Never really noticed this one on the Ranger spell list before but it caught my eye this morning.
On the surface it looks sweet, a never ending quiver of arrows for my switch hitting lvl 1 ranger. Now there are tons of other useful options like longstrider, keen senses, entangle etc. but im wondering how Abundant Ammo stacks up in comparison.
Abundant Ammunition
School conjuration (summoning); Level bard 1, cleric 1, ranger 1, sorcerer/wizard 1
CASTING
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, M/DF (a single piece of ammunition)
EFFECT
Target one container touched
Duration 1 minute/level
Saving Throw none; Spell Resistance no
DESCRIPTION
When cast on a container such as a quiver or a pouch that contains nonmagical ammunition or shuriken (including masterwork ammunition or shuriken), at the start of each round this spell replaces any ammunition taken from the container the round before. The ammunition taken from the container the round before vanishes. If, after casting this spell, you cast a spell that enhances projectiles, such as align weapon or greater magic weapon, on the same container, all projectiles this spell conjures are affected by that spell.
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If you actually think about the dynamics of it, its actually not that great imo. Sure you replace all the ammo you used the previous round, so that could be one arrow in some cases. And its a standard action, so it takes away your attack action.
I would stick with the "staple" ranger spells, Gravity Bow and True Strike
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Yea...for a Switch Hitter especially its sub par. Figure its a Standard to cast, so that is your opening volley with a full attack. By the second round you should be dropping your bow 9 times out of 10 and charging into melee anyways. Now, if you would be so kind as to touch your party Gunslinger's ammo pouch before you drop, draw and move into combat that may be super cool of you (especially if he is using paper alchemical ammo like he should be), but again I'd no do it.
Abundant ammunition only seems good if you have a item created with it. So, take an efficient quiver, and add this on there, permanently, now you're good to go
As for effectiveness, I personally haven't used it yet, but on what it can do, and typical battles, it would work great.
I'd say this is useless, but if you're an archer with combat reflexes, that teamwork feat for a free range attack, and the feats to threaten out some range this is almost a requirement since you could be dishing out 10+ arrows some rounds. Even an efficient quiver won't hold enough for an average high level combat with a machine gun archer like that.
Lastoth, there is no hard limit to the number of quivers you can carry: carrying at least two seems reasonable to me, my level 10 ranger carries four (two at the back and one for each thigh)
Abundant ammunition may be useful if you have a limited number of arrows available, especially of particularly expensive materials (adamantium, I'm looking at you). Not your everyday spell though.
I always prepare gravity bow and longstrider. Liberating command is another of my favorites, so is resist energy, but I may switch these depending on what I do expect to find.
Ahh, but factor in alchemical ammo, and it might be worth it, especially for PFS, to save serious coin. Buy 5 Adamantine, 5 Silver, etc arrows, and any fight that requires these, you're golden. (also, if someone is kind enough to cast magic boosts on ammo, AFTER abundant ammo is cast, it restocks boosted ammo). Better than it appears...
I'd say it is actually a useful spell, especially if the player knows they will be going into an offensive situation soon or when they are a higher level. Heck, think of a 10th level Ranger with this spell. For 10 minutes he can fire a large number of arrows without worrying about running out. If he has taken Rapid Shot, Multiarrow, is Hasted, and doing a full attack, then he's firing six arrows a round. Even if he only is attacking for five rounds, he's let loose with 30 arrows. And that's for one encounter.
But if your GM doesn't force you to keep track of arrows or you luck out and have a bow that auto-creates ammo, then don't bother.
Ahh, but factor in alchemical ammo, and it might be worth it, especially for PFS, to save serious coin. Buy 5 Adamantine, 5 Silver, etc arrows, and any fight that requires these, you're golden. (also, if someone is kind enough to cast magic boosts on ammo, AFTER abundant ammo is cast, it restocks boosted ammo). Better than it appears...
This.
At lower levels with normal ammo (no fancy materials, or else you have a quiver or two full) it's better to just wait until combat ends and ask a party member to Mend. For just about everything else, this might be useful. Especially if you're the low man on the Initiative pole.
My only qualm is a YMMV with how many encounters you get a day, since this could easily suck them up if you need it for every encounter.
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Buy a wand of it. 2 prestige will save you a lot of ammo cost later. My gunslingers use it all the time.
