exactly?
As a sorcerer or bard it -might- be worthwhile, but otherwise you're looking at a one level penalty on a spell for no good reason. Dealing with only the 'big four' elements, and not even causing an acid spell to bypass spell resistance, it seems like a complete waste to me. Wouldn't this feat have been better served with a 0 level penalty? In ~95% of circumstances, lightning ball is identical to fireball.
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Elemental Spell (Metamagic)
You can manipulate the elemental nature of your spells.Benefit: Choose one energy type: acid, cold, electricity, or fire. You may replace a spell’s normal damage with that energy type or split the spell’s damage, so that half is of that energy type and half is of its normal type. An elemental spell uses up a spell slot one level higher than the spell’s actual level.
Special: You can gain this feat multiple times. Each time you must choose a different energy type.
Now, notice how it doesn't specify what kind of damage? Say you're going up against a red dragon. Well, in addition to making your fireballs/lightning bolts cold, you can also make your magic missiles cold, or make flame strike entirely cold damage, or spiritual weapon.
Elemental substitution used to be +0 lvl metamagic feat, and I too wondered why the +1 lvl, but since you can apply it to any damaging spell instead of just an elemental spell, its a bit more useful.
Elemental spell does more than just change the energy damage now.
It gives you the choice when you cast the spell of what energy damage you are going to do. You can:
1. Deal the original energy type.
2. Deal the other energy type.
3. Deal half of one and half of the other.
This is decided when you cast the spell -- as such you have options if you are fighting more than one elemental type -- or if you don't know what resistances the monsters have.
I play a fire heavy sorcerer.
Fireballs, scorching rays, orb of fire.
Ironically, i need this feat in Cold, just so that when i fight a red dragon or someone that's cast protection from energy i can still zap them.
Cosmopolitan.
Really? It nets two whole skill points! Skill Focus adds 3, then total of 6 past ten base rank. All of the other skill boosters add 4 (+2 to each of two skills) and then 8 past ten base ranks...
Yes they are languages, but if you are *that* starved for languages, burn the pittance of skill points.
I have a hard time justifying this as a Feat. It smells like a Trait to me...
GNOME
Cosmopolitan.
Really? It nets two whole skill points! Skill Focus adds 3, then total of 6 past ten base rank. All of the other skill boosters add 4 (+2 to each of two skills) and then 8 past ten base ranks...
Yes they are languages, but if you are *that* starved for languages, burn the pittance of skill points.
I have a hard time justifying this as a Feat. It smells like a Trait to me...
GNOME
Maybe I'm looking at it wrong, but doesn't it give you six skill points: the +3 class-skill bonus in 2 skills of your choice? Works out well if you want Perception or a Knowledge skill that your class doesn't give you.
doesn't it give you six skill points: the +3 class-skill bonus in 2 skills of your choice?
It also gives you the side effect of two ranks in Linguistics: two more languages at your disposal. Those were the two ranks I was refering to. :)
However... I am willing to believe that you can find either traits to comp what you are looking for (as a Character/RP based decision) and save your Feats for Featesque Feats.
The net result is a bit more flexibility, but not much gain. Even with the pretty generous Feat progression of Pathfinder (Thank you, Paizo!) it's still a steep cost to pay... :/
That is to say, if you are a melee type there are many, much better feats. If you are a skills type, well, you already have the skills you need access to. Unless you are trying to make a Heal based Rogue (sic). Using Rogues as they are the most Skill Intensive (by skill points and sheer number of Class Skills) The INT/WIS/CHA skills a rogue does not have access to are: Handle Animal, Heal, Know-Arcana, Engineering, Geography, History, Nature, Nobility, Planes, Religion, Spellcraft and Survival. The only one of these that cannot be made into a Class Skill by Trait selection is Handle Animal. There are only three Skills 'mental' skills a Bard does not get access to: Handle Animal, Heal and Survival, so that would be covered even more easily with Traits.
In any event, that's jus the first worst feat that popped into my head :)
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This is my favorite:
"Blue Mountain Mastery II
Type: General
Source: Dragon #309
You have mastered the deeper secrets of the Blue Mountain martial arts style. You can now move with blinding speed.
Prerequisite: Str 14, Dex 16, 4 or more ranks of Balance, 8 or more ranks of Jump, Circle Kick, Flying Dragon Kick, Great Ki Shout, Blue Mountain Mastery I.
Benefit: You receive a +2 bonus on your initiative rolls."
