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Message: <blockquote data-quote="jaer" data-source="post: 4006618" data-attributes="member: 57861">As a DM who has players who power attack and as a player who power-attacks, that would suck.  Characters would need the DM to help them calculare the math out at the beginning of every combat.  I just want to roll a die and add numbers to that...PA is easy to do in combat.Power Attack is mentioned as being a weak feat.  Good.  It's a 1st lvl feat, no pre-reqs other than strength (and if you don't have the str, you don't have the hit to use it), one that can still be useful at high levels of play (even your own chart showed it can be useful, even if you are just power attacking for 1 or 2).  That to me makes it a good first level feat.  It should not compare to Improve Crit, Weapon Spec, Greater Weapon Focus or anything else that is not a first level feat.I am currently running a 10th lvl fighter with a +20 attack bonus.  I agree that things like Bull strength (I only have +1 enhancement bonus to Str) would help my damage more...but with any of these, someone else needs to provide them.  They take up party resources to cast on me, both time in combat and a spell slot.  Power Attack is something I control on my own, to boost my own damage, even if by a little bit.  It's one of the few things I can do to do so since all my other damage mods are static.There are many spells and abilities out there that help my hit rate.  I very quickly get to the point that some of my base attack bonus is pretty much wasted, especially if I am charging (+2 to the attack, and no iterative attacks that I need to make sure they hit).  Compare me charging (+22 BA) a CR 11 Earth Ele with AC 21.  2 points of BA is absolutely wasted!  And that's before adding anything like bless and haste and a bull str into the equation (BA 26 on that charge now, vs 21 AC).I could either be a 10th lvl fighter who took some other 1st level feat (which probably isn't doing anything for him), or be a 10th lvl fighter who can take that wasted BA and add it to his damage on this one attack.  I don't expect anything more than that out a first level feat...something that is situationally useful, and potentially very useful against those creatures that have very low AC but either high hitpoints (oozes) or miss chances (incorporeal).Saying that this feat can confuse new players, that I agree with.  It sounds better than it is.  But to say that it is a crappy first level feat, I don't agree.I also like power attacking for the fun of it.  I like charging in and "power attacking for it all!" without knowing what the AC of the creature is.  Does it back fire?  Sure!  It's a gamble (as opposed to Weapon Focus and Weapon Specialization).  But sometimes it just makes the whole table cheer.For usefulness, PA is a decent 1st level feat; for fun, it is the all-time winner.</blockquote>

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