Baldur's Gate : The Sword Coast Chronicles : NWN2 Persistent World

I just have a quick question. I'm inexperienced when it comes to the mechanics of nwn2 and cannot for the life of me grasp exactly what the hierophant advanced divine spellpower ability does or how it would be used. Can anyone dumb it down for me?

does this help?

"Advanced Divine Spell Power
Type of Feat: Class Ability
Prerequisites: Hierophant 1, Divine Spellpower
Specifics: Available only to hierophants with the feat Divine Spell Power, the feat now uses your full turning roll to complement casterlevel and progress DC's (You can go beyond +4). You no longer suffer negative effects from rolling poorly.
Use: Automatic"

http://bgtscc.wikia.com/wiki/Hierophant

Yeah bud, I read that in the description but I don't understand exactly what it means. Does it help your turning roll or your caster level calculations? What is this divine spell power feat that is the prerequisite? Is it the "spell power" class abilities listed under the hierophant information? Is it basically like practiced spell caster for turning DC? Like to help bolster class level as far as turning is concerned if you have non turning classes in your build?

Using torn undead increases caster level of the next spell which can help against dispel checks, increase dc's or damage dice.

As far as I have been made aware from other players you can think of Divine Spell Power as being similar to Divine Power, but instead of increasing your damage it (potentially) increases your caster level. Divine Spell Power is available for clerics/paladins/blackguards to pick as a General Feat (Requires Turn Undead feat).

When you use Divine Spell Power you spend a round to use one of your turn undead attempts to boost your Divine Caster Level. This boost lasts for the duration of your CHA modifier and affects all spells cast during that time.

The Hierophant feat Improved Divine Spell Power eliminates the penalties for a low CHA check on the Divine Spell Power turning roll (min caster level bonus is therefore +0) and is supposed to let you go beyond the normal +4 CL cap on the skill if you roll well on your CHA turning check. I have heard that this second feature is not working/not implemented, however. Someone else would have to confirm that.

Ahh, now I get it! Thank you very much for the extrapolation. Now it makes sense to my small brain. I appreciate you all taking the time.

Tsidkenu wrote:As far as I have been made aware from other players you can think of Divine Spell Power as being similar to Divine Power, but instead of increasing your damage it (potentially) increases your caster level. Divine Spell Power is available for clerics/paladins/blackguards to pick as a General Feat (Requires Turn Undead feat).

When you use Divine Spell Power you spend a round to use one of your turn undead attempts to boost your Divine Caster Level. This boost lasts for the duration of your CHA modifier and affects all spells cast during that time.

The Hierophant feat Improved Divine Spell Power eliminates the penalties for a low CHA check on the Divine Spell Power turning roll (min caster level bonus is therefore +0) and is supposed to let you go beyond the normal +4 CL cap on the skill if you roll well on your CHA turning check. I have heard that this second feature is not working/not implemented, however. Someone else would have to confirm that.

Just to add on and clarify some of this, divine spell power is essentially like a mode, you turn it on or off. While it is on, whenever you first cast a spell, a turn undead use is expended and the result of the turn undead roll (usually -4 to +4; look up turn undead on the wiki for the actual table) is added or subtracted from your CL. If you have a decent charisma and master of energy from hierophant, your chances of getting a negative is slim. This same bonus will persist for a number of rounds equal to your wisdom modifier (not charisma). If you still have dsp turned on, then the next time you cast a spell, another roll will be made and last for wisdom rounds. It will stay on until you turn it off or you run out of turn undead uses.

As Tsidkenu said, advanced divine spell power is supposed to make negative results a 0 and allow you to go above the +4. Currently, however, that second portion doesn't seem to be working as I've rolled a 40 before which should be +9 to CL and still only got +4 CL.

Tsidkenu wrote:...and is supposed to let you go beyond the normal +4 CL cap on the skill if you roll well on your CHA turning check. I have heard that this second feature is not working/not implemented, however. Someone else would have to confirm that.

Correct, it's currently not going further than +4 CL. That might change however. Even if it goes beyond +4, the ability isn't very good. Caster clerics can't afford to invest too much into charisma, and even if its possible to make a decent caster cleric with good turning capabilities there are still two main issues at work:

1.) It costs two feats
2.) Limited amount of uses. Compared to arcane spellcasting classes that get a flat CL bonus, you get a variable CL bonus for just a few spells per day
3.) You need to waste time using the ability before casting the spell, making it impractical.

With Morninglord (not a fit for RP reasons for some), 10 base charisma and Eagles cast on me, I have somewhere around 15 uses of turn undead. With a 10 wisdom bonus, I get 10 spells cast within the time that one use of turn undead provides. So keeping divine spell power 'on' all the time, I use two turn undeads to buff. I use another 3 at least for future buffs and then cast the random spell or two which may use a turn undead for each in between spells. So by the time I rest, casting battle buffs freely and blade barrier among other spells, I still have 3-5 turn undead attempts left keeping it 'on' the entire time.

Not to mention spell power 3 from hierophant, at level 28 I am consistently getting a caster level of 35 but I should be getting somewhere between 34-40 if advanced divine spell power worked. Once I'm 30, it should be 36-42 CL. Now whether or not DCs are adjusted appropriately due to epic caster levels, I haven't fully tested it. So far I think it may be missing a DC or two.