Reports from the Battle Front. Improved X feats and tactical feats.

[Rashak Mani]

I am interested in knowing which of the new combat feats in 3.5 are working best for fighters and fighter types. Especially the Improved X feats: Improved Bull Rush, Sunder, Trip, etc... Tactical feats too !

So what are the reports from the Battle Front of the must useful new feats ?

 

[Darklone]

IMC, still the good old Power Attack & Cleave fun.

Trip is nice for a trip monkey, but not that overpowering.

Bull Rush can be horribly exploited, but it's a team work feat.

Disarm is very nice for bard types with whips... not good for general cases.

Sunder: Your buddies will hate you. And same as Disarm: Bad against monsters.

Some miniHB feats are ridiculously effective... These Powerful Charge thingies combined with PA, Cleave and Great Cleave make it even more easy for barbarians now to charge into a group of enemies and (with Enlarge Person) to cleave through them. 50 points of damage? No problem.

 

[Particle_Man]

Prone Attack is useful if your DM is a sadistic bastard. Not that I am bitter or anything.

 

[JoeBlank]

Waiting on XP from our last session, but if my Barbarian1/Fighter3/Rogue4 makes it to 9th level he will take another level of fighter and pick up Improved Bull Rush and Shock Trooper.

If I get to use those feats on Sunday I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[Endur]

Shock Trooper Heedless Charge is nice for penetrating DR.

Bull Rush is interesting, but it doesn't really have much impact in most games. Sort of like the Endurance feat.

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

Elusive Target (CW) is a handy if your DM likes throwing many opponents at you.

 

[Elder-Basilisk]

I'm really looking forward to trying out Elusive Target--I think I'll be able to do some truly hideous things with it.

Improved Trip, I'm quite familiar with. It's moderately effective when you're just a high strength fighter. If you're enlarged and bull's strengthed, it gets really hideous. If you combine it with a reach weapon and friends with reach weapons, you can turn one attack of opportunity into a damaging attack, a trip, and attacks of oppotunity from all your friends with reach weapons (and the foe can't even attack back without standing up if you have more reach than he does).

I've seen Improved Grapple put to very good use as well. A good grappler can remove most opponents from a fight unless they're somehow immune to grapples (being a dire bear or zombie gray render qualifies in that category).

 

[Hypersmurf]

I'm really looking forward to trying out Elusive Target--I think I'll be able to do some truly hideous things with it.

Is it the same as the d20 Modern version?

Elusive Target
Prerequisite: Dexterity 13, Defensive Martial Arts.

Benefit: When fighting an opponent or multiple opponents in melee, other opponents attempting to target the character with ranged attacks take a -4 penalty. This penalty is in addition to the normal -4 penalty for firing into melee, making the penalty to target to character -8.

Special: An opponent with the Precise Shot feat has the penalty lessened to -4 when targeting the character.

-Hyp.

 

[James McMurray]

Nowhere close to the same.

Elusive target is from CW. Its a tactical feat, maning it has three uses, each of which is only applicable to a small set of circumstances. It prereqs include dodge and mobility, maybe some other stuff.

1) Your dodge target does not get extra power attack damage against you, but he still takes the penalty.
2) If you are flanked, the first attack against you by your dodge target might hit the guy he is flanking you ith instead.
3) When someone misses an AoO against you that is provoked becuse of movement, you can try to trip them.

#3 might also only apply to your dodge target, I can't remember.

 

[Elder-Basilisk]

Yep that's it. I'm looking forward to combining it with tumble and spring attack to move into a flanking position, attack my target, deliberately draw an AoO from the guy who is my dodge target (but not the target of my attacks), watch it automatically miss and possibly hit my target, get a free trip attack against the sucker and then continue my move out of range of retribution. I imagine it'll work once or twice and then the DM will have my foes get wise to the trick.

Nowhere close to the same.

Elusive target is from CW. Its a tactical feat, maning it has three uses, each of which is only applicable to a small set of circumstances. It prereqs include dodge and mobility, maybe some other stuff.

1) Your dodge target does not get extra power attack damage against you, but he still takes the penalty.
2) If you are flanked, the first attack against you by your dodge target might hit the guy he is flanking you ith instead.
3) When someone misses an AoO against you that is provoked becuse of movement, you can try to trip them.

#3 might also only apply to your dodge target, I can't remember.