Thanks for the review. I have played polearm builds extensively and can attest to how effective reach weapons are in conjunction with Reactive Strike. I agree with you about Spear of Doom. It is a very nice feat. The fighter feat Tactical Reflexes, though, also comes online at 10th level, and gives you an extra reaction at the start of each turn that you can use to make a Reactive Strike. The Warrior of Legend can take both by 12th level, if I understand correctly, so you could have two Reactive Strikes and one Spear of Doom reaction each round! And at 20th level, you could take Boundless Reprisals and get up to four strikes as reactions! The power of this sounds exceptional, given that strikes made with reactions do not suffer from multiple attack penalty. One of my favorite tricks is to wield a guisarme, which has the trip trait, and trip with my first attack action. Any subsequent strikes that turn suffer from multiple attack penalty. But, with the 6th-level fighter feat Advantageous Assault, you can deal extra damage to prone or grabbed targets, when you suffer from a multiple attack penalty, and deal some damage on a miss. Then, I wait for the target to stand up. Standing will trigger Reactive Strike, which I can now make at full attack bonus, plus the target is off-guard for being prone. Fighters will often crit against off-guard opponents, and if you do in this case, your opponent's attempt to stand up is disrupted. And it can get worse than that: the polearm's critical specialization effect allows for a free slide, so you can add forced movement shenanigans when they're beneficial. If you've got more than one reactive strike, you've got another one loaded if he wants to try to stand again. And still at full attack bonus. Even if you don't crit when he stands up, you've still gotten him to spend an action to get stabbed while standing up. Even if you miss, you've still gotten him to spend that action, which is a win in a boss fight or when there are few enemies left standing.
I was actually thinking of Boundless Reprisals myself - and wondering just how insane you could make Spear of Doom stance by manipulating that tactic! I had one player who did a Spear Fighter build recently, but then he met a nice girl & dropped out of the group, so we never really got to see it at full power. We keep telling him to INVITE THE GIRL to the game. Maybe some day. And maybe some day I'll get to see a full powered Polearm Fighter in all of its insane glory! LOL!
Thanks for the review. I have played polearm builds extensively and can attest to how effective reach weapons are in conjunction with Reactive Strike. I agree with you about Spear of Doom. It is a very nice feat. The fighter feat Tactical Reflexes, though, also comes online at 10th level, and gives you an extra reaction at the start of each turn that you can use to make a Reactive Strike. The Warrior of Legend can take both by 12th level, if I understand correctly, so you could have two Reactive Strikes and one Spear of Doom reaction each round! And at 20th level, you could take Boundless Reprisals and get up to four strikes as reactions! The power of this sounds exceptional, given that strikes made with reactions do not suffer from multiple attack penalty. One of my favorite tricks is to wield a guisarme, which has the trip trait, and trip with my first attack action. Any subsequent strikes that turn suffer from multiple attack penalty. But, with the 6th-level fighter feat Advantageous Assault, you can deal extra damage to prone or grabbed targets, when you suffer from a multiple attack penalty, and deal some damage on a miss. Then, I wait for the target to stand up. Standing will trigger Reactive Strike, which I can now make at full attack bonus, plus the target is off-guard for being prone. Fighters will often crit against off-guard opponents, and if you do in this case, your opponent's attempt to stand up is disrupted. And it can get worse than that: the polearm's critical specialization effect allows for a free slide, so you can add forced movement shenanigans when they're beneficial. If you've got more than one reactive strike, you've got another one loaded if he wants to try to stand again. And still at full attack bonus. Even if you don't crit when he stands up, you've still gotten him to spend an action to get stabbed while standing up. Even if you miss, you've still gotten him to spend that action, which is a win in a boss fight or when there are few enemies left standing.
I was actually thinking of Boundless Reprisals myself - and wondering just how insane you could make Spear of Doom stance by manipulating that tactic!
I had one player who did a Spear Fighter build recently, but then he met a nice girl & dropped out of the group, so we never really got to see it at full power.
We keep telling him to INVITE THE GIRL to the game. Maybe some day.
And maybe some day I'll get to see a full powered Polearm Fighter in all of its insane glory! LOL!
All hail Amharin the Blursed! Long may he reign, unless someone's got, like, a regular knife!
"Oh no! You've found my secret weakness! Small knives!" - The Amazing Spiderman
That feels like a movie you should quote for "Blursed."