Best feats in 3.5 (Handbook brainstorming?)

[Grod_The_Giant]

Probably my least favorite part of making a character in 3.5 is picking feats. There are so many choices, scattered across so many sources, and so many of them are useless. What would be really nice, I think, would be to have some sort of reference of as many "good" 3.5 feats as we can find.

I know that "good" means different things to different classes, but I think we can do some basic sorting there-- let's say seven categories of feat, based on what kind of character it's good for: Everyone, melee characters, archers, casters, gish, class-specific, and "other." Filling out a big table like the one below:

{table=head]Feat|Source|Requirements|Description|All|Melee|Arc her|Caster|Gish|Class|Other|Notes
Improved Trip|PHB|(Int 13), Combat Expertise|+4 bonus on trip attempts; no attack of opportunity||X||||||
Combat Reflexes|PHB|((Dex))|Additional attacks of opportunity||X||||||Scales by Dex
Improved Initiative|PHB|—|+4 bonus on initiative checks|X|||||||
Leadership|PHB|Level 6|Attract cohort and followers|X|||||||Too powerful; often banned
Ride-By Attack|PHB|Mounted Combat|Move before and after a mounted charge||X||||||
Spirited Charge|PHB|Mounted Combat, Ride-By Attack|Double damage with mounted charge||X||||||Better with a lance
Precise Shot|PHB|Point Blank Shot|No –4 penalty for shooting into melee|||X|||||
Rapid Shot|PHB|Dex 13, Point Blank Shot|One extra ranged attack each round|||X|||||
Manyshot|PHB|Dex 17, Point Blank Shot, BAB +6|Shoot two or more arrows simultaneously|||X|||||
Imp. Precise Shot|PHB|Dex 19, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, BAB +11|Ignore less than total cover/concealment on ranged attack||||||||
Power Attack|PHB|Str 13|Trade attack bonus for damage (up to base attack bonus)||X||||||Key melee feat
Weapon Finesse|PHB|BAB +1|Use Dex modifier instead of Str modifier on attack rolls with light melee weapons||X||||||
Empower Spell|PHB|—|Increase spell’s variable, numeric effects by 50%||||X||||+2 spell levels
Extend Spell|PHB|—|Double spell’s duration||||X||||+1 spell level
Quicken Spell|PHB|—|Cast spells as free action||||X||||+4 spell levels[/table]

Maybe people could call a book and go through the feats within?

[Lightlawbliss]

darkstalker is a must have for any build going stealth.

[Chronos]

Just from core, you left off Natural Spell. Probably you forgot that it was even optional.

[Fax Celestis]

Just off the top of my head:

Hand Crossbow Focus is a must-have for any hand crossbow combatant.
Eilservs School looks inocuous but can really kick out some pretty terrifying effects, esp since it subsumes the casting time of any spell in the staff.
Master Spellthief is basically required for the majority of things you can do with a spellthief and make them not suck.
Adaptive Style is good for anyone with maneuvers.
Shock Trooper and Combat Brute, for obvious reasons.
Woodland Sniper or Woodland Archer or whatever that's called from RotW is pretty amazing.
Bind Vestige and Shape Soulmeld can get you access to a frankly ridiculous amount of options.


Also, don't forget the fringe benefit of Combat Reflexes: it lets you make AoOs even when flat-footed.

[Xefas]

Improved Binding (ToM pg74) seems like a must-have for Binders.

Martial Study, while not quite as diverse as the Shape Soulmeld and Bind Vestige feats as Fax mentioned above, can still get you a decent spread of effects. Mountain Hammer, Iron Heart Surge, the Diamond Mind saving throw maneuvers, the Shadow Hand teleportation stuff, etc, etc - not bad.

[eggynack]

I'ma add random druid stuff. For summoning, there's greenbound summoning (LEoF, 84) and rashemi elemental summoning (UE, 45), with ashbound (ECS, 50) and augment summoning acting as definite maybes. For wild shape, there's aberration wild shape (LoM, 178), dragon wild shape (Draconomicon, 105), exalted wild shape (BoED, 42), and maybe frozen wild shape (Frost, 48). For the animal companion, there's companion spellbond (PHB II, 77), exalted companion (BoED, 42), and natural bond (CAdv, 111). Also worth note is craft wondrous item, as well as versatile spellcaster (RotD, 101). Druids get the craziest class specific feats, by the by.

[unseenmage]

I had a lot of very excellent suggestions in a similar thread recently, which I compiled and organized a bit in my OP.

Here in the 'Top 10 Feats Any Character Could Take' (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=319962) thread.

I've been using it to put feats on Awakened creatures, Advanced Homunculuses, and even my own characters and those of my players. Was very helpful.

[Atnuul]

Steadfast Determination (PHB II 83) has saved the fighter in one of the games I run from phantasmal killer a handful of times, since he rolls nat 1's so often you'd think someone sabotaged his dice.

[OldTrees1]

Flight:
Aberrant Blood + Starspawn
or Dragon Wings + Improved Dragon Wings

On Hit effects:
Knockback (gives bull rush)
Knock-down (gives trip)
Boomerang Daze (gives daze, limited to Boomerangs)
Three Mountain (gives nausea, limited to Morningstar, Heavy Mace and Greatclub)


Standstill

[Lans]

Standstill for melee due to how its DCs scale

Boomerang Daze and Richochet for throwers due to broken DC and a doubling of attacks.

[Zanos]

Faerie Mysteries Intiate for anyone with good Int.

I honestly think Arcane Mastery (Take 10 on CL checks, including to penetrate SR) is a great feat, simply because it's fairly trivial to boost your CL checks enough that taking 10 will always get you through.