I understand that some spells have a duration like "sustained up to one minute," meaning that the spell lasts as long as it is sustained, with a maximum duration of one minute.
If the spell has a fixed duration but the description says it can be sustained, does the spell need to be sustained to keep it up? For example, Bless has a duration of one minute. The description says, in part, "Once per round on subsequent turns, you can Sustain the spell to increase the emanation’s radius by 10 feet." If I don't Sustain it, does Bless drop or just stay at whatever radius it was when I stopped Sustaining?
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Glamorize is an even better example of this.
The duration alone lists how long the spell will last. A duration of Sustained means that the spell needs to be sustained each round or else it will end. A fixed duration will last its fixed duration, even if there is an effect that happens if the caster chooses to spend an action on Sustain.
I concur. Fixed duration spells last their full duration, whether you sustain them or not.
To answer the thread title, sustaining a spell is always optional.
But there are sometimes consequences (and benefits) to doing so.
Sustaining isn't always tied to duration.
The other posters already provide good examples.
Some spells have a written duration, and they will last that long regardless of if you sustain (but give some benefit if you do).
Some have a duration of sustained (sometimes with a cap), these will end if you don't sustain.
And I imagine there are some that have a duration of sustained, but also have some additional effect when sustained. (And you can in theory sustain multiple times a round).
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And I imagine there are some that have a duration of sustained, but also have some additional effect when sustained. (And you can in theory sustain multiple times a round).
Floating Flame. Normally you only need to Sustain it once in a round. But if two enemies are far enough apart, you might want to Sustain twice or even three times to get the spell to move far enough to hit both of them.
And of course, Spiritual Armament. You can repeat the spell's attack multiple times each round for a Sustain action each.