AOO with Reach Weapon and Natural Weapon


Rules Questions


Assume for the moment my character is a Wereshark-kin Skinwalker with a Bite natural attack (Change Shape ability) wielding a longspear (which has the reach quality).

If an enemy was to move directly towards me and attack, would I get an opportunity attack using my longspear (since he left a square threatened by my spear) or my Bite (since he's now next to me and I can't use a reach weapon versus an enemy adjacent to me).

Bonus question: Assume my Wereshark-kin character is a Barbarian, under the effects of his rage ability and has two claw attacks (from the Lesser Beast Totem rage power). Can he wield a longspear (or any weapon) if his hands are now claws?


Attacks of Opportunity happen before the event that triggers them. This means that the act of leaving the threatened square has not yet resolved when you get an AoO, so they are still in the square they're leaving.

Bonus: There is nothing stopping you from wielding weapons with claws for hands. If there was there would be language in the claws that prevented this. Many monsters have attacks with natural attacks (usually slams) or manufactured attacks with those same limbs. You cannot attack with the claws if you attack with the longspear (both of your hands were used) but that's about it.


If an enemy left s square threatened by your spear, you would make an aoo with your spear.

Yes, you can still wield a weapon while you have claws. But you be unable to use the claws while the hand is holding something.

Grand Lodge

Some Random Dood wrote:

If an enemy left s square threatened by your spear, you would make an aoo with your spear.

Yes, you can still wield a weapon while you have claws. But you be unable to use the claws while the hand is holding something.

Well, you could use free actions to allow the claw attacks, but that would be instead of the longspear attack.

Free action: Let go of longspear with one hand (longspear is no longer considered wielded)
Full attack start: Make a claw attack with the free hand.
Free action: Swap which hand is holding the longspear (still not considered as being wielded)
Full attack complete: Make a claw attack with the other hand, now that it is the free hand.
Free action: Grasp longspear with that second hand, making the claws unavailable for AoOs, but making the longspear, again, a wielded weapon for making AoS.


@Bob Bob Bob & @Some Random Dood: Thank you for your responses.

@kinevon: That may work, but I think my DM would throw things at me if I did something that cheesy.

Grand Lodge

jabberwoky wrote:

@Bob Bob Bob & @Some Random Dood: Thank you for your responses.

@kinevon: That may work, but I think my DM would throw things at me if I did something that cheesy.

Depends on why you are doing it. If the DM cheeses you into a corner, where you can't 5' step out to longspear range, then he is just asking you to do something to the horse's rear end that caused the situation to begin with.

But, yes, it runs into the GM may limit the number of free actions someone can take in one turn.

And there is always the option of free action dropping the longspear, and then full attacking with your claws. The downside is it leaves your longspear as an unattended object at your feet, vulnerable to Area Effects, or being grabbed by an opponent, although that last should provoke an AoO from you.

Speaking of AoOs and reach weapons: If he is provoking from you by moving from 10' to 5', and he doesn't have reach (which is assumed, since otherwise he wouldn't need to move to 5'), doing a trip as your AoO is probably fairly close to optimum, if the target can be tripped. Sure, you provoke, but, if he doesn't have reach, and he wouldn't provoke if he did, then it is a "free" trip, and a prone enemy can't finish his move to get next to you, he has to spend his Standard action to stand up, or crawl 5'.

Either way, he is not in a good spot.


Duly noted kinevon. A horsechopper or guisarme may be useful in this case. Thank you.

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