What are the 5 most powerful feats in the PHB?

[Plane Sailing]

I'd suggest Skill Focus (Concentration) as better than Combat Casting, OK it's only +3 not +4 but it covers more situations.

You might not have noticed, but RedFox was picking his five weakest feats, not the five strongest!

 

[Plane Sailing]

Improved Init used to be considered an overpowered, must-have feat in the past, but I don't see it so much now. The problem is that the d20 roll is a big, big variable, and even having +6 or +8 on initiative checks doesn't guarantee a first place in the order - if you only have 3-4 combats in an evening, it might not even help once.

Arguably, II only helps in 20% of combats - those times when your init roll without II would be 0 to 3 places worse than your opponents. If your roll is 4 worse, it doesn't help. If you roll is better, it is irrelevant.

IMO of course, I can see why others might judge it differently.

 

[Slife]

You might not have noticed, but RedFox was picking his five weakest feats, not the five strongest!

He should have replaced "extra turning" with Skill Focus:Underwater Basket Weaving.

With Divine metamagic, extra turning is great.

 

[Nifft]

Arguably, II only helps in 20% of combats - those times when your init roll without II would be 0 to 3 places worse than your opponents. If your roll is 4 worse, it doesn't help. If you roll is better, it is irrelevant.

I'd argue that it's not a mere 20%, rather it's another 20%. In isolation, it's not that great. But if you're already focused on going first, it can push you over the edge.

For example, a Swordsage with one of the +2 Init / +1 something feats from a campaign setting, +5 Initiative from a class feature, +9 Dex bonus (low for 20th level) and Improved Init's +4 will have a total initiative bonus of +20. (Higher, of course, with more spells, auras & draconic auras, and custom magic items.)

Anyway. It's a strong feat if going first is your focus, and going first benefits several different character types, so it's also pretty general. Rogues, Swordsages and most spellcasters benefit.

Cheers, -- N

 

[Nonlethal Force]

I guess I'm thinking about 3.0... I almost always reference the srd anymore.

Hey, that's cool. Lord knows I've made plenty of mistakes when posting. I just wanted you to know.

Back on topic, I used to consider Imp Init a must have, but I think it also depends on the campaign. In a campaign with more than average amounts of combat, the stock in this feat goes up. In a campaign with a plethora of less powerful enemies I think the value of this feat goes up as well. [Especially combining cleave/great cleave against a bunch of flat-footed lower level enemies!] Against combats with one big enemy, I personally think the stock in this feat goes down. {Although I'm sure others will argue based on the power of the opponent increasing} I think it goes down, however, because if you have a party of 3 or 4 the likelihood of someone rolling well enough to beat the bad guy is reasonable (or even good).

 

[Jefe Bergenstein]

Power attack, over the life of a character allows:
* Swap of BAB for Damage (balanced, in my opinoin..maybe up to +5)
* Unlmited level advancement BAB exchange (more powerful than any other feat)
* DOUBLE bonus to two handed weapons, which already gain DOUBLE strength bonus and have high damage base

The last two, make it two (or three) feats in one when compared to other equivalent feats.

jh

Yeah, you go on ahead and nerf fighters. They sure need it...

Most of the PHB feats are crappy. The designers admitted they made feats pretty lame in design interviews for the PHB 2, and werent happy with it. Personally, given that a character gets fewer feats than levels, feats shoudl be pretty awesome IMO. I'd prefer the 10 or so non crappy feats from the PHB be the norm, rather than "Leaping Auctioneer" that gives you a +2 to appraise and jump.

 

[the Jester]

Improved Initiative
Leadership
Improved Trip
Natural Spell
Craft Wondrous Item

 

[Plane Sailing]

"Leaping Auctioneer" that gives you a +2 to appraise and jump.

Nice

 

[BadMojo]

For 3.5E I vote:

1) Power Attack (really increased in power for 3.5E, almost a no-brainer for any fighter types)

2) Improved Initiative (acting first is great for rogues, but also good for getting that emergency defensive spell up or just getting out of the way)

3) Natural Spell (is there a druid who doesn't take this?)

4) Combat Reflexes (a monster with reach weapons)

5) Scribe Scroll (the ultimate utility feat for spellcasters...get a bandolier and load up on situational and "emergency" spells, share them with the friendly party rogue in a pinch)

I omitted Leadership since I just don't care for the feat or cohorts in general.

 

[Yami no Hon]

1.) Great Cleave -- nothing is more fun than wading through an entire barbarian horde in 6 seconds
2.) Improved Initiative -- except maybe slaughtering all your foes before they even have a chance to move
3.) Leadership -- if you want to attack the party, you have to go through our gullible loyal cohorts first
4.) Quick Draw & 5.) Still Spell -- I'm all about being sneaky and ending the battle before the baddies know it happened