Opinions on this spell (Blistering Invective)

[Atalius]

Just wanted to get opinions on this particular spell for a Bard. I don't have many spells that deal damage in my repertoire most are debuff spells (ie. Hideous Laughter, Fear, etc), I'm not a big fan of Phantom Pain but I came across this new spell in the APG and upon first look it doesn't look too bad. Does it have a place in a Bards repertoire or is just a bit underpowered? It would certainly need to become a Signature spell to stay relevant.

Blistering InvectiveSpell 2
AuditoryEmotionEnchantmentFearMental
Source Advanced Player's Guide pg. 216
Traditions occult
Deities Angradd, Mephistopheles, Ydajisk
Cast Two Actions somatic, verbal
Range 30 feet; Targets 1 creature
Saving Throw Will
A heap of insults and invectives spew from your mouth— words so devastating your foes burn from the intensity of your diatribe. Your words deal 2d6 persistent fire damage, and the target must attempt a Will save. If the target doesn't understand the language or you're not speaking a language, it gains a +4 circumstance bonus to its save.

Critical Success The target is unaffected.
Success The target takes half the persistent fire damage.
Failure The target becomes frightened 1 and takes the full persistent fire damage.
Critical Failure The target becomes frightened 2 and takes double the persistent fire damage.
Heightened (+2) You can target two additional creatures, and the persistent damage increases by 2d6.

[CrystalSeas]

You'll probably get more answers if you put the name of the spell in the title.

[Perpdepog]

I can't speak to whether it's a good pick from a mechanical or optimization perspective, but I do invite you to visualize the following.

A bard whose form of Performance consists of nothing but "Yo mama" jokes.

[cavernshark]

Personal opinion is that it's nice that it's doing elemental damage, something that's harder to get on the Occult list. Against creatures that can be affected, it's pretty good at what it does being a super version of Fear which is definitely strong in its own right. And the level 4 version is equally good over the level 3 Fear.

That said, the language requirement really can limit it unlike Fear. In a campaign where you can reasonably expect to mostly fight things that understand you, it would probably be worth it. Personally, I've gotten a lot of mileage from Animated Assault instead of this to add some non-mental damage to my spells known.

[Blave]

If you want it as a debuff with some damage attached, it's good. Just don't expect it to be an overly effective damage spell. Anything that's likely to fail its save is also unlikely to live more than 2-3 turns, and there's always the 30% chance per round to end the dmage early.

The level 4 version seems A LOT better, giving you multiple targets so you have a better chance for someone to fail their save. The higher damage is also nice, of course. I could see myself keeping the level 4 version in my repertoire/prepared spells at higher levels to debuff and slow cook a bunch of mooks when I have nothing more pressing to do.

[shroudb]

1d6 persistent even if someone makes the save is decent. Not amazing, but not bad either.

If they fail the save the 2d6 persistent can stack up quite high numbers in extended fights.

That said, 2nd level has Calm emotions for intelligent, non-mindimmune, creatures (which should be the same you would want to target with Blistering)

Still, blistering may have a place in your arsenal since even vs a boss (that you would expect the fight to last a few rounds) that 1d6 even if he makes the save per round can reach respectable levels.

as for signature spell... i personally wouldn't pick it up for such. Bard's position is hardl "do lots of damage" either way so i wouldn't worry about damage being the thing that keeps you relevant in the party.

[Falco271]

I took it on my bard, but as 4th level, where it's good due to the multiple targets. Fits with the character, who has diplomacy as the main skill. Very charming, but sometimes a bit foul-mouthed...

[Ventnor]

Both Gnomes and Aasimar get ancestry feats that make picking up a bunch of languages fairly easy.

[lemeres]

Damage- It scales at 1/2 the rate of fireball, but it is persistent damage, so on average, it will give 2.5 ticks of damage. So it can do a bit more damage than a fireball.

Of course, a person could cast more than 1 fireball in that time frame, while casting more of this spell just results in one spell's worth of persistent damage. So damage is a bit 'meh', but it isn't a bad option either if you just want to throw it out and focus on other things.

Rider effect- this has an advantage over fireball since it adds frightened.

Targets- Fireball is an AoE spell, but blistering incentive can target more creatures as it heightens. So the number of targets gets nicer once you get some levels on you, but target selection also gets tricky due to the language issue.

Overall- Blistering Invective isn't a bad spell. I wouldn't make it your 'main thing, but if you want at least once blast option as a bard, it is your decent early option. Blister might be better later due to the advantage of turning enemies into bombs.

[ChibiNyan]

I really wanted to take this spell before, but it's just a worse version of Fear. When the enemy succeeds on their save, this is pretty much an absolute waste of a spell slot. When enemies saves against the basic "Fear" spell, they are still frightened 1. That alone makes me aovid this spell.

Doing damage is nice, but this spell is going to disappoint you in any tough fight.