MisterSlanky |
My search-fu is either exceptionally weak this morning or this just hasn't been asked.
Back in the day we just had the Ranger. A few prerequisites here and there mention "Favored Enemy". At the time this was fine, if you wanted to use the ability that said "Favored Enemy Class Feature" you just took a level of ranger.
Fast forward several years and we've watched the addition of dozens of archetypes, and more importantly, the slayer. Now rather than "Favored Enemy", we've got "Studied Target", something that seems to be here to stay and is frankly, the next evolution of a Favored Enemy, one that actually works well.
Now here's the question. Has there been any official communication anywhere regarding whether the two are interchangeable for the purposes of prerequisites? I can find a power here and there under Hunters, Slayers and the like that imply that it's the case, but nothing directly stating it one way or other. It's unfortunate that older options are unavailable to newer classes just due to a minor wording change, or the lack of a clarification that they're the same for the purposes of determining prerequisites. Is there any previous discussion or commentary I've missed anywhere that's discussed this in the context of "well that's not what it says"?
Malag |
There isn't much too think about here. Check the text description of the Studied Target and if it counts as Favored Enemy for the purpose of taking feats or other abilities. If it's not written there or under feats aiming to be taken, then it doesn't. I am not sure if they even should though, since they are completely different.
I also cannot find at the moment any discussion that might answer your question.
MisterSlanky |
I've not seen any discussions about Favored Enemy and Studied Target being interchangeable. Probably because they don't really have anything to do with each other, unlike bloodrage/rage and bardic performance/ranging song who uses the same mechanics.
As I was saying though, they don't use the same mechanics because it is clear that the designers are getting away from the flat Favored Enemy bonuses (which many players thought underpowered). The deluge of "Studied Target" archetypes compared to the complete lack of Favored Enemy ones is a good example of this.
But it's clear here that this hasn't been discussed, so maybe it's time. That's as much of an answer as anything - my search-fu wasn't terribly weak, it's just not been asked.
Goldmyr |
Sorry. I misread.
Best bet is to ask the GM. I don't know of any discussion on how new powers are supposed to work in conjunction with old feats.
There was a little sidebar in the ACG that said Gunslinger's Grit, Swashbuckler's Panache, and Luck Points given by a select few archetypes are all supposed to be different names for the same pool and if you have two of the above resources the different pools stack and can be used for different class abilities. So there's a precedent.
Also, an errata on the slayer accidentally called studied target as favored target. So they're at least close enough to get confused.
Personally, I would probably allow it in at least some cases.