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| #1FrogReaverJun 13, 2015 19:14:00 | Strongest combat feats to take with human variant at level 1 (for early game)
-Crossbow expert 1. Negates the enemy tactic of disrupting the ranged character by getting in melee Range with him. 2. Gives a bonus action attack which at low levels almost doubles the amount of DPR you can do. 3. Gives a good increase in DPR late game as well
-Great Weapon Master 1. Upon killing an enemy you get a bonus action attack. Very strong considering low level foes often die in a single hit from a great weapon. 2. Has the added bonus of making your crits even better. 3. Sets you up for good late game DPR with the -5/+10 ability
-Inspiring Leader 1. 1+ cha mod temp hp per short rest to the whole party at level 1. That can easily be +3 or +4 temp hp per short rest to the whole party. Considering most characters start somewhere between 8 and 13 hp... adding 3 or 4 more hp onto them is a huge buff in early game survivability. It makes them much more likely to live through 1 more hit than they otherwise would have. 2. The temp hp scales decently well throughout most of the game.
-Healer 1. The amount of healing this feat produces in the early levels is insane.
-Heavy Armor Master 1. There is no stronger single character ability early game than a flat 3 damage reduction to all non-magical weapons. It's nearly impssible to kill a character in the early levels that has this feat. It remains useful later but it's probably not as good as +2 con in the late game. 2. It also can give you a reason to start your strength off at an odd nubmer which opens up alot of nice stat combinations.
-Polearm Master 1. Gives a strong reaction attack based ability. 2. Gives a bonus action attack which at low levels almost doubles the amount of DPR you can do. 3. Gives a good increase in DPR late game as well
-Magic Initiate 1. Allows a level 1 character to cast sleep or an additional use of sleep. This doesn't scale well but it's so strong early it doesn't matter. 2. Can get the light cantrip to solve the problem of not having darkvision that humans have 3. Can also get another utility cantrip like firebolt for a decent ranged attack or something else
These feats will make the early levels easy. My personal favorite for that is inspiring leader.
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| #2melloredJun 13, 2015 19:29:14 | i would add healer, which is almost as good as inspiring leader, but doesn't need Cha. |
| #3OnionDruidJun 13, 2015 19:43:46 | Definitely Healer and Lurker. Lurker makes human Rogues not completely give themselves away (or other sneaking class) and Healer is really good even if you don't have Cunning action.
Another good pickup is Observant. +5 to passive perception? Able to choose perception as a skill? You are looking at a 20 Passive Perception. Not getting slaughtered in the first round/surprise round is a part of combat right? |
| #4AshrymJun 13, 2015 19:57:10 |
Moderately armored is also an excellent choice for PC's who are restricted to light armor, or possibly heavily armored to avoid any DEX investment at all. Higher AC and +1 ability score increase to round up to an even number can be a pretty good investment. |
| #5ZHDarkstarJun 13, 2015 20:59:58 | It's more of a 2nd level combo, but a Defensive Fighter with Mounted Combatant and Moon Druid with Sentinel make a potent bear rider team.
Observant is more of a social/exploration feat, but still is a good way to get a third +1 and boosts a highly useful passive skill by +5. Could even be used to counter Subtle Spell by reading lips.
You can never go wrong with Martial Adept. Snagging some Superiority Dice and Maneuvers right out of the gate gives a nice chunk of versatility to almost any class.
And of course, we can't forget about Resilient. Three +1's and two major ST proficiencies? Yes, please! A single Resilient(Con) can give a Rogue all three major ST's (Dex, Con, Wis) at 15th level. |
| #6OnionDruidJun 13, 2015 21:45:49 | Shield Master is also fantastic at level 1. |
| (Reply to #2)FrogReaver |
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| (Reply to #3)FrogReaver |
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| (Reply to #4)FrogReaver |
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| (Reply to #6)FrogReaver |
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| #11FunkySpunkJun 13, 2015 22:37:17 | I really think it's hard to be Heavy Armor Master. |
| (Reply to #11)FrogReaver |
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| (Reply to #9)Ashrym |
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| (Reply to #13)FrogReaver |
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| #15FunkySpunkJun 13, 2015 23:42:10 |
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| (Reply to #15)FrogReaver |
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| #17Coredump00Jun 14, 2015 11:58:55 | I took Sharpshooter as my Vuman feat, its been a lot of fun and a lot of help.
Ignoring cover saves has been great, and the occassional 300' shot has also come in handy.
