Do the attacks from the Artillerist’s Eldritch Cannon count as spells for the purpose of Feats such as Spell Sniper, Elemental Adept or War Caster? They’re not described specifically as spells, but you can expend a spell slot to create the Cannon and you make a “ranged spell attack” with the Force Ballistic or provoke a saving throw against your spell save DC for the flamethrower. The PHB doesn’t seem to make it clear: the “What is a Spell?” section doesn’t provide a mechanically useful definition.
The first line of Spell Sniper specifically checks if you are casting a spell, so that's a "no" for the Eldritch Cannon. Now the second line, involving ignoring partial cover, only checks for "ranged spell attacks", so the Force Ballista does qualify. Elemental Adept and War Caster specifically check for casting, so they're both out.
Regarding what makes a spell, specifically, the key component is that you cast the spell, either via expending a spell slot or a feature that specifically includes the word "cast". If neither of these is in play, then whatever you're doing might be magical, but it is not, mechanically speaking, a true spell, and does not interact with features that specifically modify spells.
Addendum: I'm aware cantrips don't actually use a spell slot, but for the purposes of this definition just assume any character has unlimited level 0 slots.
The first line of Spell Sniper specifically checks if you are casting a spell, so that's a "no" for the Eldritch Cannon. Now the second line, involving ignoring partial cover, only checks for "ranged spell attacks", so the Force Ballista does qualify. Elemental Adept and War Caster specifically check for casting, so they're both out.
Regarding what makes a spell, specifically, the key component is that you cast the spell, either via expending a spell slot or a feature that specifically includes the word "cast". If neither of these is in play, then whatever you're doing might be magical, but it is not, mechanically speaking, a true spell, and does not interact with features that specifically modify spells.
Addendum: I'm aware cantrips don't actually use a spell slot, but for the purposes of this definition just assume any character has unlimited level 0 slots.
Many thanks. That’s a pity but I thought it might be the case. Ignoring partial cover, if you wanted Spell Sniper anyway, is nice, at least
Just to complicate the analysis, you can summon the Cannon by expending a spell slot (after the once per long rest “free” use of the feature), so I don’t think expenditure of a spell slot is necessarily a defining feature of a Spell. (Does Divine Smite count as a Spell?). In fact, it seems that the only thing that defines an effect as a Spell is that it is presented in the standard format of a Spell. Probably…
The first line of Spell Sniper specifically checks if you are casting a spell, so that's a "no" for the Eldritch Cannon. Now the second line, involving ignoring partial cover, only checks for "ranged spell attacks", so the Force Ballista does qualify. Elemental Adept and War Caster specifically check for casting, so they're both out.
Regarding what makes a spell, specifically, the key component is that you cast the spell, either via expending a spell slot or a feature that specifically includes the word "cast". If neither of these is in play, then whatever you're doing might be magical, but it is not, mechanically speaking, a true spell, and does not interact with features that specifically modify spells.
Addendum: I'm aware cantrips don't actually use a spell slot, but for the purposes of this definition just assume any character has unlimited level 0 slots.
Many thanks. That’s a pity but I thought it might be the case. Ignoring partial cover, if you wanted Spell Sniper anyway, is nice, at least
As an aside, if you're using the Enhanced Arcane Focus Infusion, that also ignores half cover. That makes spell sniper a little more redundant as you can get more bang for your buck by getting additional cantrips with other feats.
Could argue that the arcane cannon itself is a spell as you can “expend a spell slot to magically create” the cannon you also don’t require any power source to operate the cannon so it’s safe to assume it draws its power from the artificer
remember flavoured text is used when defining the different rules of the artificer since they are not a full caster and operate their spells from mechanical means
Do the attacks from the Artillerist’s Eldritch Cannon count as spells for the purpose of Feats such as Spell Sniper, Elemental Adept or War Caster? They’re not described specifically as spells, but you can expend a spell slot to create the Cannon and you make a “ranged spell attack” with the Force Ballistic or provoke a saving throw against your spell save DC for the flamethrower. The PHB doesn’t seem to make it clear: the “What is a Spell?” section doesn’t provide a mechanically useful definition.
The first line of Spell Sniper specifically checks if you are casting a spell, so that's a "no" for the Eldritch Cannon. Now the second line, involving ignoring partial cover, only checks for "ranged spell attacks", so the Force Ballista does qualify. Elemental Adept and War Caster specifically check for casting, so they're both out.
Regarding what makes a spell, specifically, the key component is that you cast the spell, either via expending a spell slot or a feature that specifically includes the word "cast". If neither of these is in play, then whatever you're doing might be magical, but it is not, mechanically speaking, a true spell, and does not interact with features that specifically modify spells.
Addendum: I'm aware cantrips don't actually use a spell slot, but for the purposes of this definition just assume any character has unlimited level 0 slots.
Many thanks. That’s a pity but I thought it might be the case. Ignoring partial cover, if you wanted Spell Sniper anyway, is nice, at least
Just to complicate the analysis, you can summon the Cannon by expending a spell slot (after the once per long rest “free” use of the feature), so I don’t think expenditure of a spell slot is necessarily a defining feature of a Spell. (Does Divine Smite count as a Spell?). In fact, it seems that the only thing that defines an effect as a Spell is that it is presented in the standard format of a Spell. Probably…
As an aside, if you're using the Enhanced Arcane Focus Infusion, that also ignores half cover. That makes spell sniper a little more redundant as you can get more bang for your buck by getting additional cantrips with other feats.
Could argue that the arcane cannon itself is a spell as you can “expend a spell slot to magically create” the cannon you also don’t require any power source to operate the cannon so it’s safe to assume it draws its power from the artificer
remember flavoured text is used when defining the different rules of the artificer since they are not a full caster and operate their spells from mechanical means