PHB2 Weapon Mastery Feats - How to fix?

[Mistwell]

Use them as-is. It's not broken. It's just one of the end points of a chain of feats for higher level characters, and it makes sense.

 

[EyeontheMountain]

I agree with most of the posters above. Two feats for a measly +1 to hit and +2 to damage is a high cost. And 99% of my fighters did not choose to make that payment, instead concentrating on otehr feats that allowed more flashy combat manouvers. But now with Melee Mastery, it is a lot more viable, if still only barely so. Three feats for +3/+4 is somewhat ok, and it is nice if you choose the right weapon, you can get a good selection of damage types (Piercing, BLudgeoning and SLashing) for fighting foes.

 

[maggot]

I agree with most of the posters above. Two feats for a measly +1 to hit and +2 to damage is a high cost. And 99% of my fighters did not choose to make that payment

Funny, but every fighter character I have seen has takent those two feats (Weapon Focus and Weapon Specialization), and then in all cases except one stopped taking fighter levels. Weapon Mastery requiring fighter levels would solve this latter problem.

 

[the Jester]

I'm going to add another voice to the chorus here. Those feats are fine and dandy; the fighter needs 'em to justify taking lots of fighter levels. Hell, PH2 gives high-level fighters pretty much their first suite of high-level options!

 

[coriolis]

Funny, but every fighter character I have seen has takent those two feats (Weapon Focus and Weapon Specialization), and then in all cases except one stopped taking fighter levels. Weapon Mastery requiring fighter levels would solve this latter problem.

That's exactly what happened with our group. Our 2 warriors are a fighter 4/barbarian 11 and a fighter 4/rogue 5/order of the bow 6. With Weapon Mastery, they have absolutely no reason to get more fighter levels -- they get the equivalent of 2 fighter-only feats x 10-12 weapons, all for 1 feat.

I'm going to add another voice to the chorus here. Those feats are fine and dandy; the fighter needs 'em to justify taking lots of fighter levels. Hell, PH2 gives high-level fighters pretty much their first suite of high-level options!

Unless there's something I'm missing, Weapon Mastery encourages you to take 4 fighter levels, and then switch to a more interesting class -- that's pretty far from high-level.

 

[Quartz]

I don't like feats requiring levels in specific classes. For me the fighter is the 'take a feat' class, so Weapon Specialisation simply has a requirement of BAB +4. And the quickest way of getting there is to take levels in - ta-dum - the fighter class. And to get a Weapon Mastery feat, the quickest way is to take more levels in -ta-dum - fighter. No other class can get it at 8th level without multiclassing to fighter.

I wonder, though, does the text actually mean that they were going to make Weapon Focus +2 to hit?

 

[Nail]

FWIW, IMC I give Ftrs 1 bonus feat per level. Now players stay in the Ftr class!

Back on topic: The feat is probably fine as is. Probably.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

I think so far I have played only one fighter that ever bothered to take Weapon Focus at all. It doesn't matter if they were single- or multiclassed. Whenever I wasn't certain what kind of magic weapon I might be able to afford or find, I preferred other feats.
But then, I also never played a two-weapon fighter, and I think these are the ones that need these feats the most.

Still, Melee Weapon Mastery is clearly better than Weapon Focus and Weapon Specialisation or their Greater/Improved variants. A +2 to attack should not be underestimated, either. That means approximately 10 % more damage per round, which is a considerable benefit.

I think expanding the weapon focus/specialisation feat to all weapons of the same damage type makes a lot of sense to balance it with these feats, and it still gives those fighters that specialised themselves a considerable advantage - they can now switch weapons a lot easier than previously..

 

[Quartz]

Unless there's something I'm missing, Weapon Mastery encourages you to take 4 fighter levels, and then switch to a more interesting class -- that's pretty far from high-level.

Absent Prestige Classes, under the RAW, you can't get WM at 8th level unless your 8th level is an even Fighter level. That means at least Ftr 6. Other full-BAB classes can only take it at 9th level. And if you've multiclassed and dropped 2 points of BAB (eg Ftr 4 then Cleric) you might not be able to take it until 12th level.

 

[Darklone]

What annoys me about the feat? It's stronger with the specialised weapon than a barbarian. The fighter hits better, stronger and has no AC penalty. The barbarian pales in comparison.

While I do enjoy a little fighter upgrade, it's too strong IMHO to what other fighterclasses get.