Let's say I'm a 16th level sorcerer. I have the multiclass druid dedication archetype feat. I have the basic druid spellcasting feat allowing me to cast druid spells of up to 3rd level. And I have the Order Spell feat from the druid archetype, granting me a druid focus spell. For the purpose of this example, let's say my druid order focus spell is heal animal.
When I cast heal animal, to what level is it heightened?
A) It is heightened to half my character level. So as a 16th level character, I cast heal animal at level 8. (Even though I got this spell from the Druid archetype and I could never cast 8th level druid spells.)
B) It is heightened to the highest level of spell that I could cast as a druid, which would mean it is heightened to level 3.
C) For most druid feats I take through the archetype there is wording to the effect "your druid level is equal to half your character level." Although that wording doesn't appear in the text of the Order Spell feat, I could apply the same logic. Assume that my druid level is equal to half my character level (so 8). And then let the druid focus spell be heightened to half of my effective druid level, so in this case I would cast heal animal at 4th level.
The rules section on focus spells make no mention of multiclass archetypes, and so a reading of that section seems to say that option A is correct.
But I feel that option A results in archetype focus spells being way more powerful than most of the other abilities gained through archetypes so I'm wondering if B or C is closer to what is intended. Or maybe there's a rule somewhere that says B or C is in fact correct, but I can't find any such rule.
It's A. Half your character level rounded up.
Focus Spells
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Focus spells are automatically heightened to half your level rounded up, just like cantrips are.
Ya. That's my literal reading of the rules too.
It's just that such an interpretation would mean that those focus spell related multiclass feats actually don't suck.
The game designers seem to have gone out of their way to make most of the multiclass feats completely suck.
So when I notice that one of them seems to not totally suck I suspect that either it was a mistake or there must be a catch somewhere that I'm not seeing.
Ya. That's my literal reading of the rules too.
It's just that such an interpretation would mean that those focus spell related multiclass feats actually don't suck.
The game designers seem to have gone out of their way to make most of the multiclass feats completely suck.
So when I notice that one of them seems to not totally suck I suspect that either it was a mistake or there must be a catch somewhere that I'm not seeing.
You are still limited by your proficiency in the tradition and the casting attribute of your multiclass.
If your lvl 16 character doesn't have any of the spellcasting dedication feat and a poor wisdom, druid offensive focus spells would be useless, and the other could be counteracted very easily.