With the "radiant sun bolt" if I use it to attack with on my action and I have no "extra attack" and I then spend a Ki point and a bonus action will I get 2 more attacks of "radiant sun bolt" or just one?
"When you take the Attack action on your turn and use this special attack as part of it, you can spend 1 ki point to make the special attack twice as a bonus action."
You get to use 2 of them as your bonus attack (provided you used [one of] your action Attack[s] as a Radiant Sunbolt) when you spend a ki point.
I am struggling with some of the wording for Radiant Sun Bolt (RSB). It does at least seem to be trying to say something by inference. Or I am just reading into it? Here is what I understand... please fill this in or correct me - thank you!
RSB can.. - be used as your primary attack - when you get 2 attacks, you can use it for both (say 5th level or perhaps Haste) - if you spend a KI point (flurry) - it can be used for 2 attacks during your bonus action
What is odd is they never once mention it can be used normally as a replacement for unarmed strike in your bonus action. If it does, then they could have saved some anguish and said RSB simply replaces the melee unarmed strike...
Starting when you choose this tradition at 3rd level, you can hurl searing bolts of magical radiance.
You gain a new attack option that you can use with the Attack action. This special attack is a ranged spell attack with a range of 30 feet. You are proficient with it, and you add your Dexterity modifier to its attack and damage rolls. Its damage is radiant, and its damage die is a d4. This die changes as you gain monk levels, as shown in the Martial Arts column of the Monk table.
When you take the Attack action on your turn and use this special attack as part of it, you can spend 1 ki point to make the special attack twice as a bonus action.
When you gain the Extra Attack feature, this special attack can be used for any of the attacks you make as part of the Attack action.
To put it short: your unarmed strike has a range spell attack option. Just follow the rule for the Unarmed Strike and make it range.
I agree it would be shorter if they just say RSB can replace Unarmed Strike as an optional.
Yes. It can be used as your Attack action attack. If you have Extra attack it can be used for one or both of them.
"- when you get 2 attacks, you can use it for both (say 5th level or perhaps Haste)"
It can be used with Extra attack but not with Haste. Haste allows you to make one weapon attack, this is not a weapon.
"- if you spend a KI point (flurry) - it can be used for 2 attacks during your bonus action"
It has to be used for both Bonus Action attacks; it is not Flurry of Blows. You can't make an unarmed strike and a RSB as your bonus action, you have to choose one and do both attacks as it. You can also only use the RSBs as your Bonus Action if you made a RSB attack with your Attack action. You cannot attack with a weapon or Unarmed Strike as your action and then bonus action 2 RSBs.
"What is odd is they never once mention it can be used normally as a replacement for unarmed strike in your bonus action. If it does, then they could have saved some anguish and said RSB simply replaces the melee unarmed strike.."
Because it can't be, and it's doesn't. You can only use RSB's as a bonus action if you made a RSB as (at least one of) your Attack action attacks. You can never make a single RSB as a bonus action attack; you HAVE to spend a Ki point and fire two blasts as your bonus action.
Sorry for the awful formatting I'm just on my phone.
Starting when you choose this tradition at 3rd level, you can hurl searing bolts of magical radiance.
You gain a new attack option that you can use with the Attack action. This special attack is a ranged spell attack with a range of 30 feet. You are proficient with it, and you add your Dexterity modifier to its attack and damage rolls. Its damage is radiant, and its damage die is a d4. This die changes as you gain monk levels, as shown in the Martial Arts column of the Monk table.
When you take the Attack action on your turn and use this special attack as part of it, you can spend 1 ki point to make the special attack twice as a bonus action.
When you gain the Extra Attack feature, this special attack can be used for any of the attacks you make as part of the Attack action.
To put it short: your unarmed strike has a range spell attack option. Just follow the rule for the Unarmed Strike and make it range.
I agree it would be shorter if they just say RSB can replace Unarmed Strike as an optional.
This isn't true. It is not simply a ranged option for Unarmed Strike. You cannot ever make a single Bonus Action radiant sun bolt attack like you can with your Unarmed Strike. In order to use it as a Bonus action you have to have used it as one of your Attack action attacks, and you have to spend a Ki point and then get two uses of RSB for your bonus action.
