can sneak attack be used with spells such as acid splash??
can sneak attack be used with spells such as acid splash??
It depends on your GMs reading of what is and isn’t a “weapon spell”… technically by RAW no… because acid splash is not a Ray, but it can be used with Ray of Frost… by RAW only Rays, Melee Touch spells, and spells that create or function as weapons can benefit from sneak attack. Which leaves a lot of ranged touch spells not benefiting from sneak attack… many GMs extend the definition of weapon spell to include any spell that requires an attack roll to simplify the bookkeeping and make it a little more consistent.
can sneak attack be used with spells such as acid splash??
Sure, every spell that uses attack roll(s). Note that multiple attacks made simultaneously only trigger SA once, per this FAQ.
by RAW only Rays, Melee Touch spells, and spells that create or function as weapons can benefit from sneak attack.
Where does it say that? The only part of the Rogue's or Ninja's SA description that even mentions weapons is the part about non-lethal damage.
Derklord is correct.(ill only add that the spell need to deal hp damage. Not something like ability damage)
This FAQ call it out Specificly :
"In general, special abilities that require attack rolls benefit and suffer from all modifiers affecting attack rolls even if those modifiers mention weapon attack rolls...When it comes to modifiers that affect weapon damage rolls, or simply “damage rolls” (such as the bonus on damage rolls from Point-Blank Shot, inspire courage, and smite evil), special abilities that deal damage on a successful attack roll, apply them on hit point damage only, and only once per casting or use, rather than once per attack. For instance, if a spell or special ability launched a dozen different ranged attacks simultaneously, only one (of the user’s choice) would receive bonus damage. This doesn’t apply on area effects with the rare potential for extraneous attack rolls, like fireball... "
Nothing here limit this to only rays.
(I added this just in case some1 question why the faq Dreklord brought only talk about ray and weapon like spells to show its not limited to only that.)
Compare Arcane Trickster's Surprise Spell ability. It says you can get sneak attack with any spell, assuming the target meets the conditions to be snuck attacked.
In general, any spell that requires an attack roll can be used to sneak attack. The Arcane Trickster ability will let you do it with fireball, which normally requires a save instead of an attack roll.
I distinctly remember an FAQ restricting sneak attacks on spells to what was defined as “weapon spells”, which was the subset of spells that are valid for weapon focus and those that either become specific weapons or state that they act as certain types of weapons (example, produce flame specifically functions as a thrown weapon)… but I can’t seem to find it now… it could be that I mixed up an old FAQ for 3.5… there were a lot of stupidly excessive restrictions to sneak attack damage in 3.5 that were added through FAQs… like the “only one attack per round can have sneak attack” rule 3.5 ended up with… pathfinder sort of has the same rule but only when the multiple attacks are simultaneous (which I personally still find stupid, but it is an improvement at least)
the 'only once per simultaneous attacks' rule was to prevent stuff like rogues picking a ring of telekinesis, getting 9 greatswords and dealing 9X(2d6+sneak attack) with a standard action while hidden\invisible\surprise round.
also i think the FAQ you remembered is the same one i linked, from the bit near the end:
"Certain special abilities (for instance rays, kinetic blasts, and mystic bolts) can specifically be selected with feats like Weapon Focus and Improved Critical. They still aren’t considered a type of weapon for other rules; they are not part of any weapon group and don’t qualify for the effects of fighter weapon training, warpriest sacred weapon, magus arcane pool, paladin divine bond, or any other such ability. "
is that a 3.5 rule or PF ??
it definitely is not the FAQ that I am remembering... the one I remembered was quite specifically about Sneak Attack...