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silas the monk
2008-06-12, 02:37 PM
What is the point of the melee evasion feat? It comes into play when a character has total defence. He thus substitutes a high DC of at least 14 for a random one which might be really, really low.

marjan
2008-06-12, 03:03 PM
Minor mistake in your reading of the feat - It's fight defensively, not total defense.

The only use I see of it is if you somehow have much higher AB than AC (Shock Troopers for example).

Other than that the only use I see for it is to pair it up with Monkey Grip:smallbiggrin:.

Frosty
2008-06-12, 03:51 PM
Why would you want that feat which has some crappy prerequisites anyways? One level in Warblade can let you have something that is essential the same thing as a Counter, and you don't even need to fight defensively.

silas the monk
2008-06-12, 04:25 PM
Frosty,
The short answer is that I do not have that source book. However warblade looks interesting.

Marjan,
I see the mistake. I was probably confusing it with another feat. The thing I don't get about the feat description is whether you get both your normal AC and your D20+BAB or just the latter. As an exercise I was trying to construct a 1st level fighter with a large great sword (so yes monkey grip) and for other reasons the highish intelligence, vulnerable flaw and a reluctance to don any armour with a penalty. So I realize his AC had been brought very low and I was trying to see if I could repair it. I actually don't see why monkey grip is relevant.

marjan
2008-06-12, 04:56 PM
Strictly RAW reading you would roll d20 and add just your BaB, which just shows how much this feat sucks by RAW.

If we go RAI, I think that it should probably be "make an attack roll at your highest BaB", in which case you add your normal attack with greatsword and subtract 4 for fighting defensively.

In both cases you will use that instead of your AC. Even going with RAI this is pretty bad feat considering what you give and what you get (which is the reason I compared it to the Monkey Grip, which is considered one of the worst feats by most people on this forum).

Andras
2008-06-12, 08:39 PM
I guess it would be a good feat if you were trying to boost your touch AC (especially for a full-plated character)...on average, unless you're pumping dexterity, it'll put it higher than it would be otherwise at almost any level (avg 10.5 + BAB is usually going to be better than 10 + Dex in heavy armor). Also, as mentioned above, for Shock Trooper usage.

It seems a little too situational, all things considered. Also, it's ineffective against anything with more than one attack, or if you're against multiple things. For your situation, I wouldn't recommend it.

Curmudgeon
2008-06-13, 12:17 AM
As Andras pointed out, Melee Evasion seems like a feat that wouldn't be useful to very many characters, or very often. There are hundreds of feats and many of them are only useful in particular situations, such as when you're surrounded. I guess they wanted to provide more opportunities for Fighters to distinguish themselves.