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| (Reply to #10)SterlingRat |
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| #19TfutureJun 14, 2015 20:09:04 | Observant is one i use often, especially as a caster, get the stat bump as well as +5 to passive perception... pretty good...a round where your surprised especially at low levels can very quickly end a party |
| (Reply to #19)FrogReaver |
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| (Reply to #18)FrogReaver |
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| (Reply to #17)FrogReaver |
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| #23intentlyJun 15, 2015 12:30:16 | Is Heavy Armor Master only worth getting if you get it at level 1? If you get it at 4 or 8 is it much worse? |
| #24melloredJun 15, 2015 12:44:09 |
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| (Reply to #21)OnionDruid |
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| #26LilikaJun 15, 2015 19:40:35 | I think feats that only effect a few classes should be included, because if you were that class it would be one of the best options to take. For example Sharpshooter for an archer and Heavy Armor Master for a plate wearing class, etc. Variant humans do have a class and that should be taken into consideration. Also consider that many classes will not see another feat till lvl 12 so they might as well choose one that may start to become useful a little later, also the first 4 lvls go by so fast, you might not want to optimize for them. |
| (Reply to #24)FrogReaver |
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| (Reply to #25)FrogReaver |
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| (Reply to #26)FrogReaver |
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| #30SterlingRatJun 16, 2015 2:21:51 | I understand about shield master and can totally see your point. I like Shield Master more than you do, but this is your list and in the absence of at least a few "cool" points, shield master is mathematically worse than the ones you listed. When I do the math, it gets an extra point or three because Captain America 2 was really good, so it gets to be equal. |
| (Reply to #30)FrogReaver |
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| #32NoctaemJun 16, 2015 10:15:02 |
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| #33FrogReaverJun 16, 2015 11:02:07 | The starting point for an argument for showing that Shield Master is the equal of crossbow expertise and polearm master in the early game.
A 16 str human variant at lvl 1 with a maul does 2d6 + 3 damage = 10 damage with fighting style its 11.33 damage
A 16 str human variant with polearm master at lvl 1 with a halbred does 1d10 + 3 + 1d4 + 3 = 14 damage. with fighting style that is 15.3 damage
Polearm master allows 15.3 / 11.33 = +35% more damage
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A 16 dex human variant at lvl 1 with a heavy crossbow does 1d10 + 3 = 8.5 damage
A 16 dex human variaint at lvl 1 with crossbow expertise and a handcross bow does 1d6+3 + 1d6+3 = 13
Crossbow expertise allows 13/8.5 = 53% more damage.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So the major question for shield master is what kind of damage bonus will it typically allow? |
| #34FrogReaverJun 16, 2015 11:04:55 | On a side note actual percente more damage of the crossbow expertise and polearm mastery feats is actually quite a bit lower than I anticipated. |
| (Reply to #34)SterlingRat |
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| #36guachiJun 16, 2015 15:13:16 |
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| (Reply to #35)FrogReaver |
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| #38FrogReaverJun 17, 2015 9:44:03 | To address the shield maste focus fire issue:
1. If there is just you in melee and the rest of the party is ranged characters then you are actually detrimental to the focus fire objective. However, you are able to lock down a single enemy very well with the prone tactic which is benefical to an all ranged party and then they can ranged focus fire on any other enemy. So while it hurts focus fire in this scenario it opens up the door to another tactic that is very usefull. As such I'd rate it as giving no benefit or detriment to such a party.
2. If there are two melee characters then 1 of two situations will happen. A. You will have no good chance of attacking the same target and thus be separated and attacking different targets. Focus fire can still happen on the other melee characters target while you prone your target for the extra DPR. B. You and your other melee ally attack the same target (which would be the goal under normal focus fire tactics). This has the added benefit of increasing his DPR as well.
How much does it help DPR? About as much as half a character to a full character extra attacking the enemy. IMO this situation is actually a subpar time to use shield master (unless maybe you just have 1 ranged ally) or your ranged allies have significantly less ranged attack damage than you (like most casters)
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Conclusion: In a heavy melee centric party the prone ability is great. In a party where you are the only melee character its probably about the same as not having it but it makes for different tactical considerations. In a party that's split melee and ranged with ranged characters that have comparable damage to the melee characters it's detrimental In a party that's split melee and ranged with with the ranged characters having significantly less damage then the melee ones I would count it as beneficial.
As such I still feel it's too situatonal of a feat to rate beside the unconditional DPR feats. ***Though in the right party I would rate shield master higher than those other feats. |
| #39SterlingRatJun 17, 2015 9:51:07 | I gave it 75% chance because it's an opposed skill check; typically someone who is planning to make these checks often will start with a +5 in the check while most enemies get little/no bonus. Basically, I pulled a reasonable sounding number out of the air based on my paladin's success with shoves. |
| #40SterlingRatJun 17, 2015 9:56:08 | I wouldn't give it too much thought... it's not too important. Your list does not say "choose one of these or you are worthless", it says "these are the strongest"... I can agree with that. If you had a second list of feats that are also cool and can be really fun to play, I'm sure it would include Shield Master. |
| (Reply to #40)FrogReaver |
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| #42melloredJun 17, 2015 10:12:03 |
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| (Reply to #42)FrogReaver |
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| #44melloredJun 17, 2015 10:29:24 | According to this, the average strength of all monsters is 15.
And the average CR 1 monster has a Str of 12. |
| (Reply to #44)FrogReaver |
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| (Reply to #35)Kremlin_KOA_02 |
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| (Reply to #46)FrogReaver |
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