Best Two 1st lvl Combat Feats?

[unseenmage]

What two feats are the best two "feats that improve its attacks" (such as Improved Natural Attack, Multiattack, Weapon Finesse, or Weapon Focus) for a 1HD human.

Feats must be non-Con based and assume the human has the nonelite array and no class levels.

Thanks regardless Playground.

[rt_tlp]

If we're talking pathfinder, I'd say one feat for proficiency with a longsword or scimitar (you said no class levels), other feat for weapon focus.

But you're probably talking 3.5, and I don't know for that.

[Togo]

I'd go with improved initiative, and weapon proficiency: longbow.

[eggynack]

Well, if you're talking combat feats in general, rather than strictly numerical boosters, I'd have to go with improved trip, and thus the second would be combat expertise, for prerequisite reasons. The non-elite array thing might make qualifying for improved trip impossible though.

[Feilith]

I like improved initiative and at low levels toughness can be a huge boost, 3 extra hp can save you from a big hit from a monster.

Toughness is good here only if you can't qualify for power attack or the like and are going to progress no farther in feat chains. Otherwise combat expertise or weapon focus win out

[CaladanMoonblad]

It depends on your build. Assuming this 1st level human has a martial class...

Point Blank Shot and Weapon Focus is a +10% to hit for a ranged weapon within 30 ft, and a +5% beyond to the end of 5 or 10 range increments. Both are part of two separate feat trees for fighters. If a fight starts at 120', then an archer may get two rounds of attacks before a running opponent can close for melee. For a 1st level appropriate encounter, that's probably the fight should one or both attacks hit.

Alternatively, a melee fighter may go weapon focus and improved initiative to try and end an encounter with a single charge (+2 attack, +1 more from WF). Could be a gamble, as snake eyes would yield 4 damage from a 5 hp orc. But 95% of the time, that 5 hp orc is down on a successful charge.

[erikun]

If you can reliably expect to kill something, then I've found that the extra attack from Power Attack + Cleave to be very worthwhile. Of course, this assumes the character can reliable kill opponents first, rather than giving them the ability to do so.

[Ezekiul]

Combat Expertise + Improved Trip is a good combo. Or if you arent a tomb of battle picking up Martial Study + Martial Stance is good. Power Attack + Imp Bull Rush if you want to go dungeoncrasher. Sheild and Pike + weapon focus isnt bad.

[Person_Man]

My suggestions:


Touch of Golden Ice: Any Evil enemy hit by your unarmed strike or natural weapon must Save or take 1d6 Dex damage. Note that the Save DC is fixed at DC 12 or 13 IIRC, so this is only viable for a low level build. Book of Exalted Deeds pg 47.

Ancestral Relic: Pick one item (usually a weapon). You can sacrifice treasure to improve that item, bypassing the need to sell stuff at the standard 50% mark down, and then find someone to improve it. Assuming your DM plays using standard wealth by level and doesn’t short change you because he knows you have this Feat, this is a great choice for any long running campaign that starts at low levels. Book of Exalted Deeds pg 39.

Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Ritiik): If you successfully hit an enemy with this weapon, the enemy must make a Reflex Save. If it fails, you get a free Trip Attempt. Basically a weaker version of Knock-Down, but with no pre-reqs, which makes it superior at low levels. Frostburn.

Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Pincer Staff). Reach weapon. When you hit an enemy, you get a free Grapple check. If successful, as long as your enemy can’t reach you, they can’t attack you or do anything other then attempt to move or escape from the grapple. Basically a weaker version of Scorpion's Grasp (Sandstorm), but with no pre-reqs, which makes it superior at low levels. Underdark. (Complete Warrior has a weaker version, the Mancatacher).

Shape Soulmeld (Claws of the Wyrm): Gives you 2 claw attacks. At low levels, having a bunch of attacks is very useful, even if they only deal 1d6ish + (1/2 Str) damage. You can also take Shape Soulmeld (Draconic Tail) to gain a tail attack that deals d8 + Str damage. Magic of Incarnum and Dragon Magic.

