How does Heighten affect potany items?

[shadowsaun]

Hi all, simple question to help my understanding..

I am a Pale master, I have a potency item that gives all spells level 6 or lower 50% damage increase. This affects my healing as well from DA, and damage output from necro-skill-spells and of course the glorious FW (not to mention Past life Magic missiles). I'm about to get my last feat and will need heighten for my future hold monster life.

Heighten will bring all my spells up to the highest level I can cast (l9). Will this make my potency item worthless while heighten is on (since I don't have a spell level 9 potency item)? So less healing, damage, and FW output...for the cost of better DC?

Do I understand this correctly? My DC will go up (I may just be casting web and hold monster anyway), but the damage would technically go down? I honestly have no experience with using this meta-magic.

Anyone clear this up for me?

[k1ngp1n]

Nope. Potency still works. Heighten adds the DC, but the spell is still a lower level spell.

[Dozen_Black_Roses]

Heighten will cause the DC's of your spells to increase to the highest level spell you can cast, so for example the web you cast will now have a higher save to it for enemy mobs than if you cast it without it. Potency will not be affected by heighten, if it is a superior potency item it will still only increase the damage by 50%, the heighten will only affect the DC, and the resulting save for the enemy mob. Heighten is a great feat, and at end game very much needed so that your lower level spells will still be useful. Web for example is a great cc spell at all levels of the game, but not without heighten.

[shadowsaun]

Awesome.

Its so nice to have sup potency on a neck slot!

I get the best of both worlds with Heighten on then...

Edit: +1 to both thanks for such a quick answer

[ZodacBKB]

Awesome.

Its so nice to have sup potency on a neck slot!

I get the best of both worlds with Heighten on then...

Edit: +1 to both thanks for such a quick answer

A related question; does Heighten interact the same way with Spell Penetration on items; for example a Spell Penetration VII item work with Heighten on when you're level 20?

[Spiderwight]

Same answer. Heighten raises the DC of the spell to the same as the highest level spell you can cast, but doesn't actually change the spell's level.

So if the spell was 7th level or lower, your Spell Pen VII item will work whether Heighten is on or off. It won't work on 8th or 9th level spells, but that's got nothing to do with Heighten.

[shadowsaun]

A related question; does Heighten interact the same way with Spell Penetration on items; for example a Spell Penetration VII item work with Heighten on when you're level 20?

good one, do they stack?

edit: +1 for good question and my good mood

[Dozen_Black_Roses]

No they do not stack. However, if you are looking to increase your spell penetration, you can take the feats spell penetration (+1) and greater spell penetration (+2). These do not stack but you cant get the +2 bonus without having the +1. On top of that you can wield/wear a spell penetration item which will stack with your feats.If you can get a greater spell penetration item that will add an additional +1.

The same thing goes with spell focus, you can take a spell focus feat, for a school such as necromancy or evocation, etc, which will add a +1to your DCs of your spell. This will also stack with a spell focus item you wield/wear. However, once you get to a certain level, you can get certain raid/quest gear that can give you increased DC to all of your spells (such as the napkin from the Reaver's Fate spell), also if you have the past life feat from certain classes this can add to your DC. However once you have that across the board item (such as the napkin), it will not stack with another item such as evocation bracers, so lose the bracers at that point. That being said, if there is a certain school you specialize in, if you find an item with a greater spell focus on it, you can wear it to increase the spells of only that school's DC by +1. Also bard buffs from a spellsinger can add to your DC for the duration of the song, and there are certain guild ship buffs that add to the DC's of certain schools.

Hope that's not too confusing.