The problem with Distant Advantage

[Xris Robin]

There are melee rogues?

 

[Saeviomagy]

There are melee rogues?

They tend to be more effective than the ranged ones because with good flanking buddies they can focus on damage dealing without wasting time on achieving combat advantage.

 

[DDogwood]

The reason it only works at range is because it is Distant Advantage. As others have said, Vexing Flanker is the power you want if you need extra melee flanking.

 

[Josep]

Distant Advantage also offers a nice alternative to Deft Strike (hide, deft strike, rinse, repeat) for ranged rogue builds or ranged/melee hybrids.

It also can soften the impact of terrain, which has a huge impact on the ranged rogue. Well, assuming one has a cooperative melee party, as previously mentioned.

I might be worried more about balance if rogue damage tracked well with rangers at paragon / epic tiers, but rangers and rangers-by-other-names-like-tempest-fighter seem to be winning the "most damaging striker" award by a longshot.

 

[MarkB]

The reason it only works at range is because it is Distant Advantage. As others have said, Vexing Flanker is the power you want if you need extra melee flanking.

Yep. It's a little silly to complain that the feat doesn't do a particular thing, when there's another feat in the same book that does the job.

And frankly, even without getting into the 'flanking dance', if the melee rogue is constantly failing to get flanking on opponents because his two fellow melee characters are flanking with each other and refusing to let him play, that party has problems that extra feats won't fix.

 

[Istar]

I have just got to Level 1 Rogue and have picked thisd as my first Feat.

It just means I have higher survieability.

I can get CA but do so from a distance and not hammered by some tree trunk weilding ogre.

 

[Brisos]

I realize this thread is a little old but I had some noob questions about distant advantage and this is the first thread that came up in google (yay for ENWorld!).

I played a rogue for the first time yesterday (a pre made) and do not understand the feat fully. If my defender is on the north side of an enemy and adjacent, do I get CA by placing myself 3 squares directly south of the enemy?

Or do I need 2 allies (1 north, 1 south and myself directly behind either of those) to get CA?

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

I realize this thread is a little old but I had some noob questions about distant advantage and this is the first thread that came up in google (yay for ENWorld!).

I played a rogue for the first time yesterday (a pre made) and do not understand the feat fully. If my defender is on the north side of an enemy and adjacent, do I get CA by placing myself 3 squares directly south of the enemy?

Or do I need 2 allies (1 north, 1 south and myself directly behind either of those) to get CA?

The later. It doesn't let you yourself flank, it just gives you CA if any one of your allies has flanking against the target. It is a nice feat for say a bow ranger who has a bunch of melee allies that often get flanking, he can focus fire along with his friends on that enemy and get a bonus. It can work for rogues too, but is mostly useful for sniper type rogues for situations where there isn't any available cover for them to use.

 

[MarkB]

I realize this thread is a little old but I had some noob questions about distant advantage and this is the first thread that came up in google (yay for ENWorld!).

I played a rogue for the first time yesterday (a pre made) and do not understand the feat fully. If my defender is on the north side of an enemy and adjacent, do I get CA by placing myself 3 squares directly south of the enemy?

Or do I need 2 allies (1 north, 1 south and myself directly behind either of those) to get CA?

Your own position is irrelevant. You are not taking part in the flank in any way whatsoever.

All that happens is that if an enemy is being flanked by two of your allies - not yourself - then he is also granting you combat advantage for your ranged and area attacks.

 

[Brisos]

Your own position is irrelevant. You are not taking part in the flank in any way whatsoever.

All that happens is that if an enemy is being flanked by two of your allies - not yourself - then he is also granting you combat advantage for your ranged and area attacks.

Ok I think I got it. If 2 melees are in a standard flanking position (opposite sides of the enemy) any ranged attack from anywhere - no matter where I am - will grant me CA.

Not quite as good as I thought - I think my DM knew I was a noob and let me have it my way the first time around.