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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Elder-Basilisk" data-source="post: 1279518" data-attributes="member: 3146">Just because there isn't a better feat for a particular purpose doesn't make a feat good. Until Complete Warrior, 3.5 had no feat to increase hit points other than toughness. That didn't make toughness a powerful feat choice.Now, with Complete Warrior, I would think that Dodge is probably a better defensive feat for the TWF than TWD. Dodge leads to Elusive Target which would be very useful for TWF characters who tend to rely upon full attacks and thus are often not too mobile. It also leads to Spring Attack just in case the TWF character wants to be mobile and has to give up using TWF in some situations.And, I think Improved Buckler Defense is better than TWD. That doesn't make it overpowered any more than skill focus: concentration being better than Combat Casting makes it overpowered though.That was my point. I think we're in agreement on this point.I don't see what this has to do with anything. Another party member could be a spellcaster and make the item. The party could commission the item from an NPC or find it in the horde of a defeated foe. Or, yes, they could find at at Ye Olde Wal-Mart (lowest price guaranteed--10% discount off Dungeon Master's Guide prices). If one wants to examine the balance of a feat, one has to examine the possible ways it could combine with items. (A feat that allowed paladins to treat [good] swords as Evil Outsider and Undead Bane, Vorpal, and Epic wouldn't be balanced just because some paladins will not find Holy or good aligned swords). Assuming that equimpent will not be available is not a viable way of testing for balance.Yeah yeah. That situation, however, is entirely irrelevant to the question of balance. An Exotic Weapon Focus feat that gave +5 to hit with a Tralian Hammer wouldn't be balanced just because the character might never find a magical tralian hammer. In most campaigns, characters eventually find magical versions of the gear they use or upgrade their gear to higher enhancements. We  evaluate Weapon Focus: Greatsword under the assumption that a character who chooses it will probably wield a greatsword and will probably eventually find a magical one. Similarly, feats like Improved Buckler Defense should be evaluated under the assumption that characters will find or improve the shield they use. And they should also be evaluated under the assumption that characters without the feat will also find or improve the equipment they use. If you treat the Greatsword+buckler character as if there are no magic bucklers until he takes the feat and then a +5 adamantine buckler or heavy fortification becomes available, you're not really engaging in a reasonable evaluation of the feat. You're engaging in an evaluation of the way the DM hands out magic items.</blockquote>

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