Bind Vestige: Grants you a vestige power from a limited list of fairly useful powers. You can gain a second power by taking the Practiced Binder feat, and expand the list of powers you can choose from by taking the Improved Bind Vestige feat. Tome of Magic pg 72.

Martial Study: Gain a single maneuver you can use once per combat. You can also take Martial Stance, which grants a single stance. Very handy at low levels. Tome of Battle.

Hold the Line: Free attack of opportunity when your enemy Charges you, which is fairly common in most games, and useful at any level. Complete Warrior pg 100.

Inhuman Reach: Increases your natural reach by +5 feet, which means that your total reach when using a reach weapon is 20 feet. Requires Aberration Blood (which grants a minor Skill bonus). Lords of Madness pg 180. In addition or alternatively, you can take Willing Deformity + Deformity (Tall) from Heroes of Horror to get +3 to Intimidate and another +5 feet to your natural reach.

Dark Speech: A very potent low level Fear effect (basically Save or Lose) that becomes less effective as your enemies gain hit die. Can also raise caster level by 1, effect item hardness, or command a Swarm. You must be Evil, and it deals Cha damage to you each time you use it, so you need to also take Shape Soulmeld (Strongheart Vest) if you want to use it often. You can also take the Dark Whispers Feat, which augments Dark Speech so that enemies with higher hit dice must Save or be Confused. Elder Evils pg 12.

Acheron Flurry: You can spend a Standard Action to restrict one adjacent enemy to a single Move or Standard action on his next turn. No To-Hit roll, no Save, it just happens. There are various little restrictions on this, but it’s a great way to restrict the movement of a "boss" enemy, and prevent them from making a full attack or casting full round action magic (like Summons). Requires Improved Unarmed Strike and 15 Wis and Dex, so basically it's worthwhile only if you're a Monk or Swordsage. Planar Handbook pg 37.

Shield Bash and Shield Charge: When you hit an enemy with a shield on a charge, you get a free Trip attack. The big payoff comes when you can afford a 3rd Feat for Shield Slam, which adds a Daze effect. Complete Warrior.


I would avoid the Power Attack chain of Feats at low levels. They really don't kick in until ECL 6+ when you can get Shock Trooper and/or damage multipliers.

[unseenmage]

Shape Soulmeld (Claws of the Wyrm): Gives you 2 claw attacks. At low levels, having a bunch of attacks is very useful, even if they only deal 1d6ish + (1/2 Str) damage. You can also take Shape Soulmeld (Draconic Tail) to gain a tail attack that deals d8 + Str damage. Magic of Incarnum and Dragon Magic.

Wow, that's quite the list. Should take care of my 1RHD Effigy crafting needs. Much appreciated.

One nitpick, Shape Soulmeld requires Con. Guess that's not technically the same as being Con-based but it still excludes it for my purposes. Sorry for any miscommunication.

Thanks again Playground.

[sleepyphoenixx]

Hidden Talent: Minor Creation lets you create some nasty plant-based poisons that no CR appropiate enemy has any reasonable hope of saving against.

[Curmudgeon]

What two feats are the best two "feats that improve its attacks" (such as Improved Natural Attack, Multiattack, Weapon Finesse, or Weapon Focus) for a 1HD human. Well, it can't be Weapon Finesse.
Prerequisite: Base attack bonus +1.

A humanoid has the following features (unless otherwise noted in a creature’s entry).

Base attack bonus equal to ¾ total Hit Dice (as cleric).

Feats must be non-Con based and assume the human has the nonelite array and no class levels.

It depends on your build. Assuming this 1st level human has a martial class...
No class levels pretty clearly means no martial class levels. :smallsmile: Without martial adept classes your Human will have initiator level of 0, so that means the only benefit Martial Study would provide is to make the key skill for the discipline a class skill.

Consider your nits picked. :smallwink:


I'll echo the Aberration Blood (Lords of Madness, page 178) suggestion. Get that with the flexibile limbs choice and you'll be set for both Extended Reach (Savage Species, page 34) and Inhuman Reach (Lords of Madness, page 180). Each of those two latter feats gives you +5' reach. A 15' natural reach takes you well out of the ordinary Human capabilities.

