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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Victim" data-source="post: 213012" data-attributes="member: 78">Power Attack is simply an incredible feat for fighters.  I used to disagree, being in the "it lowers your average damage" camp.  Then I saw another character use it.  And use it he did!  In many cases, he'd drop his entire base attack into power attack and dish out gobs of damage.  It's very reasonable for a 10th level fighter to have an attack bonus of +20 or more, especially after buffs from his teammates like Greater Magic Weapon are taken into account.  We'll say a +20 attack bonus.Now let's look at some monsters.  Hydras can be up to CR 15, yet they have a mere 15 AC.  The dreaded Girallon has a 16 AC.  CR 9 Nobe Salamanders have an 18 AC.  CR 13 Beholders have a 20 AC, making power attack a useful option even for the outclassed fighter.  The CR 11 Devourer has an 18 AC.  T-Rex has a 14.  Dire bears and tigers don't go above 17 AC.  The CR 9 Greater Earth Elemental has a 20 AC.  CR 12 Frost Wyrms have 18 AC.  The Kraken has a 20 AC.  Mind Flayers have 15 AC.  Purple Worms have 19 AC.  Most of the big mean hulking brute monsters tend not to have such great ACs.  Power Attack is beneficial in almost all of these cases, and the a few more levels or better stats or gear would make a tremendous difference in the number of creatures against which power attack is useful (I saw lots of AC 22).  Power Attack won't be so useful against buffed up NPCs, outsiders, or dragons, but against lots of monsters it will help, especially against brutes or minion monsters.  Also, at higher levels, Haste tends to see more common usage, especially if the wizard learns mass haste or the fighter has boots of speed.  With Haste, 2 things happen.  First of all, iterative attacks become less important.  Power attack can truly mess up secondary and tertiary attacks.  With Haste, the importance of that second attack drops off, since you get a new attack at a higher bonus that doesn't restrict movement.  Therefore, you can power attack for higher amounts since the damage fraction from iterative attacks is reduced, so you can base your attacks more off the the first attack hitting on a one.  I don't think I'm very clear.  Two, the bonuses and penalties from power attack last until your next action.  With Haste, you can do tricky things like only power attack on some of your attacks.  For example, a fighter launches his normal full attack so his secondary attacks can hit and do damage.  Then he takes his partial action from haste and launches another attack, this time power attacking for the optimal single hit amount.Iron Will is also a good feat, as is Improved Initiative.  However, in many cases, it will be a good idea to delay so slower people can get area or buffing spells off before you enter melee.</blockquote>

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