So after examining all the prereqs, the prereqs to the prereqs, etc, here's everything you have to have to get that +2 to initiative:
-STR 15 (Don't let that STR 14 mislead you. To take Blue Mountain Mastery I, you have to take Roundabout Kick, which has STR 15 as a prereq).
-DEX 16
-Acrobatics 8 ranks
-CHA 13
-BAB +9 or higher
-10 feats: Circle Kick, Flying Dragon Kick, Great Ki Shout, Blue Mountain Mastery I, Flying Kick, Improved Initiative, Improved Unarmed Strike, Ki Shout, Power Attack, and Roundabout Kick.
Oh, and BTW Flying Dragon Kick was also supposed to be a new feat in DR 309, but they forgot to include it, so you get absolutely nothing for that specific feat. But think of the end game here, and the +2 to initiative you're working towards.
Martial Weapon Proficiency ? :\
I'm going with Groundling....
For the mere cost of nothing more than an entire feat, you can: .. talk to moles! or gophers!
Martial Weapon Proficiency ? :\
lol Yeah, that blows! Maybe if it let you use a weapon group (as defined by Fighter Weapon Training it would be useful-ish...
GNOME
Cosmopolitan can have its uses. It gives you two class skills of your choice. Want a diplomatic fighter with good perception? There ya go. Want a cleric who can use wands and scrolls with arcane spells and who can dance really well? In situations where you have two skills that you want to boost and they aren't class skills and aren't going to be class skills, it can give you a really nice boost right away. The +2 to two skills is nice as well, but if you aren't going to max out the ranks or don't want till you get ten in both of them then Cosmopolitan will be better. And those feats don't give you the choice of skills you want.
Skill Focus and the +2 to two feats are best when you are going to keep those skills really high. They give you a bonus that goes on top of your ranks. But in some circumstances Cosmopolitan will be the better choice.
and of course you can do both if you really want to be good at something that your class choice suggests you shouldn't be good at.
*****
I'm mostly with you on Fleet. I can see its use in some builds, but in general I can think of other things I'd want. Taking fleet a couple times could help out say a mobile fighter who wants to be more mobile, and who has the feats to spare. The slower races could also use this to balance things out some.
If it was 10' for each taking of the feet I'd think it would be too strong. But 5' does seem a little weak.
Currently, the top of my list is 'Elemental Spell' from the APG.
There have been others, and I'll add them as I find them, but what's the point of Elemental Spell, exactly?
As a sorcerer or bard it -might- be worthwhile, but otherwise you're looking at a one level penalty on a spell for no good reason. Dealing with only the 'big four' elements, and not even causing an acid spell to bypass spell resistance, it seems like a complete waste to me. Wouldn't this feat have been better served with a 0 level penalty? In ~95% of circumstances, lightning ball is identical to fireball.
Hmm. But according to many, the free and flexible changing of energy types is what was broken about psionics, so this SHOULD have a cost associated with it. If I was a blaster-oriented mage, I'd take it.
Think outside the box a moment: you aren't just bypassing immune energy types, you now have the ability to target energy vulnerabilities. That red dragon is immune to fire, and you hit it with a flight of cold-inflicting magic missiles, for +50% damage there and then. Followed by a snow ball and an ice bolt.
If I was playing an evoker, I would take this feat every time. It's an option that makes blasting suck considerably less.
Cosmopolitan.
Really? It nets two whole skill points! Skill Focus adds 3, then total of 6 past ten base rank. All of the other skill boosters add 4 (+2 to each of two skills) and then 8 past ten base ranks...
The two languages are just icing on the cake. The real bonus is adding two skills as class skills. That means basically +3/+3 (you'll usually put ranks in those skills - or in one at the very least).
You might find traits for these, but then again, you might not. It's always possible that the traits you want don't fit your character (yes, there's people who look for more in traits than MOAR POWAR!). Or maybe the GM doesn't allow traits at all.
It might not be the most powerful of feats, but it's definitely not useless. It's just less universal than others, which is fine.
I have a hard time justifying this as a Feat. It smells like a Trait to me...
And I thought gnomes had good noses! You must be one of those tinker alchemists. Your nose has probably been killed by toxic fumes.
