OK, I have read a bit about this revelation and was unable to see a clear answer in the previous posts. The revelation states the following:
Lure of the Heavens (Su): Your connection to the skies above is so strong that your feet barely touch the ground. At 1st level, you no longer leave tracks. At 5th level, you can hover up to 6 inches above the ground or even above liquid surfaces, as if levitating. At 10th level, you gain the ability to fly, as per the spell, for a number of minutes per day equal to your oracle level. This duration does not need to be consecutive, but it must be spent in 1-minute increments.
The way I see it is that it was meant to modify your ability to move. At level 1 your steps are lighter and you have buoyancy so you leave no tracks. At level 5 you are still walking (or running or moving) but you do so from 6 inches of the ground. At level 10 you can fly (self explanatory).
I have seen a lot of discussion about the 6 inches of the ground. Since the wording states that, “hover up to 6 inches above the ground or even above liquid surfaces, as if levitating.” A lot of folks are equating this ability to the spell of the same name. Granted (as someone else mentioned) there is nothing else to compare it but the spell, I don’t think that may have been the intent. Has there been any clarification on this? Can a person move as they normally do, but just doing it from 6 inches off the ground?
It is not "as the levitate spell."
You move normally, you just don't actually touch the ground. So things like difficult terrain, liquids, caltrops, pressure plates, etc. won't be a factor for you.
A similar effect is horseshoes of the zephyr for a mount.
These shining, silvery horseshoes bear designs of swift-moving clouds and anthropomorphized images of the wind. When affixed to a horse, these horseshoes allow the horse to travel without actually touching the ground. The horse must still run above (always around 4 inches above) a roughly horizontal surface. This means that the horse can cross non-solid or unstable surfaces such as water, and that it can move without leaving tracks on any sort of ground. The horse moves at its normal base land speed. All four shoes must be worn by the same animal for the magic to be effective.
I take it to be the same way, was wondering if anything came from the developers that state it as such, since some folks I play with take the part after the "," as if levitating to mean no vertical movement.
Thanks for your input on your point of view.