Radiant Sun Bolt is a ranged spell attack that you can take as part of your Attack action. This means it can be one, or both, of your attacks once you have Extra Attack at 5th-level. So long as at least one of those attacks is a Radiant Sun Bolt, you can spend a Ki Point to make two more RSBs as a Bonus Action. This mirrors Flurry of Blows, but, unlike your Attack action, the two attacks cannot be mixed and matched. When you spend the Ki Point, it's all or nothing.
As another note, when you reach 6th-level and learn Searing Arc Strike you also count as a spellcaster. You can then take the Spell Sniper feat at 8th-level (or later) to learn produce flame from the druid spell list, give it a range of 60 feet, and both the cantrip and your Radiant Sun Bolt will ignore 1/2 and 3/4 cover.
As another note, when you reach 6th-level and learn Searing Arc Strike you also count as a spellcaster. You can then take the Spell Sniper feat at 8th-level (or later) to learn produce flame from the druid spell list, give it a range of 60 feet, and both the cantrip and your Radiant Sun Bolt will ignore 1/2 and 3/4 cover.
Do you count as a spellcaster? I thought that to count as a spellcaster you need the "Spellcasting" class feature in some way, shape or form.
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As another note, when you reach 6th-level and learn Searing Arc Strike you also count as a spellcaster. You can then take the Spell Sniper feat at 8th-level (or later) to learn produce flame from the druid spell list, give it a range of 60 feet, and both the cantrip and your Radiant Sun Bolt will ignore 1/2 and 3/4 cover.
Do you count as a spellcaster? I thought that to count as a spellcaster you need the "Spellcasting" class feature in some way, shape or form.
If that were true, then warlocks wouldn't count as spellcasters. No, so long as your character can cast at least one spell, they're a spellcaster. High elves and forest gnomes are both inherent spellcasters, even though they only know one cantrip. They still have a spellcasting ability. Depending on their choice of class, they might even have multiple spellcasting abilities.
Aasimar, dark elves, genasi, tieflings, and tritons are all inherent spellcasters, as well. And I'm probably forgetting a few more.
Speaking of monks, two of the archetypes in the PHB also turn them into spellcasters: Way of the Four Elements and Way of Shadow. Or, at least, WotFE can be a spellcaster. They just have to choose an Elemental Discipline which lets them cast an Elemental Spell. It is possible not to.
Your actually incorrect on one point. Spell Sniper does not in any way need you to be a "spell caster" It only requires you to have the ability to cast a single spell. Whether that's through an innate spell like ability or it's through some class feature. Warlocks count as spell casters because they have a Modified version of the SpellCasting feature to make their class work.
However the other races aren't inherently spell casters. What they are is inherently magical so they have some spell imitating abilities that can also be made to work through their spell casting if they have any. They can still count for Spell Sniper because Spell Sniper does not actually care if you are a spell caster or not. It just cares if you can cast some kind of spell. Interestingly Elemental Adept works under the same requirements and neither of them actually require that the spell that you know actually work with the benefits of the feat but Spell Sniper is at least nice enough to allow you to obtain a spell that does work with it. Elemental Adept does not and is technically able to be taken by people that can't actually use it.
Way of the Four Elements would achieve this because it specifically states it is the ability to cast a spell through it's Disciple of the Elements Feature so you just pick one that is a spell. Sun Soul monk gets it through Searing Arc Strike because it states your specifically says your casting the spell burning hands. Neither of these abilities actually states you are an actual spell caster or that in fact you could even mix these powers and fuel them with regular spell casting like those of other spell casting classes.
Having it work on Radiant Sun Bolt however is going to be up to your DM because it's a grey area. It doesn't actually say your casting a spell which Spell Sniper says you have to be doing to take advantage of it's benefits, but it does call it a ranged spell attack which is why some decide that it counts anyway. There aren't many things that I can think of that live in this weird grey area that it makes a spell attack but is not stated to be a spell in some way. Even more odd in the case of this one is that It's an attack that the power specifically gives you proficiency in which is more to do with weapon attacks than casting spells since by the nature of being able to cast the spell your already proficient in it as well as the fact that you actually use the Attack Action to use it and not the Cast a spell action. So there is reason to see it in either light.
(As an odd Side Note. Totem Barbarian Technically counts for Spell Sniper the way it is written once you reach 10th level because you can then cast commune with nature because the feat interestingly enough does not state that only being able to cast a spell as a ritual makes a difference. Just that your able to cast it.)
