Does Arcane Strike add its damage to Rays which cause damage?

[Gisher]

Covent wrote:

This will all end in tears, but I clicked FAQ anyway.

Edit: Thank you Gisher for the clear and concise stating of this question.

Abraham spalding wrote:

Hey OP, excellent work on the original post. It almost brought a tear to my eye.

Thanks for the kind words! :)

[Gisher]

Bill Dunn wrote:

Abraham spalding wrote:

But at that point after the swift action it is always on for all weapons for the round. As such rays should be valid for its use.

But is it? That's a reasonable question. And, as I pointed out, there are (at least) two approaches to it. Is it on the weapons that existed and were in possession at the time the swift action? Or is it on the caster and extendable to newly created/acquired weapons?

I agree that this is the central issue. As you say, there are two competing models for how Arcane Strike works. To simplify the discussion, I'll give them names.

The Swift Charge Model
This holds that weapons are only imbued with arcane energy during the swift action used to activate Arcane Strike. A weapon in your possession during that swift action gets the benefit of the feat for one round. But any weapons that are acquired or created after the swift action do not gain the benefits of Arcane Strike.

The Extended Charge Model
This holds that the character continues to imbue weapons even after the swift action is over. Once Arcane Strike is activated, all weapons used during the round will be imbued with arcane energy. So even if a weapon is created or acquired after the swift action is complete, it will still get the benefits of Arcane Strike.

Until recently, I was on the fence about which one was correct. The reason that I started this thread now is because I believe that the Mystic Bolts ability shows that The Extended Charge Model must be the correct one.

Mystic Bolts only exist for the brief moments need to attack with them. We don't know exactly how briefly, but it is too short a time interval for even a quickened Magic Weapon spell to be applied. While they exist, they are treated as weapons despite the fact that they are made of energy. So consider the following situation:

A Warlock has one hand free and is holding a sword in the other. She uses a swift action to activate Arcane Strike (acquired through Arcane Striker). She then decides to use a ranged Mystic Bolt to attack this round. She creates a Mystic Bolt with her free hand and blasts an enemy with it. So what do our two models say should occur?

Under both models the sword will be 'charged up' during the swift action. Had she used it to attack, then it would have gained the benefits of Arcane Strike. But the models disagree on whether the Mystic Bolt would also gain those benefits. Under The Swift Charge Model it would not. The Bolt didn't exist when the swift action was performed, so Arcane Strike wouldn't apply. Under The Extended Charge Model the Bolt would gain those benefits. The character continues to transfer arcane energy throughout the round, so the Mystic Bolt is charged up as soon as it is created.

But we don't have to guess which interpretation is correct, because the description of Mystic Bolts tells us that Arcane Strike does work with Mystic Bolts. It even gives us a rationale - the Bolts don't last long enough for a quickened spell to affect them, but Arcane Strike works because it affects all of your weapons. So we know that Arcane Strike operates under The Extended Charge Model; a weapon doesn't have to exist during the swift action in order to be affected by Arcane Strike.