Why would anyone ever want the quickdraw feat?

[Greatwyrm]

Maybe someone has already brought this up and I missed it, but what about the surprise round.

If you act in a surprise round, you only get a partial action. If you don't already have a weapon out, all you could do with that partial action is draw. If you have Quick Draw, you can both draw (free action) and attack (partial action) in a surprise round.

 

[Greatwyrm]

Oops, double post.

 

[Greatwyrm]

Woo Hoo! Triple post. How did I manage that.

 

[0-hr]

Yes, Greatwyrm already brought up that point.

 

[Sir Whiskers]

Just another suggestion for using Quickdraw - Clerics.

I ran a cleric who doubled as the party "tank". I've lost count of how many times I was in melee, with longsword and shield, and needed to cast a spell. With Quickdraw, I could sheathe my sword (free action), cast a spell defensively (partial action), then draw my sword (move-equivalent action). The next round would be a full-round attack.

Or, if the cleric was hasted, I could perform a full attack action (full round action), then use Quickdraw to sheathe my sword (free action), then cast a spell defensively (partial action from haste spell). The next round I would just reverse the order, casting first, then full attack action.

 

[Elder-Basilisk]

Sir Whiskers wrote:

Just another suggestion for using Quickdraw - Clerics.

I ran a cleric who doubled as the party "tank". I've lost count of how many times I was in melee, with longsword and shield, and needed to cast a spell. With Quickdraw, I could sheathe my sword (free action), cast a spell defensively (partial action), then draw my sword (move-equivalent action). The next round would be a full-round attack.

Or, if the cleric was hasted, I could perform a full attack action (full round action), then use Quickdraw to sheathe my sword (free action), then cast a spell defensively (partial action from haste spell). The next round I would just reverse the order, casting first, then full attack action.

The second one won't actually work because quickdraw only allows the drawing a weapon as a free action--not sheathing it. Consequently, you could sheath the weapon (MEA), cast a spell (standard), and draw the weapon again (free) or (if hasted), cast (partial), quickdraw (free), full attack (full round), but not full attack (full round), sheath (MEA), and cast (partial), then quickdraw (free). The last one has an extra MEA or partial action in it.

There is however, a very good use for quickdraw that hasn't been mentioned: switching from two handed style to weapon and shield. A character who wants to have the option to use a greatsword and then switch to sword and shield mid combat (or vise versa) is only able to make the switch and still attack if s/he has the quickdraw feat:

Greatsword to shield and longsword:
Drop Greatsword (free)
Quickdraw longsword (free)
Move (combined with readying shield) (MEA)
Attack (standard)

Shield and longsword to greatsword:
Drop longsword (free)
Loose shield (MEA--can be combined with move)
Quickdraw Greatsword (free)
Attack (standard)

The advantage of this flexibility is more clear if you consider the possibility of using a reach weapon instead of a greatsword. This allows a character to take AoOs in the first round of combat and then switch to a higher AC setup.

 

[baradtgnome]

don't tell your DM but...

Just another suggestion for using Quickdraw - Clerics.

I ran a cleric who doubled as the party "tank". I've lost count of how many times I was in melee, with longsword and shield, and needed to cast a spell. With Quickdraw, I could sheathe my sword (free action), cast a spell defensively (partial action), then draw my sword (move-equivalent action). The next round would be a full-round attack.

Or, if the cleric was hasted, I could perform a full attack action (full round action), then use Quickdraw to sheathe my sword (free action), then cast a spell defensively (partial action from haste spell). The next round I would just reverse the order, casting first, then full attack action.

From the SRD

Sheathe a weapon [Move Equivalent][AoO: Yes]
Description: A character with the two-weapon fighting Feat can sheathe two weapons on the same action.

Quick Draw [General]
Prerequisite: Base attack bonus +1 or higher.
Benefit: The character can draw a weapon as a free action instead of as a move-equivalent action.

So I am a little confused by the above. Is there someplace that says you can sheathe a weapon as a free action if you have Quick Draw?

In the game that I play (as opposed to the game that I DM) my 1/2 orc cleric-tank type uses Improved Unarmed Strike so that he can cast spells and fight without having to spend time to draw a weapon if he has to. He usually starts the fight with a weapon but somehow manages to need to drop it (free action) in order to cast a spell and do whatever other crazy thing is required to save the sorry asses of the group around him.

 

[Numion]

One reason still hasn't been mentioned:

1.5 x STR bonus for wielding two-handed, and two weapon fighters.

This means that a dual wielding will want to start combat by moving to his enemy and striking, which he can only do once because he moved. Thus he will want to hold his weapon in both hands to get that 1.5 x STR mod to damage instead of just regular 1 x STR mod. With draw he can make all his on- and off-hand attacks in the following round. Otherwise he'd have to either:

a) start combat with both weapons in hands and only get STR mod, but get full attacks on following round

b) start combat with one weapon, get 1.5 x STR mod on first attack, but get only 1 attack the following round, because MEA is used to draw the other weapon.

Both a) and b) are sub-optimal, but can be avoided with the quickdraw feat.

Works only if the character has a medium weapon.

 

[Chun-tzu]

No one's mentioned those fighting with reach weapons. Quickdraw is also good for a pole arm fighter, who may need to switch to a shorter weapon quite frequently (similar to the archer who wants to keep firing until the last minute).