Most Useless Feat

[Invictikore]

Toughness, Massive waste of the witten word! 3 HP? After 1st (if you are a wizard) what does it matter?

 

[Lord Pendragon]

Iron will, great fortitude, lightning reflexes: Do people take these who don't need them for PrCs?

I do. I think they're three of the most valuable feats in the game. They have no prerequisite, and provide the equivalent of a +4 ability score boost, or six levels, for the purposes of boosting a bad saving throw. Unless I'm playing a paladin, this is almost always on my list of feats to try and work into the progression, and fast.

Edit to add: Paladin, or monk, though I never play monks, so...

 

[Dark Jezter]

I'm gonna have to say toughness is one of the most useless feats. Give up a feat to gain a measly 3 hp? No thank you.

 

[Creamsteak]

Toughness IS pretty bad, but it's a great utility feat for low level creatures and characters (especially those who will only have 1 encounter, such as a kobold or a warrior).

Actually... the only feat that I don't think I've ever seen put to good use in any game I've played in is mounted combat. I've had plenty OF mounted combat, but the feat itself rarely seems to be remembered or applied.

 

[reanjr]

What is the most useless feat you have ever taken?

Or what feat have you never taken because you thought it too useless?

Toughness gets my vote. Although Improved Toughness in Complete Warrior is actually useful.

I've actually taken toughness before. It's good for low(not above 12)-con wizards at first level in small parties. In a small party there's a much greater chance of the enemy getting around the dumb meatshields and attacking you. Those extra 3 HP can be a big difference.

If it weren't for it being a prerequisite for other, better feats, I'd say Dodge. Improved Critical isn't as useful as Weapon Focus, but still useful if you've already got Weapon Focus. Endurance has limited uses.

But the one that takes the cake is Spell Focus (Abjuration). Heighten Spell is pretty useless as well.

As an aside: I personally think Improved Toughness is a bit much. If you think of it this way, the 3e designers and playtesters apparently thought 3hp was worth a feat. Now Improved Toughness can give you 6 times that bonus. Seems a bit much. I think it would have worked out better if it added one more than the last time you took it. This would allow it to scale usefully at higher levels.

 

[reanjr]

Iron will, great fortitude, lightning reflexes: Do people take these who don't need them for PrCs?

I'll take em sometimes if I've got like a fighter with a low Wisdom. I use them to make up for my shortfailings. They're more like deterrents than bonuses. True, it's a 10% more likely chance that I will succeed. But it's also a 10% more likely chance that an opponent who knows my character will not use the spell in the first place, netting the equivilent of a +4

 

[reanjr]

I would also have to say combat casting. The feat is pretty much obsolete with skill focus (concentration). Hmm... I'll take 1 less on casting defensively, which after 10th level I can pretty much do for free anyway, and I get +3 on all other concentration checks.

Not true. They stack. So it's good to take AFTER you have taken Skill Focus.

 

[Dark Jezter]

Frankly, I think that the Improved Toughness feat from Complete Warrior should replace regular Toughness in future editions.

Improved Toughness gives the character 1 bonus hit point for each level they have, and they gain an additional bonus hit point every time they gain a level afterwards. It's a lot more useful than regular old toughness (although it is slightly weaker at levels 1 and 2).

 

[Jeff Wilder]

Mobility. Picked it up for a first level monk, he's now level 11 and has never used it for anything. Tumble prevents all the AoOs he would have used it for, never got around to picking up Spring Attack, it's a useless feat for that character.

Are you using the "Tumble is at half speed" rule? I use my Mobility quite often, to cover more ground than half my speed will handle.

Also, Mobility helps if your DM uses a house rule for Tumble -- typically Bad Guy rolls a "simulated attack" to set your Tumble DC -- which is fairly common. If you blow the Tumble, you still have the AC from Mobility.

In any event, Mobility is far from useless. I believe yours is an uncommon case.

That's right, I'm having to engineer situations where this feat will be useful.

IMO, the use you describe is a common and intended use of Mobility. We use the "AoO Decoy Gambit" all the time.

 

[Jeff Wilder]

The old 3.0 endurance no one in their right mind would ever burn a feat on that, and the current incarnation is only slightly better.

If you've got a vicious DM, being able to sleep in your mithral full plate is incredibly handy.