Well, that is for SLA that are spells. The possible confusion would be SLAs that has no spell equivalent.A spell-like ability that isn't like any spell seems like an oxymoron. Is that a thing?Yes it is. Some domains have SLA that resemble no spells.
I hate to be a bummer but. This FAQ is pretty explicative and omicomprehensive and totally overrides that quote.Some metamagic works.
Even if not for the policy of forum posts not being official, that FAQ isn't an override of anything since the other quote is from years before Owen worked at Paizo. Incidentally, this sort of confusion was why I requested for the community team to help me out so that my old Rogue Eidolon posts did not get auto-converted to Mark Seifter.
On the subject of the question, of course, as I just said above, our posts aren't official, and honestly the whole "spell-like ability" thing is just a messy and difficult subject, so there's some middle ground that seems too murky to me to state with any certainty. I can try to draw the boundaries around that middle ground as best I see, though:
Officially on the side of working: Augment Summoning works with summon monster SLAs by FAQ, and Dimensional Agility feats work with dimension door SLA by FAQ, both officially. There isn't a general rule FAQ here, but it seems that abilities that call out a spell (or group of spells) by the spell's name are pretty likely to work with a SLA of those exact spell names.
Strongly on the side of working: Spell Penetration's rules text doesn't mention spells at all, just caster level checks to defeat SR, so it should work on SLAs with some confidence.
Strongly on the side of not working: Abilities like sorcerer arcana (and some wizard school powers like admixture) work when you "cast a spell," so those should not work on SLAs with some confidence....
Thank you SO much for your thoughts on the matter, Mark!
Well, that is for SLA that are spells. The possible confusion would be SLAs that has no spell equivalent.A spell-like ability that isn't like any spell seems like an oxymoron. Is that a thing?Yes it is. Some domains have SLA that resemble no spells.
I hate to be a bummer but. This FAQ is pretty explicative and omicomprehensive and totally overrides that quote.Some metamagic works.
Even if not for the policy of forum posts not being official, that FAQ isn't an override of anything since the other quote is from years before Owen worked at Paizo. Incidentally, this sort of confusion was why I requested for the community team to help me out so that my old Rogue Eidolon posts did not get auto-converted to Mark Seifter.
On the subject of the question, of course, as I just said above, our posts aren't official, and honestly the whole "spell-like ability" thing is just a messy and difficult subject, so there's some middle ground that seems too murky to me to state with any certainty. I can try to draw the boundaries around that middle ground as best I see, though:
Officially on the side of working: Augment Summoning works with summon monster SLAs by FAQ, and Dimensional Agility feats work with dimension door SLA by FAQ, both officially. There isn't a general rule FAQ here, but it seems that abilities that call out a spell (or group of spells) by the spell's name are pretty likely to work with a SLA of those exact spell names.
Strongly on the side of working: Spell Penetration's rules text doesn't mention spells at all, just caster level checks to defeat SR, so it should work on SLAs with some confidence.
Strongly on the side of not working: Abilities like sorcerer arcana (and some wizard school powers like admixture) work when you "cast a spell," so those should not work on SLAs with some confidence....
I would add to the "strongly on the side of working" list:
Several monsters in the bestiary have elemental focus or spell focus feats increasing the listed DC of their SLA's.
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Two creatures have Elemental Focus. Both are from the Monster Codex: Lizardfolk Sorcerer and Troll Elder Matron. They do increase the SLA that are for actual spells, like the Troll's Fireball.
The portion that is confusing are the SLA of a Sorcerer's Arcana and such, like the Elemental Bloodline's Elemental Blast. It is not a spell, but a SLA that does energy damage. Would that be increased by Elemental Focus?
As what I am assuming from the OP's post is for something like a Kineticist's Simple Kinetic Blast. It is a SLA that has an energy descriptor (not Aether, which it is sad).
The main question:
Would Elemental Focus affect the Kinetic Blast if it has an Infusion that would give it a Difficulty Check for a save?
I don't think there can be a global rule on SLAs since not all SLAs are the same. I think the best thing you're going to get here is "yes, except when it doesn't make sense." For example, the FAQ about metamagic mentions SLAs don't have spell levels. They just couldn't work there.
Two creatures have Elemental Focus. Both are from the Monster Codex: Lizardfolk Sorcerer and Troll Elder Matron. They do increase the SLA that are for actual spells, like the Troll's Fireball.
The portion that is confusing are the SLA of a Sorcerer's Arcana and such, like the Elemental Bloodline's Elemental Blast. It is not a spell, but a SLA that does energy damage. Would that be increased by Elemental Focus?
As what I am assuming from the OP's post is for something like a Kineticist's Simple Kinetic Blast. It is a SLA that has an energy descriptor (not Aether, which it is sad).
The main question:
Would Elemental Focus affect the Kinetic Blast if it has an Infusion that would give it a Difficulty Check for a save?
I lean towards yes. Since you don't pick "elemental focus(blast)" but rather you pick "elemental focus(fire)", it would apply to all your fire blasts, no matter the infusion. However, it's important to note that base blasts never offer a save, so elemental focus is only useful with infusions.