Your actually incorrect on one point. Spell Sniper does not in any way need you to be a "spell caster" It only requires you to have the ability to cast a single spell. Whether that's through an innate spell like ability or it's through some class feature. Warlocks count as spell casters because they have a Modified version of the SpellCasting feature to make their class work.
However the other races aren't inherently spell casters. What they are is inherently magical so they have some spell imitating abilities that can also be made to work through their spell casting if they have any. They can still count for Spell Sniper because Spell Sniper does not actually care if you are a spell caster or not. It just cares if you can cast some kind of spell. Interestingly Elemental Adept works under the same requirements and neither of them actually require that the spell that you know actually work with the benefits of the feat but Spell Sniper is at least nice enough to allow you to obtain a spell that does work with it. Elemental Adept does not and is technically able to be taken by people that can't actually use it.
Way of the Four Elements would achieve this because it specifically states it is the ability to cast a spell through it's Disciple of the Elements Feature so you just pick one that is a spell. Sun Soul monk gets it through Searing Arc Strike because it states your specifically says your casting the spell burning hands. Neither of these abilities actually states you are an actual spell caster or that in fact you could even mix these powers and fuel them with regular spell casting like those of other spell casting classes.
Having it work on Radiant Sun Bolt however is going to be up to your DM because it's a grey area. It doesn't actually say your casting a spell which Spell Sniper says you have to be doing to take advantage of it's benefits, but it does call it a ranged spell attack which is why some decide that it counts anyway. There aren't many things that I can think of that live in this weird grey area that it makes a spell attack but is not stated to be a spell in some way. Even more odd in the case of this one is that It's an attack that the power specifically gives you proficiency in which is more to do with weapon attacks than casting spells since by the nature of being able to cast the spell your already proficient in it as well as the fact that you actually use the Attack Action to use it and not the Cast a spell action. So there is reason to see it in either light.
(As an odd Side Note. Totem Barbarian Technically counts for Spell Sniper the way it is written once you reach 10th level because you can then cast commune with nature because the feat interestingly enough does not state that only being able to cast a spell as a ritual makes a difference. Just that your able to cast it.)
Trying to quibble over the meaning of "spell caster" and whether "the ability to cast at least one spell" fits the bill requires an almost obtuse level of reasoning. This edition explicitly relies on plain, natural language. If a character can cast a spell, then they're a spellcaster. The name of whatever feature grants them the ability to cast spells is wholly irrelevant. And all those features say the character in question has a spellcasting ability used for their known spell(s). This is because some magic items rely on the user's spellcasting ability; rather than an inherent one. (You'll find more information on that subject on page 141 of the DMG.) That said, let's look at the three bullets of the feat.
When you cast a spell that requires you to make an attack roll, the spell’s range is doubled.
Your ranged spell attacks ignore half cover and three-quarters cover.
You learn one cantrip that requires an attack roll. Choose the cantrip from the bard, cleric, druid, sorcerer, warlock, or wizard spell list. Your spellcasting ability for this cantrip depends on the spell list you chose from: Charisma for bard, sorcerer, or warlock; Wisdom for cleric or druid; or Intelligence for wizard.
The Way of the Sun Soul doesn't actually grant a spell that requires an attack roll, so we'll ignore the first bullet for now. But it does have an ability that explicitly uses a ranged spell attack: Radiant Sun Bolt. So that feature does work with the second bullet. There is no gray area, so don't pretend otherwise. Similar language can be found on numerous creatures in the Monster Manual. For example, the banshee has a Corrupting Touch that is a melee spell attack, even though it's not a spell.
The third bullet circles us back around to the first: the cantrip requires an attack roll. It doesn't have to be a ranged attack; shocking grasp is a viable choice. But with the Monk's reliance on wisdom, they're better off with the Druid's produce flame. And that does benefit from the first bullet.
As for a Way of the Four Elements Monk, it is possible to make a 20th level character and not be able to cast a single Elemental Spell using that feature. The archetype in no way guarantees spellcasting; which I clarified above. You're right about the Barbarian's Path of the Totem, but it would be a pointless investment (which is why I omitted it). Their Wisdom, most likely, isn't going to be very high, and they cannot cast any spells while using their Rage feature.
A spell caster as far as the game is concerned requires that you have spell slots. It's not quibbling. Your trying to work semantics in your way. I'm just saying that what your trying to twist it into doesn't actually work as reasoning and that the ability your trying to get by twisting it that way doesn't actually need that twisting of reasoning to make it work anyway. The only thing that needs some kind of real deduction and worry about semantics to it is whether that praticular feat would in fact work on the class feature your trying to use it on, not that the class can get the feat or suddenly counts as a spell caster. Because there are a lot of things that can do a spell that do not count as spell casters that would have to be entirely reclassified to fit your twisting to justify things.