[TuggyNE]

What two feats are the best two "feats that improve its attacks" (such as Improved Natural Attack, Multiattack, Weapon Finesse, or Weapon Focus) for a 1HD human.

There technically aren't any 1 HD humans; all 1 HD humanoids replace their single RHD with a class level, NPC or otherwise. However, in any case, they wouldn't qualify for Improved Natural Attack (not having BAB +4), Multiattack (having no natural weapons except unarmed strike), or Weapon Finesse (not having BAB +1). So at least you don't have to worry if those are optimal!

[KnightOfV]

Combat Reflexes, and Weapon Focus Glaive. Enemy get innitiative? He provokes an AoO and you attack. 2 different enemies charge you? attack, attack. Most extra attacks I have seen in a 'real game'.

Makes melee classes DOMINATE nearly every encounter for the first few levels, especially if the DM isn't big on ranged enemies (many are not for some reason).

[mabriss lethe]

I suppose Martial Study and Martial Stance could be a decent combo. I think a construct capable of healing itself via combat using devoted spirit for Crusader's strike and Martial spirit would be an entertaining encounter.

[Andezzar]

I suppose Martial Study and Martial Stance could be a decent combo. I think a construct capable of healing itself via combat using devoted spirit for Crusader's strike and Martial spirit would be an entertaining encounter.I don't think that works. A character with 0 or 1 class levels has an initiator level of 0, So he qualifies for not one maneuver or stance.

[Kyberwulf]

You can't attack enemies that charge you. You can attack enemies that charge BY you.

[Andezzar]

You can't attack enemies that charge you. You can attack enemies that charge BY you.Not true. You can ready an action to attack the charger, whether he charges you or someone near you. If he charges you , some weapons even deal extra damage.

[lsfreak]

You can't attack enemies that charge you. You can attack enemies that charge BY you.

Sure you can, but it's the movement out of a threatened square that's provoking rather than the charge per se. Hence the glaive, so anyone without reach provokes against you if they charge you.

[Amphetryon]

It's relatively hard to go wrong with Improved Initiative and Combat Reflexes as picks for a 1st level human. There are more powerful niche choices - many listed already by Person_Man - but both Improved Initiative and Combat Reflexes improve both offensive prowess and survivability to higher levels, regardless of stat array. Even if you dump DEX, the ability to act in a Surprise round can be a lifesaver.

[Chronos]

Are we looking for feats that are good at first level, or are we looking for feats that are good in the long run, but which can be taken at first level? Something like Toughness, for instance, is great at first level, but quickly becomes obsolete as you gain more and more HP from leveling. On the other hand, Power Attack is useful in the long run, but nearly useless except as a prerequisite at first level, since it's limited by your BAB.

[Sylthia]

If you are trying to use these for NPC enemies, I usually use a few from this list, because they are mostly just flat numbers and don't add much the the bookkeeping for the fight.

Weapon Prof: Something
Weapon Focus
Improved Initiative
Toughness
Dodge
Great Fortitude
Lightning Reflexes
Iron Will
Weapon Finesse
(The two-weapon feat tree if applicable)

[unseenmage]

Are we looking for feats that are good at first level, or are we looking for feats that are good in the long run, but which can be taken at first level? Something like Toughness, for instance, is great at first level, but quickly becomes obsolete as you gain more and more HP from leveling. On the other hand, Power Attack is useful in the long run, but nearly useless except as a prerequisite at first level, since it's limited by your BAB.

Looking for 2 feats that are purely combat oriented for a 1RHD human.
1RHD human because that's what they are when the Effigy template turns their HD into construct HD and because Effigys lose all class based HD.

Hope that helps.

[DeltaEmil]

Effigies lose all feats except those that directly improve their attacks, like Improved Natural Attack, Multiattack, Weapon Finesse, or Weapon Focus.

[unseenmage]

Effigies lose all feats except those that directly improve their attacks, like Improved Natural Attack, Multiattack, Weapon Finesse, or Weapon Focus.

Which is exactly what I asked for in the OP. Thanks for the reiteration.