To Extend or Not Extend?

[Jakarr]

That is the Question!

Wondering how many of yas ditch Extend or even dont pick it up.


Also how do I make a poll....never figured that one out yet...

[Xaearth]

My golden rules for extend on a divine:
1) Are you melee-specced (plan on using Divine Favor/Divine Power)?
2) Do you plan on using maximized and/or empowered Blade Barriers?

If the answer to either of the above is yes, extend could be beneficial to your build/playstyle.
If not, extend is a waste.

[Impaqt]

I consider Extend critical for most FvS Builds.

DIvine Favor
Divine Power
Recitation
Holy Aura
Blade Barrier
Greater Command

Just a sampling of spells that benefit greatly from Extend.

[Geonis]

Had to ditch it on my melee/caster soul/monk.....

TWFx3, Imp Crit, PA, Tough, Max, Quicken, Empower.

[Impaqt]

Had to ditch it on my melee/caster soul/monk.....

TWFx3, Imp Crit, PA, Tough, Max, Quicken, Empower.

I've found Extend to have a better return on investment than Greater TWF or Empower spell.

[Jakarr]

My issue is I am going into (maybe) my Final TR for my FvS which he has 2 Sorc Passed Life.
Feat list Would be Quicken/Heighten/Max/Power Attack/Toughness
2 Feats left with a choice of Extend, Empower, Improve Crit. Focus is a Horc Hybrid So Will be melee'in(not a ton but I will be) and Using Offensive Casting. Easy going 38 Str and 38 Wis.

So as I would like Empower and Improve crit and I a bit sad about missing extend, was also gonna couple Empower with the enh and items for an almost freebie Meta. Suppose I might drop out Empower and Keep Extend.

[Impaqt]

My issue is I am going into (maybe) my Final TR for my FvS which he has 2 Sorc Passed Life.
Feat list Would be Quicken/Heighten/Max/Power Attack/Toughness
2 Feats left with a choice of Extend, Empower, Improve Crit. Focus is a Horc Hybrid So Will be melee'in(not a ton but I will be) and Using Offensive Casting. Easy going 38 Str and 38 Wis.

So as I would like Empower and Improve crit and I a bit sad about missing extend, was also gonna couple Empower with the enh and items for an almost freebie Meta. Suppose I might drop out Empower and Keep Extend.

I'd go Mineral II Greatsword and drop IC. A Min II and a Vorpal Cover what... 80%-90% of Critable of mobs?

[sweez]

If you plan to kill things with your BBs, it's much much more mana efficient to cast them extended.

[vVAnjilaVv]

I didn't take Extend on my melee FvS for only one reason alone...I couldn't fit it in feat-wise....I do miss it a lot tho. If I would have had room for it I would have taken it for sure.

[Jakarr]

I'd go Mineral II Greatsword and drop IC. A Min II and a Vorpal Cover what... 80%-90% of Critable of mobs?

I was going this route I already have a MinII GreatAxe from a passed Life(build used to be a Tuk 16sorc/2pal/2rog) But I also have a Sword of Shadows starting at me from my bank looking at me with those cold eyes as if to say...."Why are not you using me "
Though I am probably gonna go with the Extend over ImproveCrit as there is a Ton of short terms buffs along with a longer BB it just has more Pros to have Extend then ImproveCrit.

[azrael4h]

I went with Extend as my level 3 feat, on both Cleric and FvS. It stays on 24/7.

It's more important on my Fvs, since she melees, and requires Divine Favor (later Divine Power as well, so I can hit PA and amp up my damage a bit). For my Cleric, it's just cheaper to buff and ignore it for a half hour or so. I may think about swapping it later for a spell pen, but I do enjoy the extended, maximized Blade Barriers and extended Greater Commands.

[Sinni]

i don't have extend on my FvS

but then she's a halfling healbot -> i used 3 feats for dragonmarks which left me with:
toughness, emp healing, maximize, quicken and 3 x dragonmark of healing

i only miss extend for my BB, at low levels also for all the buffs
if i had 1 more feat it would most probably be extend (i'd favor it over empower, heighten, spell focus or spell pen)

[Meowin]

Unless you are relly desperate for something else, I would never skip this on a pure spellcaster character (cleric, bard, sorcerer, wizard) that throws a buff or CC now and then. 10 SP for double duration - this is making spells cheaper as soon as you get lvl 2 spells. Why not?

[Nyvn]

One of the best feats for a FVS, more so if you melee.

[platonicx]

My issue is I am going into (maybe) my Final TR for my FvS which he has 2 Sorc Passed Life.
Feat list Would be Quicken/Heighten/Max/Power Attack/Toughness
2 Feats left with a choice of Extend, Empower, Improve Crit. Focus is a Horc Hybrid So Will be melee'in(not a ton but I will be) and Using Offensive Casting. Easy going 38 Str and 38 Wis.

So as I would like Empower and Improve crit and I a bit sad about missing extend, was also gonna couple Empower with the enh and items for an almost freebie Meta. Suppose I might drop out Empower and Keep Extend.

I would really like to see a breakdown for 38 str and wis at the same time without like 8 con and 8 cha

[Anthios888]

I dropped it on my fvs in favor of a /1 barbarian splash. Running speed, power attack 1, and sprint boost are just too much fun. It's amazing how easy it is to live without. With four bajillion mana, refreshing divine power/divine favor/recitation/prayer every two and a half minutes is not much of a burden at all.

Extend is a nice luxury, but it is one of the first feats to go, especially if your build is doing other things. I'm really surprised at some of the posters here. It's easy enough to decide by just turning it off for a few weeks.

[Culver.Civello]

I usually always pick Extend spell up as one of my first feats for any of my casters, because it is usually useful at lower levels when your spells don't last that long. However, once I reach about Level 10, I switch it out for something else. By that time, your spells will be long enough and buffs will usually last long enough to reach the next shrine. For arcane casters I'll sometimes leave it on a bit longer, because it is always nice to have that extra time on something like Haste which doesn't last that long as it is... but I never keep it all the way to 20.

[phalaeo]

Greater Command

Just a sampling of spells that benefit greatly from Extend.

Huh?

[sweez]

I'm really surprised at some of the posters here. It's easy enough to decide by just turning it off for a few weeks.

IMHO, it probably wouldn't be worth it, were it not for BBs.

Let's put it this way - a proper, heavily meta'd (quicken, maximize, empower, heighten) BB costs somewhere around 100 spell points. To be precise, with FvS Empowering II enhancement and a Skiver, it costs 94 spell points. Turn on extend, 103 spell points. Duration - 25 seconds, extended - 50 seconds.

Those 25 seconds go by real, real fast.

[Culver.Civello]

Huh?

Greater command does have a certain time limit it holds mobs down for, but they also roll for will saves every so often and can get up sooner.

I'm not sure if it is one of those great spells needing extend though. I find that it usually last long enough... either that or the mobs get will saves on it anyways.