Verb:CAST

CAST is a verb used to initiate magical spells. Each spell must be prepared before being CAST. INCANT can be used to circumvent this two-step process, but possesses its own caveats. Be aware of which spell you have prepared before CASTing, there are no safeguards preventing casting offensive magic at one's self or companions. Likewise there are no safeguards against casting defensive magic at enemies.

Usage

• CAST

Casts the open/untargeted cast version of a prepared spell if such a version exists; otherwise, casts the spell with the caster's self as the target.

Warning: For attack spells which have no open cast version, there is no safeguard against harming oneself!

• CAST {target} or CAST AT {target}

Casts a prepared spell at the specified target.

• CAST TARGET

Casts a prepared spell at the predetermined target if the TARGET verb was used. If not, a new target will be selected automatically.

Casting a spell usually incurs 3 seconds of cast roundtime, during which the caster may not attack or cast other spells but can still move around or change stance.

Alternative casting verbs

Some spells have different modes that can be activated with alternative verbs.

• CHANNEL — Casts an enhanced version of a spell, typically a warding attack. Incurs 3 seconds of hard roundtime.
• EVOKE — Casts a different version of a spell, for example switching between elements or bolt/warding. Does not incur hard roundtime.
• SUMMON — Specifies a type of creature or object for summoning spells.

Open casting

An open cast version of a spell is one which does not specify a target, in contrast with focused (or "closed") casts where the caster chooses a single target. Open cast spells may either affect an entire room (in some cases even adjacent rooms) or a limited number of characters or creatures.

For example, Energy Maelstrom (710) has both an open and a focused version. The open version can damage any target in the room, while the focused version only damages a specific target.

Some open cast spells have a skill-based limit on the maximum number of targets. One such spell is Pious Trial (1602), which has a maximum number determined by the caster's training in Spiritual Lore, Blessings. With no skill ranks in lores, the caster can only attempt to affect a single target even when open casting.

Multi-casting

Training in the appropriate mana control skills (Elemental Mana Control, Mental Mana Control, Spiritual Mana Control) can unlock additional usages of this verb.

A caster may more quickly stack the duration of buff spells, one additional shot per threshold tier. The relevant spell circle (single-sphere or hybrid) will determine how to calculate the necessary ranks for each tier. For single-sphere professions, each tier is 25 ranks of the appropriate mana control. For hybrid professions, fully count each rank of mana control in the sphere of the particular spell circle, and sum with it half the mana control ranks of the complementary professional hybrid sphere mana control, each tier represented in blocks of 25 skill ranks of this total. For hybrid circles, the primary mana control skill is whichever of the two is higher. The mana cost scales with the total number of casts while casting roundtime remains fixed.

For example, a cleric with 25 ranks of Spiritual Mana Control (tier one) could cast two shots of Spirit Warding I (101) simultaneously. This can be done on an arbitrarily appropriate target:

>prepare 101
You gesture while calling upon the lesser spirits to aid you with the Spirit Warding I spell...
Your spell is ready.

>cast rolton 2
You make a complex gesture at a rolton, increasing the potency of your spell.
A light blue glow surrounds a rolton.

See Also

• INCANT (verb)
• Casting spells (saved posts)
• MANA (saved post)