Deflect Arrows - Wither the Reflex Save?

[Cassander]

In 3.0, Deflect Arrows required a Reflex Save to use. There's nothing about any kind of check to use it in 3.5... is it just automatic? Couldn't find anything on this in the FAQ or the Errata, so I guess they buffed the feat in 3.5?

 

[Kobold Stew]

Yup. It's an improvement in 3.5.

 

[Cassander]

Isn't that a little weird, though? To be able to do something like deflect an arrow without making a check? A Reflex Save seems to make sense. The feat seemed powerful enough to me not to need buffing... weird. And at the very least, they coulda just lowered the DC.

 

[MichaelH]

Isn't that a little weird, though? To be able to do something like deflect an arrow without making a check? A Reflex Save seems to make sense. The feat seemed powerful enough to me not to need buffing... weird. And at the very least, they coulda just lowered the DC.

I like the idea of automatic success. It makes the feat much more attractive. And if you want it, you still have to take Improved Unarmed Strike first. So you will not see it very often except for monks. Plus, it can only be used once per round.

 

[DanMcS]

Isn't that a little weird, though? To be able to do something like deflect an arrow without making a check? A Reflex Save seems to make sense. The feat seemed powerful enough to me not to need buffing... weird. And at the very least, they coulda just lowered the DC.

From 3.0 to 3.5 they were trying to simplify combat somewhat. Changing Deflect Arrows to just work, once per round, took a roll out of the action-resolution phase. And it was a reasonable approximation of the old rule: monks that have deflect arrows also have massive reflex saves, and never tended to blow that DC 20 save beyond very low levels, anyway.

It's not all that powerful, anyway. It lets a monk block the first arrow that would normally hit him in a round. Archers and groups of archers fire way more than 1 arrow, especially by mid-to-high levels.

Blocking a single melee attack would be powerful, since melee attacks tend to do a lot more damage than missile attacks. Blocking a single missile attack is flavorful, but not overpowered.

 

[RangerWickett]

I just loved having a flying sorcerer with Improved Unarmed Strike so I could get Deflect Arrows. The DM, thankfully, kept forgetting I had it, so even in fights with lots of mooks, the first few rounds would seldom involve more than one arrow being fired at me.

I never buffed my AC in that game (until they shoved a spare ring of protection +1 on me), so my AC never got above 12. But that feat, coupled with flying, pretty much kept me from getting hit.

 

[Li Shenron]

Yup. It's a worsening in 3.5.

 

[Krelios]

Yup. It's a worsening in 3.5.

Mind explaining how automatic success is worse than a roll?

 

[Li Shenron]

Mind explaining how automatic success is worse than a roll?

I meant it's a worse change in general, not worse for the actual purpose of deflecting the arrow, for which case it's obviously more powerful...

 

[lukelightning]

Would you rather have monks deflecting an unlimited number of arrows, only by rolling a DC that is virtually no problem?