This is too powerful for a trait. A trait usually makes one (often specific) skill a class skill for you, maybe with an added benefit of a +1. This feat gives you two extra class skills (so it's more or less twice as good as those traits, which is the usual formula) and two languages as a bonus. And you won't have to spell skill points for the languages, which is nice, especially if you don't dabble in many skills but instead use a few skills you always max out. (In our group, we stopped bothering with noting ranks for skills. We just put down a L for level now) This lets you pick up some extra languages (in addition to the class skills) without having one or two skills with less than L ranks.
Personally, I find Fleet useless. You want me to use a precious feat to...add 5 to my move speed? You insult me sir.
I never had the urge to use a feat on that, true.
However, I could see the use for an archer character: Shoot once at a guy (with Deadly Aim and Vital Strike, maybe even with sneak attack if you're a scout rogue) and then move away so much that he can't move up to you with a single move (since you can move 5 feet further than him) so he'll have to blow a double move. Sure, there's charge, but if you pick your positions well, you'll leave something between you and sword boy, so he can't charge :)
Simple Weapon Proficiency?
I guess it's a "gotta keep things nice and orderly" feat: Even though almost everyone basically gets that as a bonus feat, there should be a feat for this to show how you can obtain these proficiencies. And, of course, for those cases where someone without access to all simple weapons really wants proficiency in the other ones (to be honest, in that case I'd tell the guy "The feat is now called Simple Weapon Proficiency Plus One Trait" - or simply have a Simple Weapons Proficiency trait available. Or just say "Here, it's on the house, go slay them with your amazing mace!" But that is house ruling, and the standard rules, which don't have feats, should not leave holes like that, even if they're small holes.)
I think when it comes to useless feats, Sharp Senses takes the cake.
This feat increases the racial bonus you get with the keen senses racial trait from +2 to +4.
So, in other words, this is a +2 to Perception, and only to Perception, and never more than +2 to Perception feat.
It's not as if there is any great flavour tied into this. You're just a bit more perceptive than others of your kind. Wow.
You can do that with Skill Focus (Perception), and can do it a lot better with Skill Focus than with Sharp Senses, since you get +3, not +2, and on higher levels, it becomes +6!
And if you already have Skill Focus but still want to be more perceptive, there's always Alertness. You get +2 to Perception, too, and, as an added bonus, +2 to Sense Motive. AND the bonuses increase to +4 with enough ranks.
If you don't have perception as a class skill yet (wrong class, and you don't have the right traits, or traits aren't used, you will probably want to get Cosmopolitan first, which effectively gives you another +3 (among other benefits)
The only case I can see someone taking Sharp Senses is when he absolutely wants to be the very best listener/lookout in the whole multiverse, and even then, I'd personally think twice (or 100 times) before blowing a feat on another +2.
Maybe you're a half-elven wizard with a familiar and the right trait (so you get Skill Focus from your race and Alertness from your familiar, and class skill from the trait) and can't think of another feat out of the killions out there you'd rather take.
If that happens to anyone here, let me know, I'll scrape together some venture capital to invest in warm blankets and get ready to make another kind of deal with the Devil (the one where I sell him warm blankets wholesale to give to people in the suddenly frozen-over hell).
I think when it comes to useless feats, Sharp Senses takes the cake.
This feat increases the racial bonus you get with the keen senses racial trait from +2 to +4.
So, in other words, this is a +2 to Perception, and only to Perception, and never more than +2 to Perception feat.
It's not as if there is any great flavour tied into this. You're just a bit more perceptive than others of your kind. Wow.
You can do that with Skill Focus (Perception), and can do it a lot better with Skill Focus than with Sharp Senses, since you get +3, not +2, and on higher levels, it becomes +6!
And if you already have Skill Focus but still want to be more perceptive, there's always Alertness. You get +2 to Perception, too, and, as an added bonus, +2 to Sense Motive. AND the bonuses increase to +4 with enough ranks.
If you don't have perception as a class skill yet (wrong class, and you don't have the right traits, or traits aren't used, you will probably want to get Cosmopolitan first, which effectively gives you another +3 (among other benefits)
The only case I can see someone taking Sharp Senses is when he absolutely wants to be the very best listener/lookout in the whole multiverse, and even then, I'd personally think twice (or 100 times) before blowing a feat on another +2.
Maybe you're a half-elven wizard with a familiar and the right trait (so you get Skill Focus from your race and Alertness from your familiar, and class skill from the trait) and can't think of another feat out of the killions out there you'd rather take.
If that happens to anyone here, let me know, I'll scrape together some venture capital to invest in warm blankets and get ready to make another kind of deal with the Devil (the one where I sell him warm blankets wholesale to give to people in the suddenly frozen-over hell).
