Favored enemy

[bootzin]

Hey guys!
Is there any way to get Favored Enemy out of class dipping? I mean, through feats, ACF, magic places or anything like it?

And would it be too overpowered to swap Trapfinding for Favored Enemy?

[Crake]

Hey guys!
Is there any way to get Favored Enemy out of class dipping? I mean, through feats, ACF, magic places or anything like it?

And would it be too overpowered to swap Trapfinding for Favored Enemy?

druids can get it, along with a bunch of other benefits (including monk fast movement and wis to AC) by giving up their wildshape

[Jowgen]

There are a couple of ways to get it outside a ranger dip.

Unearthed Arcana has at least one class-variant that gives it, namely the avenging Paladin. In the same vein, Dragon 349 has the Hunter of Fiends ACF for Paladins, which gives FE Evil Outsider at a paladin-level dependent bonus and Track in exchange for Smite Evil.

Stalker of Kharash and Harper Paragon PrCs can give FE for all Evil creatures. Shadow Scout from OA can give or progress any given FE (combos well with Stalker of K). Sworn Slayer (Dragon 324) gives Hated Foe, which is effectively FE but with more hate and some nifty extras throughout the class (e.g. ability to get the Nemesis feat without being exalted).

If you already have FE, then the Extra Favored Enemy feat can give you another; and if you are a ranger (either with or without FE), then the Enemy Spirit Pouch (MIC) can either boost or grant a different FE.

A ranger dip is your best bet though, as that might allow you to get your hands on the Solitary Hunting ACF from Dragon 347; which gives you your FE bonus to Attack Rolls from level 1 onwards in exchange for your 4th level animal companion (DM's may disapprove). Also, an actual ranger level qualifies you to pick up Favored Enemy (Arcansists) from Complete Mage, which applies to everything that casts arcane spells or invocations (i.e. the 2nd best FE choice after FE (Evil)).

In any scenario, you'll want the Hunting weapon WSA (MIC) on some side weapon (e.g. armor spikes) to boost your FE damage by 4, and a Girdled of Hate at some point (Dragon Compendium) to double all your FE bonuses against one specific type.


Trading Trapfinding for FE is a straight up no-go though. Having FE opens up a lot of doors in terms of both offence and defense (e.g. Favored Dodge or Wise to your ways). If you want to trade out Trapfinding, I suggest looking here: http://community.wizards.com/forum/previous-editions-character-optimization/threads/1151316

[atemu1234]

Nothing I know of allows one to swap out any Rogue class feature for it; the simplest route seems to be dipping Ranger, if that is at all an option. Plus, you get a variety of minor benefits.

It seems strange to me that no one thought of an ACF trading Sneak Attack for Favored Enemy. It seems logical to me; both are meant to represent knowing an enemy's weak points and exploiting them, in combat or out.

[bootzin]

Isn't there a feat that grants you Favored Enemy?
And what about swapping Trapfinding for Track? Would it be too strong?

[Curmudgeon]

Isn't there a feat that grants you Favored Enemy?
Not that I know of. There's also no feat which grants you Sneak Attack. The general rule is that class abilities are stronger than feats.

[Bronk]

If you already have FE, then the Extra Favored Enemy feat can give you another; and if you are a ranger (either with or without FE), then the Enemy Spirit Pouch (MIC) can either boost or grant a different FE.

A few extras once you get FE:

The 'Improved Favored Enemy' feat from CW improves all of your FEs by +3.

The Girdle of Hate (Dragon 314) can double the bonus of one FE per day.

[Grod_The_Giant]

Not that I know of. There's also no feat which grants you Sneak Attack. The general rule is that class abilities are stronger than feats.
Martial Study (Assassin's Stance)

To address a different tack, I think that Trapfinding for Track or a single Favored Enemy is probably fine. Trapfinding for a scaling Favored Enemy(s) would be a power upgrade, but not a terrible one, especially given that the Rogue isn't the strongest class.

[Curmudgeon]

Martial Study (Assassin's Stance)
To get sneak attack requires not just a single feat, but rather a short feat chain:

Martial Study (some Shadow Hand maneuver)
Martial Stance (Assassin's Stance)

Yes, you could use the text which says that stances are a special type of maneuver to get the benefit of sneak attack for one encounter, as you indicated. That's not a feat granting sneak attack, the always-available class feature. If a short-term boost is all you're after then you can gain the benefit of sneak attack by casting a spell or via Use Magic Device with a wand; no feat is required.

[VariSami]

Isn't there a feat that grants you Favored Enemy?

Foe Hunter from Player's Guide to Faerûn (p. 38). However, it is a regional feat and may thus only be acquired on the 1st level. Secondly, it is a *regional* feat and tied to the Forgotten Realms setting. I would, as a DM, allow using it in a custom setting or other published settings if there is a good enough fluff reason. But this amounts to DM consent which is required for this feat in such situations. (Especially if the amount of possible favored enemies is increased from those normally available.)

[Bronk]

Foe Hunter from Player's Guide to Faerûn (p. 38). However, it is a regional feat and may thus only be acquired on the 1st level. Secondly, it is a *regional* feat and tied to the Forgotten Realms setting. I would, as a DM, allow using it in a custom setting or other published settings if there is a good enough fluff reason. But this amounts to DM consent which is required for this feat in such situations. (Especially if the amount of possible favored enemies is increased from those normally available.)

There's another, non region specific version in Ghostwalk as well.

[VariSami]

There's another, non region specific version in Ghostwalk as well.

Checked. Only applies to Yuan-Ti as written and seems to key itself either into a 3.0 version of Favored Enemy or simply has a completely different effect. I would thus still rather recommend negotiating about the PGtF version over this one.

[Bronk]

Checked. Only applies to Yuan-Ti as written and seems to key itself either into a 3.0 version of Favored Enemy or simply has a completely different effect. I would thus still rather recommend negotiating about the PGtF version over this one.

Ah, but it's updated to 3.5 in a web conversion to bring it up to speed (with +2 bonuses and such). It does only give you Yuan-Ti as a Favored Enemy, but once you have FE you can branch out to others with Extra Favored Enemy and so on.

I totally agree that the other version would be better if it is allowed.