Flyby Attack and AoO

[Terry Edwards]

It seems that Flyby Attack does not exempt the attacker from attacks of opportunity from the creature being attacked. Is this correct? Am I missing something? Ride-by Attack grants the AoO exemption so a griffon mounted rider with the Ride-by Attack feat can charge in and out of combat without fear but a Harpy with Flyby Attack gets whacked when performing the same manuever. If this is correct the benefit of Flyby Attack is grossly outweighed by the vulnerability of leaving the threatened area. Once again, am I missing something?

 

[Geoff Watson]

Fly-By Attack is mainly for monsters with stall speeds.
It allows them to attack/cast in the middle of a move, rather than before or after. Without it, a clever foe could position themselves at the correct distance, where they are too far to attack before moving, and too close to attack after moving the minimum distance.

You probably want Improved Fly-By Attack.

Geoff.

 

[Darklone]

IIRC, Flyby attack in 3.0 allowed to take your action no matter where during your movement... so it applies (or applied) to e.g. spellcasting as well. That's a huge difference to Spring Attack.

 

[shilsen]

IIRC, Flyby attack in 3.0 allowed to take your action no matter where during your movement... so it applies (or applied) to e.g. spellcasting as well. That's a huge difference to Spring Attack.

Same in 3.5. You can take a standard action at any point during the move, so spellcasting is an option too.

 

[Darklone]

Ah, I like it when they didn't change good things

Thanks, shilsen.