Starfinder Design Lead
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Until you cast fear as a 4th level spell, it has a CR cap.
Unlike fear, inflict pain is not a fear effect.
Also, inflict pain stacks with fear if you want to drop someone to -4 to checks. Especially important if you have a demoralizer build ally.
Even if a creature makes a save against inflict pain, it is affected for 1 round.
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Until you cast fear as a 4th level spell, it has a CR cap.
Unlike fear, inflict pain is not a fear effect.
Also, inflict pain stacks with fear if you want to drop someone to -4 to checks. Especially important if you have a demoralizer build ally.
Even if a creature makes a save against inflict pain, it is affected for 1 round.
ah!
Thanks!
The only remotely good thing about Inflict Pain is that it works for 1 round even if they make their save. It's not worthless, but it's not worth a 2nd level spell known, IMO.
For most purposes you'd be better off doing an intimidate build to demoralize with that magic item that doubles the duration (edit: Ferocity Blazon). You won't land it every time and you won't get excess duration (that you probably don't need anyway), but it won't costs you spells known or expended and when it works it'll last 2+ rounds and you'll also effect saves, which is a lot more useful. Especially now that there's a feat to demoralize as a move action and so many Mystic connections that have an Intimidate bonus - a Mindbreaker Mystic can demoralize and Sow Doubt in the same round, potentially setting up a -4 to saves for the next round follow up.
The number of things that are immune or resistant to fear effects but not also immune to mind affecting or pain effects are...not high.
Also compare to the Technomancer's Incompetence spell which is (1) a level lower, (2) can effect multiple targets (five spell levels before Mass Inflict Pain!), (3) is mind-affecting without a fear or pain tag so theoretically, if not in practice, less vulnerable to defensive abilities, and (4) imposes a -4 penalty to attack with the relevant weapon type, which is a lot better than a -2 to attack, skills, and ability checks. PFS banned, of course, because of exactly this sort of comparison.
Inflict Pain and Lesser Confusion as bonus spells on the Mindbreaker connection make me sad every time I think about it. Everything else is so solid.