Seeking Feats

[MeSleepNow]

-Hi-

I am making a LongSpear warrior and mostly looking at feats that help out my reach attack, i was just wondering if there is any must have feats for my char. Thanks

 

[AFGNCAAP]

Short Haft, from Player's Handbook II

Basically, if you declare it that round, you can use a reach weapon (like a longspear) against an adjacent foe instead of getting the reach benefit (i.e., be able to still attack with that weapon instead of being forced to drop it & draw an appropriate melee weapon or take a 5' step back to still be able to use the reach weapon).

 

[Stalker0]

Short Haft, from Player's Handbook II

Basically, if you declare it that round, you can use a reach weapon (like a longspear) against an adjacent foe instead of getting the reach benefit (i.e., be able to still attack with that weapon instead of being forced to drop it & draw an appropriate melee weapon or take a 5' step back to still be able to use the reach weapon).

Personally, I very rarely find myself so caught in a corner that I can't take a 5 foot step and still attack. Does it happen? Sure. Is it worth a feat? Not in many campaigns.

Combat Reflexes lets you get a lot of Aoos, which is the big thing about reach weapons. Hold the Line gives you an AOO against a charging opponent.

So for example, you ready an action to attack a charging opponent with your spear. He charges, takes an AOO from hold the line, takes an AOO from moving through your threatened space, and then takes the hit from yoru readied action (which does double damage against a charge). And if the guy is still alive THEN take a 5 foot step back


Expert Tactician is also a great feat. As soon as you hit a guy with an AOO, you and your allies all get +2 to attack and damage against him for that round. So in the above combo I mentioned, after the first AOO the other two attacks gain +2 attack and +2 damge (+4 for the readied action because the damage is doubled!!)

 

[atomn]

I know you specified longspear but if you're willing to compromise on that, there's the greatspear exotic weapon (C. War.). It does 2d6 dmg, has reach and allows you to attack adjacent opponents.

There's also the "Shield and Pike Style" from Dragon 338 which lets you get the full shield bonus from a light shield when using a two-handed ploearm.

 

[Whimsical]

The excellent polearm article with a plethora of polearm feats (and the article qualifies the longspear as a polearm) is in Dragon issue #331

 

[Nightfall]

yep, best way to use a polearm is shown in Dragon 331.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

And those articles are reprinted, along with some other awesome material, with the much easier to find Dragon Compendium volume 1.

Seriously- the Feats & Equipment sections are strong, and makes Polearms truly worth playing for the first time.

For polearm guys, you'll find feats that let you fight 2 weapon style, short range, with extra reach, or even use one with Flurry of Blows...and more besides. You'll also find about another 10 or so polearms to use.

 

[Nightfall]

Danny,

Forgot about that. Yes get Dragon Compendium 1 and you're days of searching for good pole arm things to use is at an end!

 

[Newbie]

Weren’t we talking about Long Spears?


ps. so a Great Spear does more damage and can attack adjacent foe's? What’s the point of a long spear?

 

[atomn]

ps. so a Great Spear does more damage and can attack adjacent foe's? What’s the point of a long spear?

The Greatspear is an exotic weapon, so costs a feat to use without penalty. (Although looking at online sources I can't find that the greatspear *does* let you attack adjacent foes. Maybe I'm thinking of another spear or maybe I'm just plain wrong! I'll check when I have my books with me.)