Pack Attack Feat - Ultimate Combat

[LauraGarrison]

I'm confused by the Teamwork feat Pack Attack from Ultimate Combat.

The blurb in the table on page 88 says: "Ally's attack allows you to take a 5-foot step"

And the feat description on page 112 says:

Quote:

Prerequisite: Base attack bonus +1.

Benefit: When you are adjacent to an ally with this feat, the first time you melee attack an opponent, you can spend an immediate action to take a 5-foot step, even if you have otherwise moved this round.

Normal: You can take a 5-foot step only if you have not otherwise moved in a round.

d20pfsrd

I'm unsure of how 'the first time you melee attack an opponent' fits into the rest of the sentence. If it means that you can only 5-foot step once after the first time you attack an opponent that seems really useless. If it applies to the condition (ie you must be adjacent to an ally while making your first attack to use the rest of the feat) that seems to fit the 'pack tactics' theme much better since you could use it to set up flanks. But I question whether that would be the correct ruling since it would last until the end of combat.

Either way, I don't see how your ally attacking has anything to do with it as written.

Can anyone explain how this actually works? Or at least how you would play it?

[gbonehead]

Two observations:

It's an immediate action. So if you attack happens to be an attack of opportunity, you can take a 5-foot step after that AoO.

If you have moved and then attack, you can still 5-foot step to set up a flank for your ally.

Makes sense to me.

[Carlos Cabrera]

Quote:

...the first time you melee attack an opponent...

How long is the duration of this effect? Is it "in a round" or "during combat," and does it reset at some point? What if this is used against a recurring villain? Does it only work once, ever?

[iamgerb]

Benefit: When you are adjacent to an ally with this feat, the first time you melee attack an opponent, you can spend an immediate action to take a 5-foot step, even if you have otherwise moved this round.

Normal: You can take a 5-foot step only if you have not otherwise moved in a round.

You can't take more than one 5-foot step in a round, and you can't take a 5-foot step in the same round that you move any distance.

So... this feat lets you take a 5 foot step as an immediate action. Could you use this feat if you've already taken a 5-foot step in the same round?