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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Enforcer" data-source="post: 2762299" data-attributes="member: 396">I'm not sure Power Attack is always more effective than called shots. Particularly when the called shot is to strike unarmored sections of an oponent's body, I think called shots are better.First, let's look at the rules:-Power Attack is like the 3.0 feat--it's an even trade between BAB and bonus damage. There are no bonuses for using a two-handed weapon ('cause a greatsword is lethal enough in a world where you don't have that many hit points) nor can you use the Accuracy feat chain.-Called shots can be used for multiple things. They can disarm (which is irrelevant for this comparision), they can bypass the armor of someone wearing armor head-to-toe, they can attack weak points and reduce someone's armor by half, and they can strike certain sections of the body (like break a flask of wildfire a guy's holding, or hit the helmless knight who has full plate from the neck down). The penalty for bypassing armor is twice the AR (Armor Rating, or basically the damage reduction provided by the armor) provided, attacking an unarmored limb or head is generally a -4 penalty.So now I'm going to use three enemies as guinea pigs for this experiment. One wears ringmail (AR 3), one wears chainmail (AR 5), and one is a knight with full plate (AR8). Ringmail guy:It's always better to Power Attack Ringmail guy unless you have the Accuracy feat. A called shot to an unarmored section is at -4, a called shot to bypass an armored section is at -6, and both of these will only increase your damage by 3 (the AR). Power Attack, on the other hand only requires a -3 to hit to gain a +3 to damage. Called shot to weak point is silly--it's a -3 to hit that only reduces AR by 1.With Accuracy, this changes. Now it only takes a -2 to hit an unarmored spot (ringmail doesn't come with a helm, for example) and a -1 to hit a weak spot, reducing AR by 3 and 1 respectively. This makes a called shot to the unarmored head better than Power Attack and a called shot to a weak spot in the armor equal to a -1/+1 Power Attack. Power Attack is still better than a Called Shot to bypass armor, however, as such a called shot will be at -4 and reduce the AR by 3.With Improved Accuracy, there's no question that a called shot is better than Power Attack.-Called Shot to unarmored portion has a -0 and means no AR-Called Shot to weak spot has a -0 and reduces AR by 1-Called Shot to bypass armor has -2 and reduces AR by 3Now, obviously this assumes that you're only going to Power Attack just enough to defeat the armor. Power Attack at higher BAB is capable for doing more damage than Called Shots, period. What Power Attack may not be capable of is doing more damage with a better chance to hit than a Called Shot.Let's move on to chainmail guy:Assuming no Accuracy feats, a called shot to an unarmored portion is better than Power Attack already, a called shot to a weak point is worse than Power Attack, and a called shot to bypass armor still sucks.-To hit the unarmored head, a called shot is at -4 but allows one to ignore an AR of 5-To hit a weak point, a called shot has a -5 to hit and only reduces AR by 2. Boo.-To bypass armor, a called shot has a -10(!!!) and reduces AR by 5. Ultra-boo.With Accuracy...-Hitting the helmless head is a called shot with a -2 but ignores an AR of 5-Hitting a weak point is a called shot with a -3 but reduces AR only by 2. Boo, but not as bad as without Accuracy.-Bypassing armor is still just silly when compared to Power Attack.With Improved Accuracy...-Hitting the helmless head is a called shot with no penalty and ignores the AR of 5! Take THAT, Power Attack!-Hitting a weak point is a called shot with a -1 but reduces the AR by 2. Slightly better than Power Attack-Hitting to bypass armor is still a called shot with a -6, but ignores AR of 5. Much better, but Power Attack is still the winner here.Finally, big, bad full plate guy:With no Accuracy feats...-A called shot to an unarmored limb or head doesn't apply. The guy's in freakin' full plate! Power Attack is the defacto winner.-A called shot to a weak point is a -8 to hit and reduces AR by 4. Power Attack easily wins.-A called shot to bypass armor is ridiculous. -16 to hit for ignoring the full AR 8. Power Attack wonders why called shot even got out of bed this morning.With Accuracy...-Still no called shot to an unarmored section. Power Attack wins.-The weak point is a called shot with -6 and reduces AR by 4. Power Attack wins.-Bypassing armor still sucks. -14 to reduce AR by 8. Power Attack wins.With Improved Accuracy...-All the Accuracy in the world isn't going to make a guy in full plate have an unarmored section. Power Attack wins by default, again.-A weak point called shot will have -4 and reduce AR by 4. It's a tie!-Bypassing armor is a called shot with -12 to reduce AR by 8. Power Attack wins.So, in conclusion, Power Attack is usually better. Called Shots are better when there are unarmored spots (helmless, just a breastplate, etc.) and the AR is equal to 5+. At AR 4, called shots tie. With Accuracy and Improved Accuracy, the game changes significantly as you can see above.</blockquote>

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