I have a player who wants to build an Eldritch Archer (Magus). When they began the process with Hero Labs they noted that the program included both Spell combat as well as Ranged spell combat. They also noted after attempting to progress the class that it also allowed Spellstrike as well as ranged Spellstrike. After reading through the class, i noted that the wording of those skills state that they alter and (or) modify the existing skill.
My question is when an ability states modifies or alters, does that mean the original definition of the skill is still active to the character?
My original interpretation was that when something is altered or modified, the original context of the ability no longer exists, thus replaced. After recent feed back from Hero Labs, I am now unsure.
Hero Labs Feedback: The wording states that ranged spellstrike alters how spellstrike works, not replaces it. In this case, our reading is that the normal spellstrike ability is still active. Hope this helps!
'Modifies' and 'Alters' don't generally replace another feature, but you have to follow the text to see exactly how the ability is modified. In the case of Ranged Spell Combat, it specifically says "Instead of a light or one-handed melee weapon, an eldritch archer must use a ranged weapon for spell combat," which is very clear. Ranged Spell Combat modifies Spell Combat to not work with normal weapons.
Spellstrike isn't modified to not work with a melee weapon, so that one would still technically work.