Clustered Shots with Scorching Ray Spell


Rules Questions


Would Scorching Ray work with Clustered Shots?

Clustered Shots (Combat)

You take a moment to carefully aim your shots, causing them all to strike nearly the same spot.

Prerequisites: Point-Blank Shot, Precise Shot, base attack bonus +6.

Benefit: When you use a full-attack action to make multiple ranged weapon attacks against the same opponent, total the damage from all hits before applying that opponent’s damage reduction.

Special: If the massive damage optional rule is being used, that rule applies if the total damage you deal with this feat is equal to or exceeds half the opponent’s full normal hit points (minimum 50 points of damage).


no unless you can make scorching ray do bludgeoning, slashing or piercing damage


Two problems. First, you are using a standard action to cast scorching ray, not a full attack action. Second, clustered shot helps to overcome damage reduction, this does nothing for scorching ray, which doesn't interact with damage reduction.


Java Man wrote:
Two problems. First, you are using a standard action to cast scorching ray, not a full attack action. Second, clustered shot helps to overcome damage reduction, this does nothing for scorching ray, which doesn't interact with damage reduction.

it could if using metamagics on a spontaneous caster(with a lenient gm counting a full round action as a full attack action) and if you could some how make it do physical damage


It's not needed as explained above. As for trying to cheese into Massive Damage, that's something to talk to your GM about.


In a home game, I don't see why you couldn't forego your move action (or applying metamagic with a spontaneous caster, in either case, as if making a full round attack) to cast the spell with the feat to assist in bypassing elemental resistance or simplifying your action as one attack roll.

For your particular case of a normal scorching ray, all the attacks have the same chance to hit, so condensing down to 1 roll isn't really going to get into "massive damage" when you are applying the same damage dice (it just becomes an all-or-nothing attack roll with the same % chance of success). If you have a re-roll mechanism (e.g. fortune hex or Hero Points) and/or some single attack bonus to the first ray (e.g. True Strike or a bonus to attack for being invisible/in stealth on 1 attack), this option certainly becomes more powerful, and you may want to disallow that.

In PFS (or strictly adhering to the rules as we're in the Rules Forum), as the others noted damage reduction <> elemental resistance, and a full attack <> casting a spell in the Actions list in the Combat chapter.


...TO what point? as others mentioned Elemental damage doesn't interact with DR. This sadly doens't specify that it allows you apply it all together vs resistance.

if it was more open ended verbage it woudl be nice indeed.

Shadow Lodge

Especially since then it would apply to hardness.


JoeElf wrote:
...so condensing down to 1 roll isn't really going to get into "massive damage" when you are applying the same damage dice (it just becomes an all-or-nothing attack roll with the same % chance of success)...

I was wrong there. The clustered shot would not be condensing the 2 or 3 attack rolls of scorching ray at CL 7 or 11 into 1 attack roll. It's just condensing the damage at 8d6 or 12d6 (assuming all the ranged touch attacks succeed). And then only if your home game GM is willing to be lenient [though I suppose that an extremely lenient GM could allow you to condense the attack rolls too if they are willing to let you roll all or nothing on a single d20].

The Exchange Owner - D20 Hobbies

Full attack action isn’t full round. So no.


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Lady-J wrote:
Java Man wrote:
Two problems. First, you are using a standard action to cast scorching ray, not a full attack action. Second, clustered shot helps to overcome damage reduction, this does nothing for scorching ray, which doesn't interact with damage reduction.
it could if using metamagics on a spontaneous caster(with a lenient gm counting a full round action as a full attack action) and if you could some how make it do physical damage

Yes, if everything about the spell was completely different than it actually is then Clustered Shots would be relevant.


If this was a physical spell, and you were a Eldritch Archer using it as part of Ranged Spell Combat, then it would apply as that is a full-attack action (according to the revised haste FAQ for Spell Combat).

Otherwise, you’re outta luck op.


Java Man wrote:
Two problems. First, you are using a standard action to cast scorching ray, not a full attack action. Second, clustered shot helps to overcome damage reduction, this does nothing for scorching ray, which doesn't interact with damage reduction.

On the other hand, the spell Stone Discus creates multiple stone disks that deal either bludgeoning or slashing damage, so it would interact with Damage Reduction.

But the "When you use a full-attack action ..." requirement excludes standard-action, full-round-action, or swift-action spellcasting.

The magus can cast one spell as part of Spell Combat, which counts as a full attack. So a magus casting Stone Discus during Spell Combat could apply Clustered Shots, but I don't see any other case. Of course, as Garbage-Tier Waifu said, the Eldritch Archer magus's Ranged Spell Combat makes more tactic sense with a physical ranged spell than the vanilla magus's melee-weapon Spell Combat.

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