Hunter's Rapid shot question

[Hambone]

What Rapid Shot (the at-will which allows for the pseudo burst attacks) says that you make a ranged basic attack with a weapon against each creature ...

It's the stance, Aspect of the Cunning Fox, does say whenever you hit or miss with a melee attack or ranged attack on your turn.

Holy Crosswired brains Batman!

Thanks for clearing that up WalterKovacs. I was indeed talking about Aspect of the Cunning Fox. Funny too, that I would say Rapid Shot, while simultaneously forgetting all about it.

So then, any opinions out there about switching weapons before atackng your friends? My take: switching weapons is legal, but extremely cheesy.

 

[WalterKovacs]

Holy Crosswired brains Batman!

Thanks for clearing that up WalterKovacs. I was indeed talking about Aspect of the Cunning Fox. Funny too, that I would say Rapid Shot, while simultaneously forgetting all about it.

So then, any opinions out there about switching weapons before atackng your friends? My take: switching weapons is legal, but extremely cheesy.

It does require taking quick draw to work (since otherwise you can't really switch weapons between attacks) [well, I guess you could minor action and throw the weapon first, then do the rest with the bow]. It's a bit cheesy, but then again, it's not a huge deal. Wizards get feat options to do similar things, so it's not a huge drawback.

 

[Frankie1969]

For #2 the best I can think of is using magic ammunition which should reduce the hit chance and damage. Thoughts on that tactic? Too "metagame-y"? Other ideas?

My preferred idea: house rule modification. YMMV.

See also: Why My Favourite D&D Class Sucks ~ Rule of the Dice

 

[OnlineDM]

I remember some discussion a while ago about PCs who were trying to miss with certain attacks because they wanted the Miss effect instead of the Hit effect, or they wanted the Effect line without the Hit line. One of the ideas that was tossed around was closing your eyes when you make the attack so that you have -5 to the attack because the target has total concealment from you (you can't see it).

While it's totally cheesy and I wouldn't personally allow it at my table, I suppose a Hunter making a Rapid Shot in an area that includes an ally could close their eyes when making the attack against the ally and leave their eyes open for the other attacks. Definitely not in the spirit of the power, though.

 

[S'mon]

I think the DM needs to treat is as a single burst-1 attack that targets enemies. Anything else is the road to madness, as this thread has demonstrated.

 

[brehobit]

I think the DM needs to treat is as a single burst-1 attack that targets enemies. Anything else is the road to madness, as this thread has demonstrated.

I think so. Though frankly I find using special ammo during rapid shot to be handy (When you have a group, hit the guy in the middle with a slow that effects all adjacent enemies).

 

[S'mon]

I think so. Though frankly I find using special ammo during rapid shot to be handy (When you have a group, hit the guy in the middle with a slow that effects all adjacent enemies).

As DM I'd roll randomly to see which target got the 'slow' arrow. Actually I'd probably roll a d10 and on a 0 it's still in your quiver!

 

[Talok]

The thing that amuses me about Rapid Shot from a flavor perspective is that you can shoot yourself with it. Hey, if you're surrounded by minions, maybe it's worth it, but when I try to imagine what this would look like in-world, my mind refuses.

A wizard dropping a zone of fire or cold or shadows or whatever on himself - that I can envision. A hunter shooting a bunch of arrows at a bunch of targets including himself? Well, that strains the bounds of plausibility. Maybe it's assumed that the room has REALLY high ceilings and he's shooting a bunch of arrows straight up into the air...

Hey, this is 4E, where a warlord can bring someone back form dying by yelling at them, a paladin shoots lasers at someone for attacking someone besides themselves, and a fighter can make all the enemies move next to him just because he wants them there. Unfortunately "silly" is big part of 4E.

 

[DracoSuave]

How to avoid aoeing your team with freindly fire: stop putting teammates in aoes.

Looking for rules loopholes to make up for bad tactics? Is 'use good tactics' so tough?

Most of the time if you 'must' aoe your ally it is because you or your ally made an error in judgement.

Either suggest better positioning or take a better shot. The games been out for years now. Basic controller tactics were sorted out pretty quickly. (protip: use a melee front line that is freindly to the shapes of blasts)

 

[Plane Sailing]

I think the DM needs to treat is as a single burst-1 attack that targets enemies. Anything else is the road to madness, as this thread has demonstrated.

I have to admit that I'd naturally assumed that was the way it was worded anyway! As you say, otherwise there is a road to madness here...