Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Patryn of Elvenshae" data-source="post: 5444955" data-attributes="member: 23094">Because *every* archer takes the same three starting feats.&nbsp; The difference in variability in low-level choices between melee-focused characters and ranged-focused characters is stark.Just talking about the first two feats you take, melee combatants can go with (and be reasonably good at what they're doing):<ul>
<li data-xf-list-type="ul">Power Attack / Cleave, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Overrun, or Improved Sunder</li>
<li data-xf-list-type="ul">Combat Expertise / Improved Disarm, Feint, or Trip</li>
<li data-xf-list-type="ul">Improved Shield Bash / Shield Focus</li>
<li data-xf-list-type="ul">Combat Reflexes / Stand Still</li>
<li data-xf-list-type="ul">Improved Unarmed Strike / Deflect Arrows, Improved Grapple, or Scorpion Style</li>
<li data-xf-list-type="ul">Mounted Combat / Ride-By Attack or Trample</li>
<li data-xf-list-type="ul">Multiple teamwork feats from APG</li>
</ul>(And these are just paired feats; you can certainly mix-and-match from multiple columns, taking, for instance, Shield Focus and Power Attack like my wife's current character.)There's lots and lots of options for melee fighters (not shown: TWF, which can be half-blended with either of the above combinations, or forms another combination on its own w/ TWD or Double Slice).&nbsp; There's, essentially, 1 for archers (not including Rapid Reload for crossbow users).Dex-based melee is still kludgy because, now, it takes 2 feats to be, generally speaking, still worse than your Strength-focused friend, instead of the 1 feat it took in 3.5.&nbsp; By not letting Weapon Finesse apply to your CMB by default, they've added in another feat to the overall feat-tax required to play a Dex-based melee character.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Patryn of Elvenshae, post: 5444955, member: 23094"] Because *every* archer takes the same three starting feats. The difference in variability in low-level choices between melee-focused characters and ranged-focused characters is stark. Just talking about the first two feats you take, melee combatants can go with (and be reasonably good at what they're doing): [list][*]Power Attack / Cleave, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Overrun, or Improved Sunder [*]Combat Expertise / Improved Disarm, Feint, or Trip [*]Improved Shield Bash / Shield Focus [*]Combat Reflexes / Stand Still [*]Improved Unarmed Strike / Deflect Arrows, Improved Grapple, or Scorpion Style [*]Mounted Combat / Ride-By Attack or Trample [*]Multiple teamwork feats from APG[/list] (And these are just paired feats; you can certainly mix-and-match from multiple columns, taking, for instance, Shield Focus and Power Attack like my wife's current character.) There's lots and lots of options for melee fighters (not shown: TWF, which can be half-blended with either of the above combinations, or forms another combination on its own w/ TWD or Double Slice). There's, essentially, 1 for archers (not including Rapid Reload for crossbow users). Dex-based melee is still kludgy because, now, it takes 2 feats to be, generally speaking, still worse than your Strength-focused friend, instead of the 1 feat it took in 3.5. By not letting Weapon Finesse apply to your CMB by default, they've added in another feat to the overall feat-tax required to play a Dex-based melee character. [/QUOTE]

Verification