Is Instant Enemy as broken as it sounds?

[thunderbeard]

The ranger spell Instant Enemy reads:

Quote:

With this spell you designate the target as your favored enemy for the remainder of its duration. Select one of your favored enemy types. For the duration of the spell, you treat the target as if it were that type of favored enemy for all purposes.

With the kicker being "for all purposes." Does this mean that my ranger with a favored enemy: undead and an Amethyst Pyramid ioun stone can use Instant Enemy to become invisible to any one target?

Other possible abuses:
-With favored enemy (animal), use Animal Growth as a far more powerful substitute for Enlarge Person.
-Use Speak with Plants/Animals as a substitute for Tongues
-Use Charm Animal/Command Plants to be a backup bard
-Hold Animal
-Make an ooze vulnerable to critical hits by changing its type

Unless I am (quite possibly!) reading this wrong.

[Bronnwynn]

Per RAW, I suppose you're right. Per RAI, it meant for the purposes of Favored Enemy and anything that plays off favored enemy, such as Favored Defense.

[Owen K. C. Stephens]

This is not an official response, BUT.

RAW says the target is treated as "that type of favored enemy," not that type of CREATURE. So if an effect or ability triggers off a favored enemy, then yes it applies. But animal growth requires a creature to be a type of creature (animal), it does not care if the target is a specific kind of favored enemy.
That's parsing, but I am am very comfortable with it even as a RAW solution.

[_Ozy_]

You treat the target as if...

not

the target is treated as if...

You can treat an ooze as a goblin all you want, that doesn't mean that the ooze will become vulnerable to critical hits. It doesn't change the actual subtype of the creature, just how you treat that subtype.

[Nicos]

_Ozy_ wrote:

You treat the target as if...

not

the target is treated as if...

You can treat an ooze as a goblin all you want, that doesn't mean that the ooze will become vulnerable to critical hits. It doesn't change the actual subtype of the creature, just how you treat that subtype.

I agree here, the spell is broken enough no reason to break it more.

[Claxon]

Regardless of "RAW" the common sense understanding is that the spell only applies to things the Ranger can do with a Favored Enemy. Which pretty much means he can get his best FE bonus against them, and treat them as a Quarry if he wants to, as it would normally require a creature to be a FE.

[Skylancer4]

thunderbeard wrote:

The ranger spell Instant Enemy reads:

Quote:

With this spell you designate the target as your favored enemy for the remainder of its duration. Select one of your favored enemy types. For the duration of the spell, you treat the target as if it were that type of favored enemy for all purposes.

With the kicker being "for all purposes." Does this mean that my ranger with a favored enemy: undead and an Amethyst Pyramid ioun stone can use Instant Enemy to become invisible to any one target?

Other possible abuses:
-With favored enemy (animal), use Animal Growth as a far more powerful substitute for Enlarge Person.
-Use Speak with Plants/Animals as a substitute for Tongues
-Use Charm Animal/Command Plants to be a backup bard
-Hold Animal
-Make an ooze vulnerable to critical hits by changing its type

Unless I am (quite possibly!) reading this wrong.

Read the spell block, it is an enchantment not a transmutation or such. Mechanically it fools your character into thinking the opponent is a favored enemy so you can use your abilities on it. The actual target suffers or changes in no way, unless it pertains to your characters abilities based off of favored enemy class ability.

If the target is an invalid target to the spell you cast, it fizzles as normal.

So to answer your question, no it isn't as broken as you figured it might be.