Is Shot on the Run any good?

[Len]

Is Shot on the Run a useful feat for an archer? How often does it prove useful in actual combat?

I've started playing an archer (ranger, later ranger/fighter) and I'm trying to choose feats. It doesn't seem to me that Shot on the Run is very good - certainly not as good as the corresponding melee feat, Spring Attack.

 

[drothgery]

For a core rules build, I'm not sure it is. For my new CAdv Scout-based archer, though, I'm aiming for Shoot on the Run; it seems like it meshes very well with the Skirmish ability.

 

[Jdvn1]

Yeah, I was going to say it's great for Scouts. I think it's more of a color feat, though.

 

[Undead Lincoln]

As the rules are written, manyshot can be used with shot on the run. If you can keep your distance and use cover well, you force others to only fight with readied actions (which can cut their power a lot).

 

[RigaMortus]

As the rules are written, manyshot can be used with shot on the run. If you can keep your distance and use cover well, you force others to only fight with readied actions (which can cut their power a lot).

I assume you meant to write "manyshot can not be used with shot on the run."

 

[Lord Pendragon]

As the rules are written, manyshot can be used with shot on the run.

I believe this is incorrect. Manyshot is a specific standard action (call it the "Manyshot action" if you will). Shot On The Run uses the attack action. They cannot be combined.

As for the usefulness of Shot On The Run, I got into a discussion about this with Thanee a while back. My thoughts were that it can be fairly useful. It allows an archer to fire a single shot off each round, while starting and ending his turn with Total Cover. So long as your enemy can't approach you, that's the equivalent of an infinite AC versus enemy counterattacks.

Thanee made a lot of good points about enemies facing such an archer, though. A lot of the safety of Shot On The Run depends on party members keeping your enemy from charging you, and in any case you're giving up a lot of offense for the defense.

In the end, I think Shot On The Run is similar to Manyshot itself. It's not going to be useful every combat, but it's another tool in the dedicated archer's toolbox. As an archer, I'd probably pick up Improved Crit, Weapon Focus, etc. first. Only then would I start filling out that toolbox with Manyshot and Shot On The Run.

 

[Len]

OK, I get the fighting-from-cover idea. But it doesn't seem that would be a tactic I'd use frequently, and Shot on the Run has a lot of pre-requisites, so I don't think it'll be worth it.

Thanks for the comments.

 

[Rawhide]

If you build a character around shot on the Run, it can be fantastic. It's most useful for characters with higher than average speeds using weapons with short range increments (because the shorter the range increment, the more important it is you be able to maneuver). It can also be geat for characters with sneak attack, allowing them to take advantage of a high inititiative score in the first round after the surprise round to maneuver to shot a vulnerable target, hit it, and flee back to safety.

Failing that kind of careful character design planning, it's not worth it.

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

I can imagine picking up Shot on the Run if you have already picked up Spring Attack. But that is limited to high mobility warriors who prefer melee but decide to branch out into a little ranged attacking. Rather odd choice to not pick up more melee feats or simply go the Rapid Shot route, but it is plausible.

I agree with Thanee. The basic problem is the Monk Disease. It looks nice on paper but in the real world your comrades are getting walloped while you do these fancy dancy low value maneuvers. Oh goodie for you.

If the entire party is built around this style of fighting, it might work. Typically speaking no grunt PC of mine is going to stand for a party member who spends so much effort protecting his own hide while others stand toe-to-toe with the enemy.

Furthermore, you will never see this feat on anything but a mid or higher level PC. With so many ways to disrupt line of sight and line of effect available to the enemy, PC archers should be emptying those quivers as quickly as possible every chance they get.

This is a logical feat for an NPC who works within a disciplined & organized heterogenous military unit. FREX, a squad of archers each paired off with a grunt carrying a tower shield. Or archers that specialize in siegecraft, offense or defense -- standing out in the open for a full attack is too dangerous.