Mistwell
Crusty Old Meatwad
I am trying to clarify how the Fighter Feat known as Distracting Shield (PHB) works with various scenarios.
First, the details.
Distracting Shield says: "If you hit a foe with an attack granted by your Combat Challenge class feature, the target takes a –2 penalty to attack rolls until the start of your next turn."
Combat Challenge says: "[W]henever a marked enemy that is adjacent to you shifts or makes an attack that does not include you, you can make a melee basic attack against that enemy as an immediate interrupt."
And of course Immediate Interrupt says: "An immediate interrupt lets you jump in when a certain trigger condition arises, acting before the trigger resolves. If an interrupt invalidates a triggering action, that action is lost. For example, an enemy makes a melee attack against you, but you use a power that lets you shift away as an immediate interrupt. If your enemy can no longer reach you, the enemy’s attack action is lost."
Distracting shield seems effective for those times when you make a basic melee attack as a result of a marked foe shifting or making an attack that does not include you, in at least the following two scenarios:
1) Adjacent Marked Foe attacks an ally: Normally you get an interrupting basic melee attack and the foe has a -2 to that attack against your ally. With Distracting shield, if you hit with that basic melee attack, then their interrupted attack against the ally is instead at a -4 rather than -2.
2) Normally if a marked foe attempts to make an opportunity attack, they take a -2 to that opportunity attack if it is against your ally. With Distracting Shield, if that foe triggered a basic attack from you that hit using Combat Challenge, that marked foe now takes a -4 to opportunity attacks against your ally, and a -2 to opportunity attacks against you.
It's more the second scenario that has me a bit confused.
Let's say my ally moves past a marked foe that is adjacent to my fighter with this feat. The foe gets an opportunity attack against my ally, which is an interrupt to my ally's movement. However, the adjacent marked foe is now making an attack (in this case a basic melee attack as part of its opportunity action) against someone other than me. So, this should trigger my own interrupt attack against that foe (from Combat Challenge). And, if that interrupt attack against their interrupt attack hits, then the adjacent marked foe should get a -4 to their opportunity attack against my ally, rather than just a -2.
And, if that Combat-Challenge triggered attack hits, the foe would in theory also get a -2 to an opportunity attack against my Fighter, if my Fighter decided to do something that triggered an opportunity attack on his next turn.
But that all involves an immediate interrupt interrupting another immediate interrupt, and I am just not sure what takes place first!
Any clarification would be appreciated. What takes place when? Am I interpreting all of this correctly?
First, the details.
Distracting Shield says: "If you hit a foe with an attack granted by your Combat Challenge class feature, the target takes a –2 penalty to attack rolls until the start of your next turn."
Combat Challenge says: "[W]henever a marked enemy that is adjacent to you shifts or makes an attack that does not include you, you can make a melee basic attack against that enemy as an immediate interrupt."
And of course Immediate Interrupt says: "An immediate interrupt lets you jump in when a certain trigger condition arises, acting before the trigger resolves. If an interrupt invalidates a triggering action, that action is lost. For example, an enemy makes a melee attack against you, but you use a power that lets you shift away as an immediate interrupt. If your enemy can no longer reach you, the enemy’s attack action is lost."
Distracting shield seems effective for those times when you make a basic melee attack as a result of a marked foe shifting or making an attack that does not include you, in at least the following two scenarios:
1) Adjacent Marked Foe attacks an ally: Normally you get an interrupting basic melee attack and the foe has a -2 to that attack against your ally. With Distracting shield, if you hit with that basic melee attack, then their interrupted attack against the ally is instead at a -4 rather than -2.
2) Normally if a marked foe attempts to make an opportunity attack, they take a -2 to that opportunity attack if it is against your ally. With Distracting Shield, if that foe triggered a basic attack from you that hit using Combat Challenge, that marked foe now takes a -4 to opportunity attacks against your ally, and a -2 to opportunity attacks against you.
It's more the second scenario that has me a bit confused.
Let's say my ally moves past a marked foe that is adjacent to my fighter with this feat. The foe gets an opportunity attack against my ally, which is an interrupt to my ally's movement. However, the adjacent marked foe is now making an attack (in this case a basic melee attack as part of its opportunity action) against someone other than me. So, this should trigger my own interrupt attack against that foe (from Combat Challenge). And, if that interrupt attack against their interrupt attack hits, then the adjacent marked foe should get a -4 to their opportunity attack against my ally, rather than just a -2.
And, if that Combat-Challenge triggered attack hits, the foe would in theory also get a -2 to an opportunity attack against my Fighter, if my Fighter decided to do something that triggered an opportunity attack on his next turn.
But that all involves an immediate interrupt interrupting another immediate interrupt, and I am just not sure what takes place first!
Any clarification would be appreciated. What takes place when? Am I interpreting all of this correctly?
