Spiritual Hammer has been implemented differently in different AD&D based games. Which implementation do you like the most?

Gold Box games: Thrown weapon, attacks at range and gets Strength bonus to damage (tested with Unlimited Adventures). Disappears when unequipped or when the battle ends (but can be cast before battle).

Dungeon Hack: Thrown weapon, attacks at range and returns. Can hit enemies on the return path, and can double hit if an enemy happens to move towards you immediately after being hit. Can dual wield spiritual hammers in this game. Sometimes, especially if you miss in a long corridor, the hammer might not return before the cooldown expires. (This would be equivalent to having the hammer not return before your next turn if the game were turn based.) Can be unequipped easily (unlike other magically created weapons), and can easily be equipped. Lasts a while when used.

Dark Sun: Shattered lands: Melee weapon, gets strength bonus. Can't be unequipped, but the spell can be cancelled any time.

Dark Sun: Wake of the Ravager: As before, but it goes in your ranged weapon slot (but is still only usable in melee). (Probably a bug.) (Can you get an extra melee attack this way?)

Baldur's Gate 1 and 2: Melee weapon, gets strength bonus. Can't be unequipped, and can't be cancelled.

Icewind Dale: Melee weapon, no strength bonus, but its range is comparable to that of ranged weapons. No penalty for attacking from melee (unlike true ranged weapons), but if you attack an enemy with an aura from a distance, you take damage. (In other words, throwing this hammer at a salamander will cause you to get hurt.) Also (non-EE), a Ranger/Cleric using this spell without a shield gets an extra attack, just as with other melee weapons. Can't unequip or cancel.

Temple of Elemental Evil: I believe the spell is actually a summon, making it very different from all other cRPG implementations of the spell which I am aware of (and more like the Mordenkainen's Sword of BG2 and DS: WotR).

So, how do *you* feel the spell out to behave in a cRPG? (Personally, I'd prefer it to be a ranged weapon that gets strength bonus, so that the spell is actually useful.)

As far as Baldur's Gate is concerned it's a useless spell. Ashidena outstrips it in every way, and can be obtained very early.

As far as BG and IWD are concerned, is there even a reason to use spiritual hammer?

In Icewind Dale, it gives you a ranged weapon that doesn't need ammo.

Furthermore, a Ranger/Cleric can attack twice per round if not using a shield. (To compensate for the lack of dual wielding, the developers made it so that a Ranger not using a shield gets an extra attack with any melee weapon (even two handed weapons). Since the Spiritual Hammer is technically a melee weapon (despite having a long range), it gets the extra attack.)

In Planescape: Torment it's a one hit spell with a nice animation, you can't equip it of course. I actually like it as a melee weapon, BG1 has a subtle, but fun on-hit visual effect.

Sling bullets aren't an issue in IWD though. I don't think it's even possible to become so strapped for cash you can't afford a quiver of 40 bullets for 1GP. I'd rather use that spell slot for a healing spell. But spiritual hammer doesn't get the strength bonus while a sling does. I'm not sure how the damage numbers work out exactly but between the two, I'd rather get 1 less (but stronger) attack with the sling, AC from the shield, a spell slot for a healing spell and the peace of mind knowing that my sling isn't limited by spell duration. Spiritual hammers extra attack doesn't seem worth the hassle.

Are you sure that slings get strength bonus? They don't in Baldur's Gate 2.

(If you test this, make sure that you are not using the Enhanced Edition, as some mechanics are different. In particular, the Ranger extra attack I believe is gone, and BG2's Enhanced Edition actually made strength affect slings. Also, if attacking allies, the difficulty should be set to Core Rules to remove that variable.)

Edit: Also, Spiritual Hammers can hit enemies that need magical weapons to hit, while non-magical sling stones can't (and are magic stones common enough for regular use?).

Yes they do. Or more specifically, the Sling of Arvoreen and Sling of Seeking get strength bonus.

That's a special property, and isn't true for generic slings.

(It's worth noting, also, that the BG2 Spiritual Hammer *does* get strength bonus, but it only has the range of a melee weapon, making it nearly useless.)

Strength bonus is *always* a special property. Moreover, Spiritual Hammer is not a 'generic' weapon, so your argument is moot.

I can't really remember for BG1, but in IWD and BG2, you get enough enchanted bullets to kill a multitude of goats. The fact that most characters using them will get only one attack really helps to conserve them as well. I think Anomen is the only reasonable sling user who gets more than one attack with them.

Yes, in IWD1, slings do get the STR bonus and I have tested it. Also, I'm pretty sure I'm not using the EE versions because I don't have them in the first place.

Regarding enemies requiring magical weapons to hit, it's a non-issue. In IWD1 Vale of Shadows, there are only a few enemies that require magic weapons to dispatch and some can be found rather quickly. You can find +1 longswords, daggers, morning stars and if you're lucky, a diseased halberd in the same dungeon. There are also a handful of magic bullets and arrows to be found too.

Also consider that I have finished IWD1 twice (once on normal and once on insane difficulty) with a party of 5 fighters and 1 F/T. In other words, 2 play throughs where I didn't cast a single spell. If I can finish the game on insane without any casters whatsoever, I'd love to hear about the importance of spiritual hammer.

IWD1 aside, the situation above doesn't happen in BG1 or IWD2 and you get magic weapons very quickly in BG2. Simply put, spiritual hammer is a useless spell for these games.