Help understanding a feat.

[lunasmeow]

So there's a feat I found in Dragon Magazine. My DM allows Dragon Magazine, and at first I was interested in taking this feat, but then upon further reflection I don't think that it actually serves any useful purpose. At all. Which basically makes it a feat that does nothing. Unless there's something I'm missing? Here's the feat:

Alternative Source Spell
Type: Metamagic
Source: Dragon #325

You can prepare any of your spells as either divine or arcane.
Prerequisite: Ability to cast both divine and arcane spells.
Benefit: You can choose to prepare any of your divine spells as arcane spells or any of your arcane spells as divine spells. An alternative-sourced spell uses up a spell slot from the class that normally grants the spell. Such a spell is prepared normally. An alternative-sourced spell is cast as if your caster level were 1 level lower. For example, a 1st-level cleric/6th-level wizard casts a divine fireball as a 5th-level wizard.


Now, at first I was thinking that it would be useful for a Sorcerer/Other-spellcaster multi-class of somekind, since Sorcerer's can cast arcane spells without preparation. So, basically I could cast divine spells, or arcane spells from some other class without preparing them, and even better, it would use the normal spell-slot of the other class. Great! But then I noticed that it said that the spells are prepared normally. In that case, doesn't that make this particular feat useless? Or am I missing something?

[Ephemeral_Being]

It's not useless. You could use DMM on previously Arcane spells.

[Hellborn_Blight]

There has been extensive abuse of this feat, particularly involving Archivist and Wizard to do the thing the feat doesn't want you to do, which is basically have double arcane spells. If you just google Alternative Source Spell, you'll find plenty of crazy stuff to do with it like avoiding arcane spell failure because your spells are divine and entering mystic theurge at 1 wizard/3 Archivist because you can cast 2nd level arcane and divine spells. The worst one is probably using the already unfair divine meta magic on your wizard spells using this.

[Firechanter]

Dragon Mag content can generally be summarized in two easy steps:
1. Look at the limitations that you normally have implemented in the core concept of your class,
2. Now ignore those limitations.

[lunasmeow]

Didn't think about that since I'm already a Druid... but using DMM on arcane magic is a good way to abuse this one. Not seeing the forest for the trees I guess.

[atemu1234]

Didn't think about that since I'm already a Druid... but using DMM on arcane magic is a good way to abuse this one. Not seeing the forest for the trees I guess.

Divine spells lack ASF%