Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 El_Condoro Nov 07, 2014 16:10:58	From my reading of the bonus action, this spell allows two attacks. The second is against "a creature", which could be the same as the first attack.    Is this a correct interpretation?
#2 mellored Nov 07, 2014 16:16:04	You can attack with your action, and use your bonus action to attack with spirutal weapon. Yes.
#3 El_Condoro Nov 07, 2014 16:18:47	I read it that the weapon, cast at up to 60 ft., can make those two attacks, too - one as a normal (attack) action and one as a bonus action. Thanks.
#4 Danny_Montanny Nov 07, 2014 17:54:11	You can only attack with the weapon as a bonus action, not as an action. So you only get one attack per round. The first round you use your bonus action to cast the spell an attack with it, then every round thereafter you can use your bonus action to move it and attack.
#5 El_Condoro Nov 07, 2014 18:27:31	This where the confusion is:   When you cast the spell, you make a melee spell attack against a creature within 5 ft. of the weapon.   As a bonus action on your turn, you can move the weapon up to 20 ft. and repeat the attack against a creature within 5 ft. of it.   The fact that it doesn't say "on your next turn" and says "repeat" seems to indicate the two attacks could occur in the same turn (when the spell is cast). Thereafter, the caster can take a normal action (attack or otherwise) and use a bonus action to attack with the spiritual weapon.
#6 paulstrait Nov 07, 2014 18:37:33	El_Condoro wrote:
#7 Jay_Ibero_911 Nov 07, 2014 18:41:04	El_Condoro wrote:
#8 Russ_Stanley Nov 07, 2014 18:58:33	The casting time of Spiritual Weapon is "1 bonus action"  - you can't use your regular action to cast it.    You only get one bonus action per turn, so the Spiritual Weapon spell itself only attacks once per turn, at the cost of your bonus action.   You get one attack on the turn you cast it, then you can repeat that attack on subsequent turns.   You can can still use your regular action to make a regular attack or cast a cantrip (with a casting time of 1 action).
#9 Jay_Ibero_911 Nov 07, 2014 19:01:55	Russ_Stanley wrote:
#10 paulstrait Nov 07, 2014 19:02:32	Russ_Stanley wrote:
#11 El_Condoro Nov 07, 2014 19:33:43	Got it! That makes a lot of sense and it seems the cast time is missed not just by me. Thanks.
(Reply to #9) Genisys	Jay_Ibero_911 wrote:
#13 Macv12 Sep 20, 2015 18:08:58	The concept of "not having a bonus action" is mostly nonsense. But it's like this.   Every character is not "entitled" to a bonus action every turn. Which is to say, some builds need a bonus action going on all the time to keep them up to snuff, and some don't. A rogue has a bonus action they want to take every turn, either Cunning Action to stay mobile or Two-Weapon Fighting to increase the odds of Sneak Attack going off. A fighter doesn't use a bonus action turn-to-turn. A wizard might use a bonus action every turn (on Flaming Sphere, for example), but is also fine throwing around Fireball and Ray of Frost from beginning to end of combat, depending on circumstances. People have complained in the past that some classes have nothing to use "their bonus action" on, and more features should be made to spend bonus actions. That's the relevance of the idea that "you don't have a bonus action unless you're given one." Not everyone needs a bonus action to be effective.   As to the specific question, you don't get a bonus action from "leveling," exactly. You get it from a feature. If a feature says "you can use a bonus action to (X)," you can do that as your bonus action. So anyone who can cast Spiritual Weapon can control it with the bonus action.
#14 El_Condoro Sep 20, 2015 19:19:04	The key thing is that only one bonus action can be used each turn. So, if a PC has features and/or spells that require a bonus action to use they have to choose which one to use. e.g. an MC rogue/cleric with spiritual weapon cast cannot both move the spiritual weapon and use cunning action on his turn - he must choose which to do because both use a bonus action and he only has one.
#15 Slagger_the_Chuul Sep 20, 2015 21:58:57	In effect, everyone has one bonus action per turn and can use it to do anything that requires a bonus action.   If nothing else, you can always pick up two light weapons and use your bonus action for two-weapon fighting (a standard fighting option available to everyone with at least two hands).  Various class features classes, feats, and spell will give you other things that work as a bonus action.
#16 Kahless Sep 26, 2015 5:39:32	Bought the spell cards. A bit annoyed when I noticed they goofed and made Spiritual Weapon Concentration.