Your further arguments for trying to make it work once you throw out the issue of spell casters is all moot. Because as I said. There are reasons for and against it and I laid some of those out. I could have added more if I really wanted to be against it but the reality is simple.
Anything else is pointless. Take it up with your DM is the ultimate final answer.
You do not need to have spell slots to be considered a spell caster. Anyone that has the ability to cast a spell is considered a spellcaster as stated in the DMG pg. 136 I believe but it is the last sentence of the first paragraph under attunement.
“If the prerequisite is to be a spellcaster, a creature qualifies if it can cast at least one spell using its traits or features, not using a magic item or the like.”
So being able to cast a spell because of Racial Traits, Class Features or Feats like Magic Initiate qualifies you as a Spellcaster
You are once more incorrect. Anyone creature that can cast a spell through racial traits are given the title of Innate Spellcaster, take a look at the Monster Manual if you don't believe me. They do not have spell slots and can cast the spells a limited amount of times (Mostly once a day)
That ruling is under the attunement rules but it applies to any thing that has a prerequisite of Spellcaster.
You are once more incorrect. Anyone creature that can cast a spell through racial traits are given the title of Innate Spellcaster, take a look at the Monster Manual if you don't believe me. They do not have spell slots and can cast the spells a limited amount of times (Mostly once a day)
That ruling is under the attunement rules but it applies to any thing that has a prerequisite of Spellcaster.
There is a difference between Spellcaster and Innate Spellcaster; the latter of whom can ignore material components for their spells. Creatures with that feature in the Monster Manual also say so. For example, there's a notable difference in how a mage and a drow cast their spells.
You're right, I should have made that distinction. Though the point I was trying to make is that any trait or feature that let's you cast a spell (leaving out any magical items) gives you the tag of SpellCaster
At one point the book did say that it required you to have spell slots, but that was errata'd a few years ago.
You're right, I should have made that distinction. Though the point I was trying to make is that any trait or feature that let's you cast a spell (leaving out any magical items) gives you the tag of SpellCaster
At one point the book did say that it required you to have spell slots, but that was errata'd a few years ago.
Considering that four races in the PHB (dark elves, high elves, forest gnome, and tieflings) have a spellcasting ability from level 1, that was probably an oversight, to begin with.
With the "radiant sun bolt" if I use it to attack with on my action and I have no "extra attack" and I then spend a Ki point and a bonus action will I get 2 more attacks of "radiant sun bolt" or just one?
"When you take the Attack action on your turn and use this special attack as part of it, you can spend 1 ki point to make the special attack twice as a bonus action."
You get to use 2 of them as your bonus attack (provided you used [one of] your action Attack[s] as a Radiant Sunbolt) when you spend a ki point.
I am struggling with some of the wording for Radiant Sun Bolt (RSB). It does at least seem to be trying to say something by inference. Or I am just reading into it? Here is what I understand... please fill this in or correct me - thank you!
RSB can..
- be used as your primary attack
- when you get 2 attacks, you can use it for both (say 5th level or perhaps Haste)
- if you spend a KI point (flurry) - it can be used for 2 attacks during your bonus action
What is odd is they never once mention it can be used normally as a replacement for unarmed strike in your bonus action. If it does, then they could have saved some anguish and said RSB simply replaces the melee unarmed strike...
To put it short: your unarmed strike has a range spell attack option. Just follow the rule for the Unarmed Strike and make it range.
I agree it would be shorter if they just say RSB can replace Unarmed Strike as an optional.
"- be used as your primary attack"
Yes. It can be used as your Attack action attack. If you have Extra attack it can be used for one or both of them.
"- when you get 2 attacks, you can use it for both (say 5th level or perhaps Haste)"
It can be used with Extra attack but not with Haste. Haste allows you to make one weapon attack, this is not a weapon.
"- if you spend a KI point (flurry) - it can be used for 2 attacks during your bonus action"
It has to be used for both Bonus Action attacks; it is not Flurry of Blows. You can't make an unarmed strike and a RSB as your bonus action, you have to choose one and do both attacks as it. You can also only use the RSBs as your Bonus Action if you made a RSB attack with your Attack action. You cannot attack with a weapon or Unarmed Strike as your action and then bonus action 2 RSBs.