One of the dudes I'm currently playing with is playing a half-elven Rogue, and he's got Alertness and Skill Focus (Perception). I believe at 3rd level, his Perception check is in the upper teens (edit: it's +15). So... it's really not outside the realm of possibility he might want to take this feat, just to make a point of things.
I've seen Fleet used with Small characters who want not only a small movement boost but also want to avoid the Acrobatics penalty for jumping.
re: Cosmopolitan
However... I am willing to believe that you can find either traits to comp what you are looking for (as a Character/RP based decision) and save your Feats for Featesque Feats.
The net result is a bit more flexibility, but not much gain. Even with the pretty generous Feat progression of Pathfinder (Thank you, Paizo!) it's still a steep cost to pay... :/
That is to say, if you are a melee type there are many, much better feats. If you are a skills type, well, you already have the skills you need access to. Unless you are trying to make a Heal based Rogue (sic). Using Rogues as they are the most Skill Intensive (by skill points and sheer number of Class Skills) The INT/WIS/CHA skills a rogue does not have access to are: Handle Animal, Heal, Know-Arcana, Engineering, Geography, History, Nature, Nobility, Planes, Religion, Spellcraft and Survival. The only one of these that cannot be made into a Class Skill by Trait selection is Handle Animal. There are only three Skills 'mental' skills a Bard does not get access to: Handle Animal, Heal and Survival, so that would be covered even more easily with Traits.
In any event, that's jus the first worst feat that popped into my head :)
I used it for an urban witch to give her Perception and Knowledge (local); couldn't find those in a trait. And my husband seriously considered using it to give his fighter Diplomacy. I admit it's a niche case, but there are times when it's just what you're looking for. The ability to choose which two skills you want instead of having them decided for you is what makes it good, IMO. Makes for a more customizable character.
Personally, I find Fleet useless. You want me to use a precious feat to...add 5 to my move speed? You insult me sir.
<serious look>..but, but, it stacks imagine if you keep taking it</serious look>
<burst out laughing>Oh well, I tried to get one over on you.
If I was playing an evoker, I would take this feat every time. It's an option that makes blasting suck considerably less.
Ok, IF I'm playing a blaster wizard...
I'll probably take Admixture school instead.
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Personally, I find Fleet useless. You want me to use a precious feat to...add 5 to my move speed? You insult me sir.<serious look>..but, but, it stacks imagine if you keep taking it</serious look>
<burst out laughing>Oh well, I tried to get one over on you.
Counterpoint: get Fast Movement. :)
+1 to Mok.
War Singer: Doubled bardic music range when 12+ people are fighting and +2 to bardic music DCs vs. orcs. Way, way too specific.
Elemental Fist: If you make it to 8th level, then you can take this awesome feat that might give you +1d6 elemental damage with an unarmed strike a few times per day. (Note: the Monk of the Four Winds version is much better.)
Ironguts: Again, too specific.
Tenacious Transformation: I just don't see dispelling used so often that a +2 bonus to resisting it is worth a feat.
War Singer: Doubled bardic music range when 12+ people are fighting and +2 to bardic music DCs vs. orcs. Way, way too specific.
Elemental Fist: If you make it to 8th level, then you can take this awesome feat that might give you +1d6 elemental damage with an unarmed strike a few times per day. (Note: the Monk of the Four Winds version is much better.)
Ironguts: Again, too specific.
Tenacious Transformation: I just don't see dispelling used so often that a +2 bonus to resisting it is worth a feat.
The Tenacious Transformation is really similar to a custom feat I made, which is simply Tenacious Magic. +2 on checks to dispel magic checks and a +2 DC to dispel or counter your spells. Made to mirror the combat maneuver feats.
Right, keen senses was another one that made me go O.o
But Elemental Spell only works on a single damage type, needs to be applied in advance and without KNOWING you're going to be facing something specifically vulnerable to an energy type that you happen to have already chosen, and in the process locks down your spell selection into a weaker category. Third level spells are pretty much not as good as fourth, and turning them from lightning to ice isn't going to help them any. If it was ANY element WHEN you cast the spell, instead of ONE LOCKED AND PRE-CHOSEN element when you PREPARE the spell, it might certainly be worth the +1, as it stands, I wouldn't take this any more than I would take Keen Senses.
