Version: 0.4.15b
I have seen chatter about this issue but no acknowledgment of its status as either a bug or working-as-intended, nor does it have its own thread.
The description of Arcane Recovery says "recover a number of spell slots equal to half your level rounded up." That's in this game and in the SRD. In the SRD, you can take that in any combination of spell slots up to the total number you're allowed - so a 5th level character could recover a 3rd level slot, or a 2nd and 1st, or three 1st level ones.
In this game, you only recover one spell slot, and it's the highest single slot you can recover. There have been multiple times where I have specifically wanted to recover 1st level slots, and am allowed to by the SRD and should be according to the ability description, but after 3rd level the game will only let me recover spell slots over 1st level.
I am assuming this is a bug or oversight, because it's not indicated anywhere as an intentional change from 5e RAW (and if it's an intentional change it's a bad one).
It looks more like a design decision to simplify interaction when using AR.
You will in fact recover 1st level slots, but only when you haven't used 2nd or 3rd level ones. Game simply prioritizes highest possible combination instead of allowing you to choose.
At level 10 there would be a few more options:
- 5th
- 4th, 1st
- 3rd, 2nd
- 3rd, 1st, 1st
- 2nd, 2nd, 1st
- 2nd, 1st, 1st, 1st
- 1st, 1st, 1st, 1st (only 4 slots)
or any subset of these, in case you use AR early for some reason.
It might become messy, but I believe in the end allowing player to choose from up to 6 options would make everybody happier. Maybe that's their plan and current implementation is just a simplification, as it doesn't have a big negative impact.
I would say it has a big negative impact, though, because there are a number of useful 1st-level utility spells, and once you're level 3 you're probably not going to be recovering those slots readily with AR, leaving you in an awkward position of needing a long rest to recover slots you should otherwise be able to recover.
But if it's a design decision, why does the in-game text indicate it works differently than that? That's part of the incongruity.
Especially since the game does currently NOT allow you to cast any spell with higher-level slots, only those that benefit from it. So I second OPs request.