One action spells on the Occult List

[The Total Package]

Hi all, currently we are playing in a high level game. I'm looking for various options for one action spells on the occult list. Currently I'm working with Sure Strike, True Target and Time Beacon. I'm looking for other recommendations. Thanks!

[BigHatMarisa]

This should be the list of all 1 (or 1-to-3) action spells in the Occult list, as long as the link doesn't expire.

Aqueous Blast and Scorching Blast are "fake" 1-action spells, since casting the spell doesn't actually make an attack, it gives you the ability to make their attack for the rest of your turn (effectively turning them into 2-action spells).

Magic Missile Force Barrage is a classic. It's variable-action, so you can choose how much unavoidable damage an enemy (or enemies) takes.

Shield is great if you find yourself a little too close to enemies for comfort.

Guidance is a great cantrip for if there's not much else you can do on your turn, as long as you have an ally within 30 feet you haven't used it on today.

Gravitational Pull could be a good low-commitment repositioning option, but I'd not start using it often until you get more low-level slots.

Timely Tutor is pretty damn good if you want to be the person who's Recalling Knowledge in your party. Hypercognition is in a similar boat, allowing you to use 6 Recall Knowledge actions for 1 action.

Winning Streak is just good value - 1 of your actions to give someone else another action is fine enough if you find your action would be better spent that way, and it can occasionally just start jumping around and getting even better value.

[pH unbalanced]

Message, but it's usually not useful unless you are a Silent Whisper Psychic.

[The Total Package]

BigHatMarisa wrote:

This should be the list of all 1 (or 1-to-3) action spells in the Occult list, as long as the link doesn't expire.

Aqueous Blast and Scorching Blast are "fake" 1-action spells, since casting the spell doesn't actually make an attack, it gives you the ability to make their attack for the rest of your turn (effectively turning them into 2-action spells).

Magic Missile Force Barrage is a classic. It's variable-action, so you can choose how much unavoidable damage an enemy (or enemies) takes.

Shield is great if you find yourself a little too close to enemies for comfort.

Guidance is a great cantrip for if there's not much else you can do on your turn, as long as you have an ally within 30 feet you haven't used it on today.

Gravitational Pull could be a good low-commitment repositioning option, but I'd not start using it often until you get more low-level slots.

Timely Tutor is pretty damn good if you want to be the person who's Recalling Knowledge in your party. Hypercognition is in a similar boat, allowing you to use 6 Recall Knowledge actions for 1 action.

Winning Streak is just good value - 1 of your actions to give someone else another action is fine enough if you find your action would be better spent that way, and it can occasionally just start jumping around and getting even better value.

Could I cast Gravitational Pull on my ally and can he voluntarily Fail the save? This would be nice.

[BigHatMarisa]

Pathfinder Society I believe has a rule that allows players to choose to have willing allies worsen their degree of success by one, but it's not an official rule and I would talk to your GM about it.

[YuriP]

Maybe I'm making things up. But it seems like the thread author is looking for a use for a third action that's left over.

If that's the case, then in addition to the suggestions from our colleagues, I can't help but recommend the entire series of sustained spells in the game (here filtered through occult lore), including summons. They help to complete the action economy and save some spells once that you usually uses only one por encounter and it will normally endure the entire battle.

My personal suggestions per rank are:

Rank 1: Summon Fey to summon a Mitflit to keep Sustained using your 3rd action. I know that this requires you to use 3-actions to summon but after this you have a creature that have +8 to hit (this is more than a normal martial for level 1) but its damage is a bit low (1d6-1) but its Strikes are agile and you can do 2 Strikes at cost of just one action when you are Sustaining them. Also summons helps allies to flank and works as meat distraction (if the GM enemies choose to attack the summon this also means that they are not using the action to attack you and your allies). The real disadvantage to use these weak summons are vs AoE that can easily kill them without really harm enemies action economy but AoE are pretty rare in the first 2 levels of the game.

Rank 2: I have 3 suggestions for this rank one for each different situation and fight style:

Illusory Creature: many people love this fake summon because it's strong. It uses your Spell DC for about everything (AC, Attacks, Saves) and does a good amount of damage (3d4 mental). The problem is it doesn't have HP and disappears when hit but saving effect only affects it if it fails the save (so it ignores all success effects) what makes it a bit more stronger vs most AoE than normal summoned creatures, the other point is that it can be disbelieved but unless you are trying to fake another creature (using Deception or Performance) or your GM usually metagames this probably won't happen and even if the enemy tries to disbelieve it have to use actions for this and have basically to do the same checks that it have to do if is attacking it (a disbelieve check vs your Spell DC) so doesn't really make any significant difference - This option that I recommend if you are fighting many enemies because you can make it to attack another target if its target falls yet you need to talk with your GM about what you can and cannot do with this spell because the spells doesn't say what actions it can use (so it's uncertain what move speeds it have) so some GM may declare it as static while other will accept that it can use its actions to move inside your spell range but taking care to not make abnormal movements for a creatures it's faking or risks to make enemies to not give them a "immediate Perception check to disbelieve the spell".

