Can Kinetic Blast be affected by Elemental Focus, etc?

[Centuros]

Is being a spell-like ability that has an effective spell level enough to qualify as a spell for feats and traits that affect spells such as Elemental Focus? N. Jolly's Kineticist guide sure seems to think so, but I've seen other materials that did not list these kinds of feats as a consideration.

Is there any sort of official ruling on this?

[Kristal Moonhand]

I know it works on stuff like Sorcerer bloodline powers, so it should work on kinetic blasts. Especially since blasts have the elemental descriptor of their element.

[blahpers]

This appears to be less about prerequisites and more about whether things like Elemental Focus affect spell-like abilities. (Elemental Focus has no prerequisites.) I'd say yes, they do, using the Augment Summoning FAQ as precedent.

As far as actual prerequisites go, there's a FAQ for that as well.

[merpius]

I'm pretty sure there's a FAQ, or at least some sort of major discussion out there regarding the applicability of Spell Focus (and Greater) to SLAs; and I believe the answer is that they apply. Since Spell Focus applies, it seems a comepletely straightforward ruling that Elemental Focus (and Greater) would apply as well.

I don't know why, but, for me, trying to locate this stuff (specific FAQs for pathfinder) seems virtually impossible, though, so this may totally not exist, except in my head.

[Egil Firehair]

Permit me to add that Yoon (the Fire Kineticist template) has both Spell Penetration and Greater Spell Penetration.

I note the verbage describing the feats says that they add to your ability to overcome Spell Resistance, not that it affects spells...

[Melkiador]

In general, feats and abilities that generically effect "spells" do not effect spell-like abilities. But feats and abilities that effect specific spells or types of spells do effect spell-like abilities. In this case, it seems that you are effecting spells with a set elemental descriptor, which is a specific type of spell, so it should also work on the spell-like abilities.

[merpius]

I'd be inetrested where you got this assertion from; the only thing I'm aware of that actually specifically states a feat that affects spells that does not affect SLAs is the FAQ about metamagic feats; but that is explained as being because of the slots, not because the feat affects spells, rather than a type of spells.

Do you have a FAQ to point to, or at least a discussion where that was concluded?

[Melkiador]

merpius wrote:

I'd be inetrested where you got this assertion from

If you're talking to what I said, it's the only thing that logically makes sense with the combined FAQ rulings that we have. Spell feats that affect summoning spells also affect summoning spell SLAs. And Dimension Door feats effect Dimension Door SLAs. But also, we are repeatedly told that SLAs are not "Spells".

The FAQ wrote:

Metamagic feats specifically only affect spells, not spell-like abilities. Also, spell-like abilities do not have spell slots, so you can't adjust the effective spell slot of a spell-like ability.

So, there were two separate reasons for why metamagic doesn't work with spell-like abilities. And the first is why SLAs still can't benefit from those metamagic that don't adjust the effective spell slot.

[merpius]

The DD feats specify casting Dimension Door, so they aren't really applicable to this (you still cast SLAs, regardless of whether they are spells or not).

The Augment Summoning feat specifies spells with no specification of SLAs, so it directly contradicts the first part of the Metamagic Feats FAQ; since Augment Summoning specifically only affects spells, the FAQ for it shoudl have gone the other way, or at least given actual reasoning, assuming that is what they meant.

I guess I don't see the lack of evidence as evidence of intent here.

They give a specific and applicable reason why Metamagic doesn't work for SLAs, along with a specific, but inconsistently applied reason. I think the specific and applicable reason prevails. The other reason is literally contradicted directly by another FAQ.

Still; either interpretation will work for this particular question, so I guess this sub-discussion is off topic for the thread. Thanks for clarifying how you came to the conclusion, though.

[Melkiador]

merpius wrote:

The Augment Summoning feat specifies spells with no specification of SLAs, so it directly contradicts the first part of the Metamagic Feats FAQ; since Augment Summoning specifically only affects spells, the FAQ for it shoudl have gone the other way, or at least given actual reasoning, assuming that is what they meant.

It would have been nice if they'd given their reasoning. But the only reasoning that really makes sense is what I said earlier. Effects that target specific spells and types of spells affect their matching SLA. But effects that affect spells in general do not.