Honestly, the best part is the book-keeping. I no longer have to track how many adamantine-paper cartridges, cold iron ghost-blanched bullets, and whatever other strange ammo that I fire. I just tick mark the number of rounds and charges used from abundant ammo.
The big downside is initiative. Do you use the round to activate it or do you dive in? For this, my musketeer pumped her init mod to 16. The first round is the ammo, but with the high init she's effectively just the last shooter of the first round.
Buy a wand of it. 2 prestige will save you a lot of ammo cost later. My gunslingers use it all the time.
Honestly, the best part is the book-keeping. I no longer have to track how many adamantine-paper cartridges, cold iron ghost-blanched bullets, and whatever other strange ammo that I fire. I just tick mark the number of rounds and charges used from abundant ammo.
The big downside is initiative. Do you use the round to activate it or do you dive in? For this, my musketeer pumped her init mod to 16. The first round is the ammo, but with the high init she's effectively just the last shooter of the first round.
If what you're using is the actual Abundant Ammunition spell, it'd replace the cold iron ammo, but without the blanching. It's much too late for me to perform link-fu, but iirc it was SKR who weighed in somewhere. Might even be on FAQ now: Abundant Ammo does not restore blanches and poisons, just the core ammo itself (and any _magic_ enhancements added to it _after_ Abundant Ammo was cast, e.g. Greater Magic Weapon, etc)
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If what you're using is the actual Abundant Ammunition spell, it'd replace the cold iron ammo, but without the blanching. It's much too late for me to perform link-fu, but iirc it was SKR who weighed in somewhere. Might even be on FAQ now: Abundant Ammo does not restore blanches and poisons, just the core ammo itself (and any _magic_ enhancements added to it _after_ Abundant Ammo was cast, e.g. Greater Magic Weapon, etc)Buy a wand of it. 2 prestige will save you a lot of ammo cost later. My gunslingers use it all the time.
Honestly, the best part is the book-keeping. I no longer have to track how many adamantine-paper cartridges, cold iron ghost-blanched bullets, and whatever other strange ammo that I fire. I just tick mark the number of rounds and charges used from abundant ammo.
The big downside is initiative. Do you use the round to activate it or do you dive in? For this, my musketeer pumped her init mod to 16. The first round is the ammo, but with the high init she's effectively just the last shooter of the first round.
Please direct me to such a ruling. I've found one by James Jacobs but nothing by SKR, and it's certainly not in the FAQ.
It was debated in this thread and the general consensus is that it is allowed. You get exactly what you drew, poisoned, blanched, whatever.
Well this might not be the official ruling, but interpret the spell as such, that you only get the type of ammunition replicated you used to cast the spell with (1 ammo is a material component).
This way the more expensive your ammunition (60 gold for an adamatium arrow, way more for an arrow with a dose of strong poison on it) the better the effect. As soon as you fire your second shot the spell has paid off.
This way the spell's power regulates itself. You want expensive ammo? You gotta sacrifice a more expensive material component.
If what you're using is the actual Abundant Ammunition spell, it'd replace the cold iron ammo, but without the blanching. It's much too late for me to perform link-fu, but iirc it was SKR who weighed in somewhere. Might even be on FAQ now: Abundant Ammo does not restore blanches and poisons, just the core ammo itself (and any _magic_ enhancements added to it _after_ Abundant Ammo was cast, e.g. Greater Magic Weapon, etc)Buy a wand of it. 2 prestige will save you a lot of ammo cost later. My gunslingers use it all the time.
Honestly, the best part is the book-keeping. I no longer have to track how many adamantine-paper cartridges, cold iron ghost-blanched bullets, and whatever other strange ammo that I fire. I just tick mark the number of rounds and charges used from abundant ammo.
The big downside is initiative. Do you use the round to activate it or do you dive in? For this, my musketeer pumped her init mod to 16. The first round is the ammo, but with the high init she's effectively just the last shooter of the first round.
Please direct me to such a ruling. I've found one by James Jacobs but nothing by SKR, and it's certainly not in the FAQ.
It was debated in this thread and the general consensus is that it is allowed. You get exactly what you drew, poisoned, blanched, whatever.
You're right, it was James Jacobs who weighed in. But unless I hear otherwise, that'd be good enough for me not to try it...
http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2l7ns&page=518?Ask-James-Jacobs-ALL-your-Qu estions-Here#25856