Shadow Bloodline: Dim the Light

[Blave]

Am I missing someghing about this Focus spell? It's a reaction with the trigger "You cast a darkness or shadow spell."

It seems basically unusable at levels 1 and 2 since there are no occult level 1 spells with those traits.

Well, at least not in CRB+APG. Admittedly, there's Penumbral Shroud in Gods and Magic, but that spell isn't exactly high on the usefulness list and I don't really consider the Lost Omens line "Core".

So even ignoring the fact that I think it's a badly designed 1st level Focus power, being outright unable to use it AT ALL seems like it might need some fixing.

[Abyssiensis]

Level 2 has darkness, but you are otherwise correct, it is a relatively limited spell in its capability at low levels. I'm not sure it is the most limited because some of the low level cleric focus spells are worse I think

[Blave]

Darkness is 3 actions and Dim the Light ends if you don't have cover or concealment before the end of the turn. Makes using them in conjunction a bit awkward, though not impossible.

And while some cleric focus spells might be worse, the cleric has like 4 different ones to choose from for each deity. Or he can forego taking a focus spell by becoming a warpriest.

Clerics also get their font to have something to do that doesn't eat their spell slots.

Theres also only about half a dozen spells in the game right now that can trigger Dim the Light at all. That's more than a bit limiting.

If focus spells are a fixed balance factor that give the sorcerer his power, having one that's unusable at first and rarely usable later on is just terrible.

[Doc Midnight]

I know this is an old thread, but it’s only one on the forums about this particular spell. I’m also trying to wrap my head around this. Is it possible that Dim the Light could trigger itself? It actually has the Darkness trait and is a focus spell. So you cast it and hide as a reaction? I honestly don’t think this works as written, but I don’t feel that it’s particularly overpowered to use a focus point to be able to attempt to hide without immediate cover. I guess like others I’m just trying to figure the though process behind this spell.

[Cordell Kintner]

Doc Midnight wrote:

I know this is an old thread, but it’s only one on the forums about this particular spell. I’m also trying to wrap my head around this. Is it possible that Dim the Light could trigger itself? It actually has the Darkness trait and is a focus spell. So you cast it and hide as a reaction? I honestly don’t think this works as written, but I don’t feel that it’s particularly overpowered to use a focus point to be able to attempt to hide without immediate cover. I guess like others I’m just trying to figure the though process behind this spell.

The spell is a reaction, so you can't cast it without the trigger happening first. Unless you have two reactions and two focus points, it can't trigger on itself. Also, it only lets you Hide, which means you don't actually move anywhere.

The spell works better at higher levels when more spells with the dark descriptor are available, like Chilling Darkness for example. There are currently 8 normal spells that trigger this spell, and 11 Focus Spells. I think that's plenty of options that can be used to trigger the spell.

Also, it works great for Darkness. Spend your three actions to cast it on your location, then use the spell to immediately Hide so you become Undetected. Unless an enemy had Darkvision they would lose track of your location since they are "blind" (making you Hidden to them) and you successfully hid (Making you Undetected).

[DM20]

I'm new to Pathfinder 2e and very much want to make a Shadow Sorcerer.

Has anyone had any luck addressing the issue with "Dim the Lights".

TLDR: Since there are no level one or level two spells with darkness or shadow in the Players Guide, its is impossible to cast "Dim the Lights" at early levels because there is no way to trigger the reaction.

The Shadow Sorcerer subclass gets their focus spell at level one but has no way to use their focus spell until level five.

While I enjoy playing challanging classes, this is a class feature that is completely unusable for a long time after you get it.

Was this an oversight or is this intentional?

Has anyone gotten a response from Paizo, or have they made any statements about it?