Please rate Expert Tactician

[smetzger]

Given that you already meet the prerequisites what is the usefulness/must have of Expert Tactician.

Expert Tactician [General ]
REQ: Dex 13+, Base Attack bonus +2, Combat Reflexes
You can make one extra melee attack (or do anything that can be done as a melee attack or a melee touch attack, including attempts to disarm, trip, or make a grab to start a grapple) against one foe who is within melee attack and denied a dexterity bonus against melee attacks for any reason. You take your extra attack when it's your turn, either before or after your regular action. If several foes are within melee reach and denied dexterity bonuses against your attacks, you can use this feat against only one of them. Note: This feat first appeared in Sword and Fist. This version supersedes the one originally printed there. Song and Silence, pg 38.
Old version Sword and Fist p.6

 

[Plane Sailing]

I do not allow this feat in my game because I think it is far too good, far too powerful. Even with the extra prereqs of the errata'd version I still think it is horrific.

Maybe not in itself, just reading it as it stands, but in combination with other feats. After all, just look at the number of times it crops up in the Sultans of Smack thread!

For rogues it can potentially double the effectiveness of bluffing in order to get sneak attacks against an opponent, giving you two attacks instead of just one... but it is even better because *anyone* can cause them to lose their Dex bonus, giving you an extra attack, so it is arguably better than a feat which allowed you to feint (bluff) as a free action. It would also come into effect almost every time you surprised someone, giving one or two extra attacks against them.

Too powerful, too open to abuse to my mind.

 

[Apok]

I'd say Very Good. This feat has the potential to see a great deal of use under most circumstances, especially considering the number of ways you can deny an opponent his Dex bonus to AC. It also makes the Feint portion of the Bluff skill actually worth considering in combat, especially for Rogues. However, since it requires having Combat Reflexes as a prereq and is quite useless for a non-melee combatant, it's not a Must-Have for everyone.

As a minor rebuttal to PlaneSailing, yes this feat does become far more powerful when combined with others, but isn't that true for alot of other feats as well? I guess I'm just not seeing what makes this particular feat so much more uber than other's when combined with other feats. In fact, I always thought that the purpose and beauty of feats was that you could use them together to do some really cool stuff that a single feat alone might not be capable of. Many of the Ancestor feats from OA and Rokugan were built along that line of thought.

 

[Gaiden]

Expert Tactician is a must have for any melee combatant rogue or Iaijutsu user. However, for any missile combatant the feat is useless and for fighter types, while the feat is useful, they do not focus on denying their opponents a dex bonus (typically) so will be of more limited use.

Feat is very powerful, but not for every character.

 

[sty]

To be powerfull

It would be very useful if combined with high dex and improved initiative (almost always in the beginning of the round you´ll have the free partial action),
and if you have improved feint (gladiator or feat), you´ll have 2 partial actions in the round.
But I don´t think it´s too powerful.
But it´s a very good feat, much better than most feats.

 

[Voadam]

If you are a rogue it is great. If you have an invisibility ring it is very good. If you surprise in melee range it is very good.

 

[Mordeth]

Doesnt seem a powerful as ..

Whirlwind allows you to make 1 attack at each opponent at within reach, which could mean 8 attacks a round. Of course it has alot more preq for it, which balances it out. Hate taking feats/PrC that require dumb feats though...

 

[Sollir Furryfoot]

I voted good, it has its uses, but it isn't for everyone.

 

[Roland Delacroix]

For the right character its awesome. For any character its ok, likely arcaners won't be in melee. Archers also will find it has limited use. It gets better the more you devote to it in the form of supporting feats and skills. With Imp Init, a good DEX, and high Bluff it becomes awesome. Since these things are hard for most classes to get, its primarily usefull for Bards and Rogues.

Its a good feat but not must have for everyone. Quite a few feats have a synergy just as good, such as Whirlwind with Cleave and Power Attack.

 

[Corwin]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned how great it is for a monk. Combined with the monk's stunning blow ability, it can be quite useful.