Cosmopolitan definitely has some uses, and I've taken it once already. Stopped me from cross-classing into something to pick up diplomacy for my sorcerer as the party face.
If it was ANY element WHEN you cast the spell, instead of ONE LOCKED AND PRE-CHOSEN element when you PREPARE the spell, it might certainly be worth the +1, as it stands, I wouldn't take this any more than I would take Keen Senses.
This is the reason why I always thought that a Metamagic Feat (ANY Metamagic Feat) is much, much, much more potent in the hands of a Spontaneous Caster rather than in those of a Caster who prepares spells.
For a caster with limited resources (spells), a Metamagic Feat is akin to an entire new list of spells (I don't remember who posted this sentence on this forum, but I wholeheartedly agree with him/her) - Elemental Spell is VERY good for a Sorcerer or an Oracle, IMHO.
For a caster who prepares spells, there are often better options at higher levels anyway - at worst, it could try to find a Metamagic Rod and 'go spontaneous' a couple of times per day.
Just my 2c.
But Elemental Spell only works on a single damage type, needs to be applied in advance and without KNOWING you're going to be facing something specifically vulnerable to an energy type that you happen to have already chosen, and in the process locks down your spell selection into a weaker category. Third level spells are pretty much not as good as fourth, and turning them from lightning to ice isn't going to help them any. If it was ANY element WHEN you cast the spell, instead of ONE LOCKED AND PRE-CHOSEN element when you PREPARE the spell, it might certainly be worth the +1, as it stands, I wouldn't take this any more than I would take Keen Senses.
The only time I'd consider taking it is if I had a class feature that improved a specific type of elemental spell. For instance, an oracle with the Waves mystery has a possible class feature that adds a Slow effect to spells that do cold damage. Similarly, a sorcerer with the Draconic bloodline does more damage with a specific type of energy spell.
But I agree that it would be a much more reasonable feat if it were either a +0 level adjustment or if you could pick the energy type on the fly.
Personally, I find Fleet useless. You want me to use a precious feat to...add 5 to my move speed? You insult me sir.
I would have agreed with you prior to me buying the Super Genious games book "Feats of immediate action". The intercepting move makes it awesome and its like the "self proclaimed feat tree" for it i guess. atleast a player made good use of it anyways.
just my thoughts
I haven't read that so I will have to take your word for it. Still stand by my 'save a feat, get Fast Movement' statement tho. ;)
Intercepting Move (Immediate
Action)You are able to make a sudden move to
intercept an enemy.
Prerequisites: Fleet.
Benefit: In response to an enemy’s
movement, at any point during that move
action, you may use an immediate action to
take a single move action to position yourself
in the path of the enemy’s movement. (You
can put yourself in between a moving foe
and its intended target, in the path of a
charging foe, in a position to block a foe
taking a withdrawal action, or one moving
for any other reason.) The enemy is allowed
to change the course of his movement after
you have made your intercepting move.
Your new position may cause the enemy to
provoke attacks of opportunity, and some
previously available pathways may now be
prohibited by your new position.
Action Loss: This counts as an attack
of opportunity in your current round
(you must have an attack of opportunity
available in order to use Intercepting Move),
and consumes a move action from your next
turn.
What you think?
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Kind of fiddly with all the costs. (immediate action, uses AoO and next turns move action)
And it does not make Fleet worthwhile anymore than Diehard makes Endurance worthwhile IMO. Effectively you are paying two feats to get the benefit you really want.
But then, I believe the only prerequisite for feats should be BAB, skill rank, and CL. Thus, you get the feat at the point the designer thinks you should, and if you decide you want it midgame you don't have to take a bunch of other feats while you wait to get the one you really want.
Edit: to be clear, the feat is good but the cost is high.
Kind of fiddly with all the costs. (immediate action, uses AoO and next turns move action)
And it does not make Fleet worthwhile anymore than Diehard makes Endurance worthwhile IMO. Effectively you are paying two feats to get the benefit you really want.
But then, I believe the only prerequisite for feats should be BAB, skill rank, and CL. Thus, you get the feat at the point the designer thinks you should, and if you decide you want it midgame you don't have to take a bunch of other feats while you wait to get the one you really want.
Edit: to be clear, the feat is good but the cost is high.
I wouldnt disagree. And I am with you on the pre req issues.
I would think spell mastery is not terribly useful as it wastes a feat so you can cast one single spell each and every day without your spellbook. Now how many feats does a wizard need if he has to have this for all his spells. What really is the point if they get your spellbook they could probably have killed you as well.