"What is odd is they never once mention it can be used normally as a replacement for unarmed strike in your bonus action. If it does, then they could have saved some anguish and said RSB simply replaces the melee unarmed strike.."
Because it can't be, and it's doesn't. You can only use RSB's as a bonus action if you made a RSB as (at least one of) your Attack action attacks. You can never make a single RSB as a bonus action attack; you HAVE to spend a Ki point and fire two blasts as your bonus action.
Sorry for the awful formatting I'm just on my phone.
This isn't true. It is not simply a ranged option for Unarmed Strike. You cannot ever make a single Bonus Action radiant sun bolt attack like you can with your Unarmed Strike. In order to use it as a Bonus action you have to have used it as one of your Attack action attacks, and you have to spend a Ki point and then get two uses of RSB for your bonus action.
Okay, so there's a lot to keep track of, here.
Radiant Sun Bolt is a ranged spell attack that you can take as part of your Attack action. This means it can be one, or both, of your attacks once you have Extra Attack at 5th-level. So long as at least one of those attacks is a Radiant Sun Bolt, you can spend a Ki Point to make two more RSBs as a Bonus Action. This mirrors Flurry of Blows, but, unlike your Attack action, the two attacks cannot be mixed and matched. When you spend the Ki Point, it's all or nothing.
As another note, when you reach 6th-level and learn Searing Arc Strike you also count as a spellcaster. You can then take the Spell Sniper feat at 8th-level (or later) to learn produce flame from the druid spell list, give it a range of 60 feet, and both the cantrip and your Radiant Sun Bolt will ignore 1/2 and 3/4 cover.
Do you count as a spellcaster? I thought that to count as a spellcaster you need the "Spellcasting" class feature in some way, shape or form.
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If that were true, then warlocks wouldn't count as spellcasters. No, so long as your character can cast at least one spell, they're a spellcaster. High elves and forest gnomes are both inherent spellcasters, even though they only know one cantrip. They still have a spellcasting ability. Depending on their choice of class, they might even have multiple spellcasting abilities.
Aasimar, dark elves, genasi, tieflings, and tritons are all inherent spellcasters, as well. And I'm probably forgetting a few more.
Speaking of monks, two of the archetypes in the PHB also turn them into spellcasters: Way of the Four Elements and Way of Shadow. Or, at least, WotFE can be a spellcaster. They just have to choose an Elemental Discipline which lets them cast an Elemental Spell. It is possible not to.
Your actually incorrect on one point. Spell Sniper does not in any way need you to be a "spell caster" It only requires you to have the ability to cast a single spell. Whether that's through an innate spell like ability or it's through some class feature. Warlocks count as spell casters because they have a Modified version of the SpellCasting feature to make their class work.
However the other races aren't inherently spell casters. What they are is inherently magical so they have some spell imitating abilities that can also be made to work through their spell casting if they have any. They can still count for Spell Sniper because Spell Sniper does not actually care if you are a spell caster or not. It just cares if you can cast some kind of spell. Interestingly Elemental Adept works under the same requirements and neither of them actually require that the spell that you know actually work with the benefits of the feat but Spell Sniper is at least nice enough to allow you to obtain a spell that does work with it. Elemental Adept does not and is technically able to be taken by people that can't actually use it.
Way of the Four Elements would achieve this because it specifically states it is the ability to cast a spell through it's Disciple of the Elements Feature so you just pick one that is a spell. Sun Soul monk gets it through Searing Arc Strike because it states your specifically says your casting the spell burning hands. Neither of these abilities actually states you are an actual spell caster or that in fact you could even mix these powers and fuel them with regular spell casting like those of other spell casting classes.
Having it work on Radiant Sun Bolt however is going to be up to your DM because it's a grey area. It doesn't actually say your casting a spell which Spell Sniper says you have to be doing to take advantage of it's benefits, but it does call it a ranged spell attack which is why some decide that it counts anyway. There aren't many things that I can think of that live in this weird grey area that it makes a spell attack but is not stated to be a spell in some way. Even more odd in the case of this one is that It's an attack that the power specifically gives you proficiency in which is more to do with weapon attacks than casting spells since by the nature of being able to cast the spell your already proficient in it as well as the fact that you actually use the Attack Action to use it and not the Cast a spell action. So there is reason to see it in either light.
