Melee Attacks while hovering?

[pippenainteasy]

Can you make a melee attack while hovering in the air?

For example, assuming you had a hovering ability, if you had Reach 2, could you just hover 2 squares in the air and make melee attacks with impunity against enemies with only Reach 1?

 

[Mirtek]

Yes. Also since the errata to the fly rules you don't even need hover to do it, just a fly speed

 

[OnlineDM]

Yep. I'd also say that by Rule of Cool I'd allow a ground-bound character to make an Athletics check during their melee attack to try to jump up high enough to hit a creature hovering two squares overhead. No, that's not technically how the rules work, but I find it to be awesome.

 

[ceiling90]

But I thought that is how the rules work; it would be part of a move action in which the character runs, then jumps, and then attacks; then on resolution should have to make an acrobatics check to see if they fall prone. Well it would be to me anyway.

 

[mudlock]

But I thought that is how the rules work; it would be part of a move action in which the character runs, then jumps, and then attacks; then on resolution should have to make an acrobatics check to see if they fall prone. Well it would be to me anyway.

By the rules, you fall immediately as soon as your jump ends, before you can take any other actions.

But I've yet to run into a DM that doesn't let their melee PCs jump-and-swing.

(If you wanted to formalize that rule, I word it so you fall after at the conclusion of your next action; that lets you jump-and-swing or move-and-charge over a gap that you'd otherwise have to double-move over, but doesn't let you spend an AP in order to "hover" at the end of your jump.)

(Also, by the rules you only fall prone if you take damage from a fall. And you don't take damage unless you fall at least 10 feet, so jumping up 5 feet and falling back down can never cause you to fall prone.)

 

[wlmartin]

Can you make a melee attack while hovering in the air?

For example, assuming you had a hovering ability, if you had Reach 2, could you just hover 2 squares in the air and make melee attacks with impunity against enemies with only Reach 1?

Since every tile in the game is considered a 3d tile, providing that you were no more than 10 feet (2 tiles/squares) away either on the Z, X or Y axis then the move is legal.

So yes... if you can find a way to stay in the air, providing that you are 1 or 2 squares vertical from the position of the enemy, you can attack.