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I would think spell mastery is not terribly useful as it wastes a feat so you can cast one single spell each and every day without your spellbook. Now how many feats does a wizard need if he has to have this for all his spells. What really is the point if they get your spellbook they could probably have killed you as well.
Not that the feat is really any good, but you get 3 spells, not just one.
I would think spell mastery is not terribly useful as it wastes a feat so you can cast one single spell each and every day without your spellbook. Now how many feats does a wizard need if he has to have this for all his spells. What really is the point if they get your spellbook they could probably have killed you as well.
I think it's a pretty good feat actually with a bit of tweaking. It's you INT modifier in spells. The problem we found was you get it at level 5 for example a pick 5 spells with Int of 20. By the time you are 11th you pretty much need to take it again but you don't really need it from earlier. So we put a house rule in that you could change the spells you have with spell Mastery any time you leveled up.
I would think spell mastery is not terribly useful as it wastes a feat so you can cast one single spell each and every day without your spellbook. Now how many feats does a wizard need if he has to have this for all his spells. What really is the point if they get your spellbook they could probably have killed you as well.Not that the feat is really any good, but you get 3 spells, not just one.
I always thought this feat was pretty lame, too, UNTIL a player in my game was on a ship and it sank (never go on ships, they always sink) and he lost all of his spellbooks. At least he had three spells for the rest of the adventure.
I would think spell mastery is not terribly useful as it wastes a feat so you can cast one single spell each and every day without your spellbook. Now how many feats does a wizard need if he has to have this for all his spells. What really is the point if they get your spellbook they could probably have killed you as well.Not that the feat is really any good, but you get 3 spells, not just one.
um... not 1...not 3... 1 per point of Int Mod Bonus.
So if you have an Int of 36 then you get 13 spells.
Right, keen senses was another one that made me go O.o
But Elemental Spell only works on a single damage type, needs to be applied in advance and without KNOWING you're going to be facing something specifically vulnerable to an energy type that you happen to have already chosen, and in the process locks down your spell selection into a weaker category. Third level spells are pretty much not as good as fourth, and turning them from lightning to ice isn't going to help them any. If it was ANY element WHEN you cast the spell, instead of ONE LOCKED AND PRE-CHOSEN element when you PREPARE the spell, it might certainly be worth the +1, as it stands, I wouldn't take this any more than I would take Keen Senses.
Ugh... you didn't read the feat very well -- when you cast the spell perpared with elemental spell you get to choose when it's cast if it's the original element, the new one or a mixture of the two.
Not when you memorize it.
Ugh... you didn't read the feat very well -- when you cast the spell perpared with elemental spell you get to choose when it's cast if it's the original element, the new one or a mixture of the two.
Not when you memorize it.
Huh? It doesn't say anything about "when you cast" in the description.
Huh? It doesn't say anything about "when you cast" in the description.Ugh... you didn't read the feat very well -- when you cast the spell perpared with elemental spell you get to choose when it's cast if it's the original element, the new one or a mixture of the two.
Not when you memorize it.
Ok so what you are saying is when you memorize the spell you have to decide then with the elemental spell what the energy mixture is?
Instead of doing it like say -- resist energy where you choose when you cast?
Or like summon monster where you choose when you cast?
Now I agree when you memorize the spell you have to apply the feat then (or not) but the choice of energy shouldn't be when memorized but when cast.
Also: It doesn't say when you make the decision one way or another -- only that you get to make the decision.
Ok so what you are saying is when you memorize the spell you have to decide then with the elemental spell what the energy mixture is?
Instead of doing it like say -- resist energy where you choose when you cast?
Or like summon monster where you choose when you cast?
If resist energy and summon monster were metamagic feats, you'd have an excellent argument.
Like you said, it doesn't really say one way or the other.
Ok so what you are saying is when you memorize the spell you have to decide then with the elemental spell what the energy mixture is?
Instead of doing it like say -- resist energy where you choose when you cast?
Or like summon monster where you choose when you cast?
If resist energy and summon monster were metamagic feats, you'd have an excellent argument.
Like you said, it doesn't really say one way or the other.
However all decisions about spells are made when the spell is cast as per the magic section.
Since the feat gives you a choice with the spell that should be made when the spell is cast -- just like all other decisions (where the spell lands, who is or isn't the target, what area to cover, what monster to get, so on and so on).