spring attack in mid-flight?

[Korin Tempest]

can spring attack be used while flying? it doesnt specify the type of movement... and flyby attack has to be one of the most poorly worded feats i've everseen... that and no other requirement other than fly speed... whereas spring attack is the near the end of a feat tree... help?

 

[Murrdox]

I'd say that you could use Spring Attack while flying. It simply allows you to move before and after your attack.

Flyby Attack is SLIGHTLY different in that it allows you to take a partial action during your move. Technically, a flying wizard could do this to cast a spell, such as fly in range of the spell, cast, and then fly back out of range.

I'm not sure how these two abilities would work if you were trying to use both. I'm guessing that if you used Flyby attack to make a melee attack, it would act almost the same as spring attack. The only difference is that part of your move could be a dive action, so you can dive, which is an attack, then make ANOTHER attack, then fly away.

I'm confused about what the heck that text for Flyby attack in the SRD means when it says "The creature cannot take a second move action during a round when it makes a flyby attack." Eh? I'm guessing this is specifying that you have to take your partial action DURING the move, and that you can't take one move action, a partial action, and then ANOTHER move action. You have to take your partial action DURING the ONE move action.

Why this matters, I'm not sure.

 

[Korin Tempest]

thanks for the reply

 

[JChung2003]

Flyby Attack, Ride-By Attack, and Spring Attack are a little but not completely redundant.

Spring Attack allows you to make a melee attack during your move. It also prevents any attacks of opportunity you may have provoked while moving. It only prevents AoO's from the defender you attacked. You may still provoke AoO's from other enemies whose threatened areas you traversed during your movement action.

Flyby Attack allows you to perform any partial action during your move when flying. The point of restricting you from making another move before or after a flyby attack is so you are unable to perform the double move action in any round you make a flyby attack.

It is debatable whether haste would allow you to make a second move action after making a flyby attack. A strict interpretation of Flyby Attack and haste says "no" since it explicitly prohibits you from making a second move action during a round in which you make a flyby attack, but as a DM I would probably allow it since whoever wrote the rule may not have taken haste granting an extra partial action per round into account.

Note that Flyby Attack does not prevent any attacks of opportunity you may provoke as part of your movement or partial action.

Ride-by Attack is similar to Spring Attack except that it requires you to know the Ride skill, to have the Mounted Combat feat, and to be mounted and charging. It prevents attacks of opportunity from the defender you attacked with your ride-by attack.

I would venture to guess that, from the name of the feat, they intended to make Flyby Attack the "aerial combat" version of the Ride-By Attack and Spring Attack feats, but Flyby Attack is worded differently enough that perhaps it should be renamed to something else, if it was their intention for Flyby Attack to be a different kind of feat.

 

[Murrdox]

You could use Ride-By-Attack in the air in my mind, if you're mounted on a flying creature. It is different enough from Fly-By attack that I can think of situations in which you might want to. Unless Ride-By Attack specifies that your mount has to be on the ground, and Spring Attack specifies that your movement needs to be on the ground, I'd allow you to use them anywhere.

Heck, if you were doing underwater combat and swimming, I'd allow you to spring attack while swimming.

 

[Lord Pendragon]

My last DM ruled that Spring Attack could be used while flying. As a DM, I rule the same.

Spring Attack doesn't specify land-based attacks, and it's an expensive feat. I let it do its business.