[3.5] suppose combat expertise is locked in, Riposte worth it?

[ciopo]

Greetings dwellers.

Yesterday I leveled, yay! And it's a level with a feat, double yay!

I have no idea/direction on what to do with myself in regards to feats. Because like NONE of them are central to my build except Track as a prerequisite.

Giving a bit more info, I'm a shapeshift variant, half orc druid, just leveled to 9, classes are druid 6 nature's warrior 3.

"Combat" form is a STR 26 with bite/claw/claw, I have AC 29 with barkskin and halo of sand, plus whatever if I decide to use combat expertise.

My feats are combat expertise, combat reflexes (retrained from improved trip), practiced spellcaster (retrained from create wondrous items) and track. Gm houseruled we gain a feat every odd level.

And I'm just stumped with "too many choices" since none of the feats really matters much to my playstile.

I liked tripping while I only had one bite attack, but now that I have a bite/claw/claw routine I don't plan on tripping as much.

Combat reflexes is in function of being size large, so yay reach.

Of note: natural spell are a no go for the shapeshift variant.

Currently, I'm leaning toward one of these 4

Good old power attack

Maybe Riposte, because -1 to hit for +1AC AND a likely extra bite on the aoo seems acceptable?

Blade of force feat : we faced incorporeals the last 2 sessions and it appears they might be a recurring feature of the campaign

Shape soulmeld : crystal helm probably, in preparation to bind chakra to hit, for same reason of blade of force

Cobalt expertise : I mean I have expertise, and inaight AC is rare af, if I were to get improved trip back ...

Extra slot: maybe in 3 levels when it'd be a 4th level slot instead of a 3rd level slot

Extend metamagic : not sold on it because I bought a rod already for the staple hours/level, but it's still solid


Others ????


I had it so bad that other than combat expertise+improved trip as the early levels gimmick all my other feats were slated as "luck line" feats in my drawing board =)



Thanks for the feedback on Riposte, or on any comment on all the rest of woolgathering

[Particle_Man]

I would go for Blade of Force, as it seems to fit the idea that your character learns from their experiences. Like the 60's Spider-Man cartoon, with Peter Parker learning exactly the right webbing to face a recurring opponent.

[Troacctid]

Blade of Force isn't entirely ideal if you're going to be doing much shifting between forms, since it competes with shapeshifting for your swift action; however, it is a pretty nice feat, as far as gish feats go. If you're in ferocious slayer form most of the time, it's a fine choice.

Riposte is also a solid option. You have enough AC and enough weight behind your attacks to support it.

Those are the only two from your list that I like, I think. Power Attack only gives 1:1 with natural weapons, so it's probably not worth it, mathematically speaking. Shape Soulmeld (crystal helm) is just two feats to accomplish what Blade of Force does with one; if you were going to use a soulmeld for this, I'd rather use apparation ribbon and not have to bind it. Cobalt Expertise is only so-so even if you have Improved Trip, which you don't. Extra Slot is aggressively mediocre, and Extend Spell is covered by metamagic rods.

[Darg]

I have to second riposte as being a good one. Spending all your AoOs as retaliations is nice.

Other than that, have you thought about multiattack and improved multiattack? Reducing your penalty on your secondary attacks is really good.

[ciopo]

thanks for the feedback.

I missed the apparition ribbon, nice one!

of those various "I no like ghosts" choices, I think I'm gravitating the most toward the blade of force, on virtue that it at least does something even against normal opponents.

What I don't like it about it is holding the slot in reserve is a single point of failure, it would be poof gone when I do get it and energy drained again.

I think I'll go for riposte after all.

It'd be one Aoo per round spent retaliating, since it has that limitation, unless there is a more recent version than Draconomicon that I've missed? plus one bite attack at the cost of -1 to hit seems an acceptable trade to me, and I am the frontliner, I


GM said I don't qualify for multiattack

[Darg]

GM said I don't qualify for multiattack

That's odd. You have a bite and 2 claw attacks. That fits the prerequisite of needing 3 natural attacks. It's the DM's call, but multiattack is a weird one to be restrictive on.

[H_H_F_F]

That's odd. You have a bite and 2 claw attacks. That fits the prerequisite of needing 3 natural attacks. It's the DM's call, but multiattack is a weird one to be restrictive on.

I've met DM's who were uncomfortable with that since you don't "actually have" multiple natural attacks. They're there only when you use your magic. Like you said, it's weird, but I think that's probably the logic here.

[ciopo]

That's thrm apples exactly.

Same reason +casting stat item doesn't give me extra slots, because "it can be removed"

In campaign tattoo (war of the burning sky tattoomancy) that emulates the magic item does give me the juicy slot however, and it is active even while shapeshifted :)

Haven't had another session yet, but I've sold myself on riposte, and I'll probably get inproved trip back by the time I unlock the forest avenger form at 12, because I find the concept of "if I have to move anyway, wouldn't it be funny to do do a trip attack when someone misses me with their Aoo? AND slam them on top!"