How do you use Power Attack?

[Gale]

I've never used Power Attack before because I've always underestimated it's usefulness, mostly because I misread it's description entirely.
I'm kind of wondering now how much of a penalty on your attack rolls is too much? I know there are many variables here; I'm simply trying to get a rough idea on how to go about figuring this out for myself.

[eggynack]

I'd advise running some stats through the power attack calculator (http://donjon.bin.sh/d20/power/). It gives the damage per round of your fighter against a given AC at all power attack levels. It's a rather nifty thing, and should tell you exactly how much power attack does for you.

[Nettlekid]

Usually I'd agree with you, that most attack roll penalties are too much. DMs can have monsters with obscene attack rolls taking substantial penalties and still hitting, but players are unlikely to have attack rolls that are THAT high.

The real strength of Power Attack is when you remove that penalty completely, and the thing for it is the feat Shock Trooper. When you charge, it allows you to take the Power Attack penalty to your AC instead of the actual attack roll. Which means everything will hit you, but you have a high attack and tons of damage. THAT'S what people use to make Power Attack overpowered.

[Twilightwyrm]

I'll second checking the PA calculator.
In terms of general rules, it really depends on your individual fighter, and the enemy you face. If you have a high STR, or a number of other bonuses, you can generally sacrifice most of it. Otherwise, about half your BAB is a safe estimate, especially if you have methods of multiplying your PA damage (Uncanny Blow, Leap Attack, etc.). Also, keep in mind flanking, whether your are charging, and whether your opponent is flat-footed. If you charge on the first round of combat, you can take at least -2 (because of the +2 charging bonus), and possibly more if your opponent is a high Dex one (because of flat-footed). If you are a raging barbarian, that is at least another -2 (+2 from increased STR bonus). Your weapon's bonus can also (generally) be safely sacrificed. Any more, and that will depend on your personal taste.

Note: Since Power Attack can be combined with Martial Strikes, utilizing ToB classes can really help you get the most out of it. Emerald Razor, Sapphire Nightmare Blade, and the Rapid X Strike line tend to help, among others.

[Hurnn]

just a question about power attacks more specifically the calculator , can someone explain the numbers it throws out?

[TuggyNE]

just a question about power attacks more specifically the calculator , can someone explain the numbers it throws out?

They're average damage numbers per round.

[Chronos]

Otherwise, about half your BAB is a safe estimate, especially if you have methods of multiplying your PA damage (Uncanny Blow, Leap Attack, etc.).
This is usually only true when you can only make a single attack in the round. In cases where you can full-attack, the loss of accuracy on your iteratives will usually be more significant than the increase in damage.

There are also some corner cases: If you're somehow guaranteed to hit (target with ludicrously low AC, or a coup-de-grace), you should power attack for full, since it doesn't hurt you. And if you're facing something with AC so high you only hit on a 20, and you can't take the obvious choice and flee, you should also power attack for full, since you'll still hit on those 20s, and you might as well make them count.

[Magdela]

If you want to be an insanity wolf, always power attack for full without shock trooper.

Really, I know it feels important to hit at the moment but being able to strike out a 1/5 of it's HP regardless of your damage roll. It's like insurance.

I always full power attack because it adds excitement to the rolls.

[OldTrees1]

I guess I am on the other extreme, I mostly use power attack since it is required for my attacks to get knockback via the Knockback feat. So I default to using a -1 penalty and increase that when chargingpouncing (+2 atk => -2 penalty) or after I hit on a poor roll.

[Gwendol]

PA should be used cleverly: study your target and tune the attack roll accordingly.

[Kelb_Panthera]

As a general rule of thumb, most creatures have an AC value pretty close to their CR +13. Tune your PA to whatever you think will be an acceptable level of risk based on estimating the AC of the creature in front of you.

For example; say you're level 5 and you're squaring off against a single foe in a scenario that doesn't suggest it's a major NPC. You -might- assume that it's CR is approximately equal to your level and adjust your power attack to give yourself a 65% chance of hitting an AC 18; your current level +13. That would be a penalty sufficient to put your attack at +10.

Alternatively you can take a penalty of -1 for every 4 levels you've got. This puts you at equivalent to average BAB, assuming you have full BAB.

Of course you can always find a way to shift the penalty somewhere else, typically AC, with something like the shock trooper feat or a couple levels in the ronin PrC. Then you can use PA for your entire BAB unless you feel like being vulnerable to counter attacks isn't worth the risk.

I tend to go with the first option.

[Darth Stabber]

Without shock trooper, with a full BAB class, assuming I'm unaware of the targets AC I will PA 1/4 of my BAB, unless I think I need full accuracy (looks heavily armored or really dexterous). I will also usually throw situational/temporary bonuses to hit into it too. If I am making a full attack I will scale that back, maybe just throwing a point or two in, because it's nice to get the iteratives.

I am normally adverse to using PA on 3/4 BAB unless there is a very compelling reason, and forget it on 1/2.

Shocktrooper really opens up the floodgate, may as well dump it all, because dead things don't attack back. This is especially true if you get yourself some miss chance. Given how poorly PC armor class scales compared to enemy accuracy you really shouldn't be too reliant on AC as a defense after level 10ish, miss chance becomes really valuable, as it's a flat rate, regardless of how good the monsters are. Even with miss chance you have to remember that being hard to hit doesn't win battles, killing things wins battles.

[Slipperychicken]

Get some way to score touch attacks, like Wraithstrike (Sorc/Wiz 2), Ice Axe (Clr 3) or Moon Blade (Moon 3), hopefully have someone giving you IC, then PA for everything you've got.

Unless I have something like touch attacks or ludicrous attack bonus, I only go for ~2-4 anyway.

[Prime32]

The real strength of Power Attack is when you remove that penalty completely, and the thing for it is the feat Shock Trooper. When you charge, it allows you to take the Power Attack penalty to your AC instead of the actual attack roll. Which means everything will hit you, but you have a high attack and tons of damage. THAT'S what people use to make Power Attack overpowered.And then you take Robilar's Gambit or Karmic Strike, which make you easier to hit (it makes no difference when your AC is so low already) in exchange for letting you make AoOs against anyone who attacks you.

And then you take feats like Leap Attack that increase your damage return with Power Attack, on top of damage multipliers like mounted lances, valorous weapons and the Headlong Rush feat, and finally gain the Pounce ability somehow.

And then you either kill everything in one round or die in one round.