(As an odd Side Note. Totem Barbarian Technically counts for Spell Sniper the way it is written once you reach 10th level because you can then cast commune with nature because the feat interestingly enough does not state that only being able to cast a spell as a ritual makes a difference. Just that your able to cast it.)
Trying to quibble over the meaning of "spell caster" and whether "the ability to cast at least one spell" fits the bill requires an almost obtuse level of reasoning. This edition explicitly relies on plain, natural language. If a character can cast a spell, then they're a spellcaster. The name of whatever feature grants them the ability to cast spells is wholly irrelevant. And all those features say the character in question has a spellcasting ability used for their known spell(s). This is because some magic items rely on the user's spellcasting ability; rather than an inherent one. (You'll find more information on that subject on page 141 of the DMG.) That said, let's look at the three bullets of the feat.
The Way of the Sun Soul doesn't actually grant a spell that requires an attack roll, so we'll ignore the first bullet for now. But it does have an ability that explicitly uses a ranged spell attack: Radiant Sun Bolt. So that feature does work with the second bullet. There is no gray area, so don't pretend otherwise. Similar language can be found on numerous creatures in the Monster Manual. For example, the banshee has a Corrupting Touch that is a melee spell attack, even though it's not a spell.
The third bullet circles us back around to the first: the cantrip requires an attack roll. It doesn't have to be a ranged attack; shocking grasp is a viable choice. But with the Monk's reliance on wisdom, they're better off with the Druid's produce flame. And that does benefit from the first bullet.
As for a Way of the Four Elements Monk, it is possible to make a 20th level character and not be able to cast a single Elemental Spell using that feature. The archetype in no way guarantees spellcasting; which I clarified above. You're right about the Barbarian's Path of the Totem, but it would be a pointless investment (which is why I omitted it). Their Wisdom, most likely, isn't going to be very high, and they cannot cast any spells while using their Rage feature.
A spell caster as far as the game is concerned requires that you have spell slots. It's not quibbling. Your trying to work semantics in your way. I'm just saying that what your trying to twist it into doesn't actually work as reasoning and that the ability your trying to get by twisting it that way doesn't actually need that twisting of reasoning to make it work anyway. The only thing that needs some kind of real deduction and worry about semantics to it is whether that praticular feat would in fact work on the class feature your trying to use it on, not that the class can get the feat or suddenly counts as a spell caster. Because there are a lot of things that can do a spell that do not count as spell casters that would have to be entirely reclassified to fit your twisting to justify things.
Your further arguments for trying to make it work once you throw out the issue of spell casters is all moot. Because as I said. There are reasons for and against it and I laid some of those out. I could have added more if I really wanted to be against it but the reality is simple.
Anything else is pointless. Take it up with your DM is the ultimate final answer.
You do not need to have spell slots to be considered a spell caster. Anyone that has the ability to cast a spell is considered a spellcaster as stated in the DMG pg. 136 I believe but it is the last sentence of the first paragraph under attunement.
“If the prerequisite is to be a spellcaster, a creature qualifies if it can cast at least one spell using its traits or features, not using a magic item or the like.”
So being able to cast a spell because of Racial Traits, Class Features or Feats like Magic Initiate qualifies you as a Spellcaster
That is a specific rule for being able to use magical items only. Which is why it's under the attunement rules.
You are once more incorrect. Anyone creature that can cast a spell through racial traits are given the title of Innate Spellcaster, take a look at the Monster Manual if you don't believe me. They do not have spell slots and can cast the spells a limited amount of times (Mostly once a day)
That ruling is under the attunement rules but it applies to any thing that has a prerequisite of Spellcaster.
There is a difference between Spellcaster and Innate Spellcaster; the latter of whom can ignore material components for their spells. Creatures with that feature in the Monster Manual also say so. For example, there's a notable difference in how a mage and a drow cast their spells.
Other than that, you're 100% correct.
You're right, I should have made that distinction. Though the point I was trying to make is that any trait or feature that let's you cast a spell (leaving out any magical items) gives you the tag of SpellCaster
At one point the book did say that it required you to have spell slots, but that was errata'd a few years ago.
Considering that four races in the PHB (dark elves, high elves, forest gnome, and tieflings) have a spellcasting ability from level 1, that was probably an oversight, to begin with.
I don't think it was an oversight. I think they changed how they wanted to look at certain things.