Sphere-specific drawbacks must be chosen when a practitioner first gains the associated sphere, and grant the practitioner an extra combat talent in the prerequisite sphere. Drawbacks may be removed in place of gaining a new talent through your class progression or by taking the Extra Combat Talent feat.
Wiki Note: If a Base Sphere grants an additional talent (such as via a package selection or drawback) the additional talents do not count as talents spent for abilities that count the number of talents spent in a sphere. (This most often applies to gaining skill points or improving unarmed damage.)
Utility Starts
The [utility start] tag is described in Spheres of Guile. It is only possible to take advantage of a combat sphere as a [utility] talent if your game includes a way to gain combat talents restricted to those with the [utility] tag, such as using one of the variants in Chapter 1.
Piecemeal Utility Starts: If you have a progression or optional replacement that grants a [utility] combat talent or a [utility] magic talent, you can use it to gain a base sphere if you apply a drawback or combination of drawbacks that removes all of that base sphere’s benefits other than skill ranks and [utility] talents (and actions necessary to use such talents).
Ablative Fire
You do not gain the deadly shot ability and cannot select (snipe) talents or other talents that rely on deadly shot. You gain Targeted Assault with this drawback.
Incompatible: Close Quarters Shooter
Close Quarters Shooter
You may only perform a deadly shot within the first range increment of your ranged weapons, and treat the range increment of any ranged weapon used when making a deadly shot as 30 ft., unless it would normally be lower. You must take Push Shot with the bonus talent granted by this drawback.
Collateral Damage
You do not ignore the usual -4 penalty to shoot or throw ranged weapons at a creature engaged in melee. You do not treat Precise Shot as an associated feat, and cannot select this drawback if you gained the Sniper sphere instead of gaining Precise Shot. You gain Breaking Blast with this drawback.
Selective Targeting
You do not ignore the usual -4 penalty to shoot or throw ranged weapons at a creature engaged in melee. You do not treat Precise Shot as an associated feat, and cannot select this drawback if you gained the Sniper sphere instead of gaining Precise Shot. You gain Trap Technician with this drawback.
Incompatible: Collateral Damage.