Spiritual weapon

Spiritual weapon, also called spiritual hammer in some circles, was an evocation spell that conjured a magical weapon which attacked chosen targets.

Effects
This spell was used to call upon the caster's patron deity to bring forth a weapon made of pure force. The force took the form of the weapon favored by the invoked deity, or a weapon that was symbolic in a spiritual way to the caster. The older version of this spell always produced a hammer-like shape. The weapon always struck in the direction the caster was facing, and with the caster's skill as if the caster was wielding it, but could strike at any distance up to the full range of the spell. Strength or weapon specialization had no effect on the spiritual weapon, but both versions of this spell had a way of boosting combat effectiveness: the newer version improved with the wisdom of its caster and the older version improved with the level of its caster.

If a ranged weapon was summoned, the range was determined by the spell's range and not the range of the weapon being copied. A new target could be chosen each melee round, or it could continue attacking the same target as desired, getting any extra attacks the caster would be entitled to in actual combat. If the target was able to resist the spell, then spiritual weapon was negated.

The older version of this spell required the concentration of the caster or the spell ended prematurely. With the newer version, if the caster did not concentrate on an attack, or the weapon went out of range, or the caster lost sight of it, the force-weapon returned to the caster and hovered within reach.

The favored weapons of most deities are listed on the page of that deity; some examples from each pantheon were:

Components
The newer version required only the caster's holy symbol or divine focus in addition the verbal and somatic components to cast this spell. The older version required an actual warhammer be thrown at the first target as part of casting the spell.

Appearances

 * Novels
 * The Sapphire Crescent