Hideous Laughter Laughing Fit: This is specially useful when fighting bosses that have reactions because it will remove their capacity to use then even if they succeed their save if it fails it also will loose one action per turn (slowed 1) basically making a trade-off of your 3rd action (due Sustain) to its 3rd action but also removing its reactions too. - The recommendation is clear to use vs bosses with reactions if it isn't the case or there are too many other creatures probably is better to consider to use another Sustain spell instead.

Spiritual Armament: This is a pretty interesting alternative to Illusory Creature for your 3rd action. The Spiritual Armament does more damage, allows to choose up 3 damage types (2 physical or spirit) and cannot be attacked but does only one attack per round, cannot help to flank nor work as meat distraction and if you use an attack action it will suffer or provides MAP so it only worth if you want to keep using buffing or save spells. - If you are planning to not use attack spells (what's pretty common due how spell attacks have no failure effect) and don't want to risk to have your sustained spell ended due enemy attacks and are not facing a boss that uses reactions frequently or in a encounter with multiple enemies, probably this is the best option for you in this rank.

Rank 3: I have 2 suggestions for this rank one for each different situation and fight style:

Cyclone Rondo or Rouse Skeletons are AoE damage sustained spells that you can move. Cyclone Rondo has the advantage to also try to knock prone the enemies inside but moves slowly (10 ft per Sustain action) while Rouse Skeletons can be moved faster (20 ft per Sustain Action), the only thing strange it is that Cyclone Rondo writer forgot to set the damage type and your GM has to judge it but due it's an Air spell probably the damage type is Slashing. - These options are excellent vs multiple enemies.

Roaring Applause: This is basically an improved version of Laughing Fit with the additional advantage that it also forces target to count it as manipulate trait triggering allies reactions vs manipulate. - Like Laughing Fit this is specially useful vs bosses with reactions but not only because if you have allies that have AoO/RS this will trigger it making it useful vs any bosses if your party members have such reactions.

Rank 4: Fly: This is not exactly a Sustain action buy you need to use a Fly action every round to keep the flight. If you want safety and the most enemies that you are facing doesn't have fly speed nor ranged attacks there's no safer option than fly higher than they can reach.

Rank 5: Mirror Malefactors is a pretty strong Sustain spell here to use vs bosses because does a good amount (7d8) of damage every time it is Sustained and also keeps the target frightened 1 and follows the target everywhere. The problem is that it's single target and end if the target succeed a will save vs it at any time that you Sustain it. Yet it still a pretty strong Sustain spell.

Rank 6: Phantom Orchestra is yet another 10-foot AoE Sustain spell but with a pretty good amount of sonic damage (8d6) and you can "move" it to anywhere into your spell range.

Rank 7: I have 2 suggestions for this rank one for each different situation and fight style:

Duplicate Foe can be pretty strong or not depending from the enemies that you are facing. If you are facing a spellcaster or a creature that strongly depends form their non-strike abilities probably this spell isn't a good option but if the target is a weaponless beast this spell becomes pretty powerful once it copies the enemy statistics and skills. So this can be very powerful when facing animals, beasts, constructs, many undeads and aberrations.

Heightened Girzanje's March: This heightened version of this spell basically give a Courageous Anthem with the successful improvements from Fortissimo Composition but it's not a composition spell (so no need to harmonize if you are a bard) also improves fortitude saves, and will saves against mental effects and doesn't require some skill check to work. It's a pretty good Sustain spell if your party have 2 or more martials fighting with you (or if you are a summoner once it also works in your eidolon).

Rank 8: Quandary: Simple and efficient. Removes the target from the battle giving to you and your allies the opportunity to fight the other enemies without the target help it only doesn't work if you are facing a boss alone.

Obs.: Starting from level 16 many casters get Effortless Concentration allowing them to keep up to 2 Sustained spells running at same time that they keep casting 2-actions spells.

Rank 9: Voracious Gestalt is pretty good Sustain spell when facing many living enemies. Its initial damage is good but its Sustain not, yet its is an emanation of huge AoE that doesn't affects allies so it still pretty effective vs a high number of enemies, also it becomes stronger as you are killing your enemies.

Obs.: Note that in many ranks the suggests spell may not work for many cases like an AoE sustain spell worse than a single target sustain spell. In such case just heightens some spell that works better.

[Easl]

The full list is easy to generate using an AoN search. There are 10 Cantrips, 7 1st rank spells, and then a total of 9 spells in ranks 2-9.

[steelhead]

A number of good options for bards here, but you are unfortunately already in competition with the one-action songs.

[pH unbalanced]

If you are looking at sustained spells, I'm a fan of Awaken Entropy at Rank 6. It targets Fortitude, the area grows every time you sustain, and the amount of damage also increases every time you sustain.