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So I've been looking through the forums and guides, and I find a lot of support for taking the quickdraw feat early.
Now it seems to me that the feat provides a very minimal bonus before level 6 (for full BAB classes)and level 8 (for 3/4 BAB classes).
Why is this? let's read the feat
Quick Draw (Combat)
You can draw weapons faster than most.
Prerequisite: Base attack bonus +1.
Benefit: You can draw a weapon as a free action instead of as a move action. You can draw a hidden weapon (see the Sleight of Hand skill) as a move action.
A character who has selected this feat may throw weapons at his full normal rate of attacks (much like a character with a bow).
Alchemical items, potions, scrolls, and wands cannot be drawn quickly using this feat.
Normal: Without this feat, you may draw a weapon as a move action, or (if your base attack bonus is +1 or higher) as a free action as part of movement. Without this feat, you can draw a hidden weapon as a standard action.
Unless I missed something big, there is no benefit to this feat at all unless you get more than one iterative attack. You can draw a weapon as a move action, and then use your standard action to attack, or draw for free as part of a move, and then attack as a standard action. The only cases in which I could see this being useful before level 6 (or 8)is if a 3/4 class were able to take it at level 1 (which they can't. BAB +1 prerequisite) , or an archer with rapid shot wanted to be able to make a full attack in the first round of combat(in which case, the utility and focus of the feat is rather weak IMO).
After level 6 (or 8) this feat gets a lot more use for certain builds. Like to throw weapons? this is the feat for you! Like to fire arrows until your enemy is 5 feet away? Then this is your feat as well! From an optimization standpoint, unless you like to stand still and throw things, the feat would be better spent somewhere else.
Have I missed something? Are there good uses for quickdraw that I have overlooked?
Note: "Drawing ammunition for use with a ranged weapon (such as arrows, bolts, sling bullets, or shuriken) is a free action." (It wasn't clear if you were talking about drawing arrows, or drawing the bow)
Quickdraw is still good for throwing, and for being able to attack in a surprise round if you didn't have your weapon already drawn.
You can also use Two-Weapon Fighting to get multiple attacks before BAB+6, including thrown and splash weapons.
Right, except you cannot perform free actions on someone elses turn.
Aoo don't change who's turn it is preventing your trick. Quickdtaw ultimate does exactly what it says it does let's you draw a weapon without affecting the rest of your turn it doesn't really have anything to do with BaB.
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It's very popular with the switch-hitter type builds where they use different weapons for different situations. Being able to switch weapons fast can be quite useful.
Reread the PRD. You can perform one or more Free Actions as part of another action.
Then there should be no restriction on free actions at all, since you can speak outside your turn, then just speak and perform whatever free actions you want. Incoming arrow? Shout and drop prone! Unarmed monk about to disarm you and take your weapon? Swear at him and drop it first!
Or you can assume that "while taking another action normally" means you can take free actions while performing another action on your turn.
Taking an AoO is performing an action. An Immediate Action, I think is the game's technical term.
An AoO is absolutely not an immediate action. You can only perform one Immediate Action per round, and it uses up your existing or next swift action.
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Well off the bat anything with Sneak Attack benefits from it so they can get in an attack in the Surprise round. Rogue's especially use it to Quick Draw a dagger and throw it in the surprise round for sneak attack.
Its good for a Switch Hitter Ranger so you can drop anddraw weapons as needed.
Its good for any character that throws weapons because they aren't ammo so you need to draw them.
So, what kind of action is an AoO. Is it no action, or an explicit action that you take?
If it is an explicit action that you take, then you comabine one or more free action swith that action.
If it is not an action, then what are you doing dealing damage?
The rules are a nice package that work togehter. People like to make them behave differently than they ar ewritten because it is easier and simpler. That doesn't mean those interpretations are correct!
In order to NOT be able to combine a Free Action with an AoO, you have to be decalring that an AoO is NOT an action at all. How does that fit into the rule sstructue, letting people do as many as 5 or 6 damage dealing attacks in a round that aren't actions?
You say it is not an immediate action. Okay. What kind of action is it? Immediate seemed the best fit. Without a Feat to change the rules you can only do one a round, and you can interrupt other people's actions in order to take this action.
The rules don't specify.
It is not a free action, free actions can only be taken on your turn unless explicitly spelled out, and you can take as many free actions in a turn as you want (subject to GM limitation). You only get one AoO per turn (without overriding feats/abilities).
It is not a swift action, swift actions can only be taken on your turn and you only get one per turn (though it would be easy to read the combat reflexes feat as a special overriding condition there). AoO's do not prevent you from still taking a swift action on your turn though.
It is not an immediate action, immediate actions can be taken on someone else's turn, but you only get one per turn, and doing so consumes your swift action for your upcoming turn, again AoO's do not consume your swift action.
So if an AoO is an action, it is a hybrid form of an immediate and free action - but the rules don't specify. Thus the rules, currently, leave it up to GM interpretation of it being some kind of action or no action at all. For an AoO I probably would not personally allow a player to be threatening with one weapon and during the AoO use quickdraw to draw another weapon and attack with it instead. The idea in my mind of an AoO is you see an opening and have a tenth of a second to respond to it and make your attack, beyond that the opportunity is lost.
Note: "Drawing ammunition for use with a ranged weapon (such as arrows, bolts, sling bullets, or shuriken) is a free action." (It wasn't clear if you were talking about drawing arrows, or drawing the bow)Quickdraw is still good for throwing, and for being able to attack in a surprise round if you didn't have your weapon already drawn.
You can also use Two-Weapon Fighting to get multiple attacks before BAB+6, including thrown and splash weapons.
I agree on this point. if you use a lot of thrown weapons like daggers and chakrams, quickdraw has a definite use... after level 6 (or 8 for 3/4ths BAB classes).
Ammunition and shuriken can be drawn as a free action anyways so there's no need to invest in quickdraw.It's very popular with the switch-hitter type builds where they use different weapons for different situations. Being able to switch weapons fast can be quite useful.
However, since drawing a weapon is a move action, there's no real advantage for being able to draw faster until you can take advantage of a full attack action.
Barring a disarm manuever or an "Oh, you're really a werewolf?! I need silver!!" moment there's no reason you should need to switch weapons once engaged in melee. How often have you been swinging away with your +2 keen falchion and thought, "Hmm, I think I'm gonna drop my falchion and fight the rest of the combat with my dagger."?
Well off the bat anything with Sneak Attack benefits from it so they can get in an attack in the Surprise round. Rogue's especially use it to Quick Draw a dagger and throw it in the surprise round for sneak attack.
That's a good point. I hadn't thought about suprise rounds. being able to draw and attack while your foes are flat footed is pretty nice, but it really depends on how often you expect to be suprised.
So, what kind of action is an AoO. Is it no action, or an explicit action that you take?
If it is an explicit action that you take, then you comabine one or more free action swith that action.
If it is not an action, then what are you doing dealing damage?
The rules are a nice package that work togehter. People like to make them behave differently than they ar ewritten because it is easier and simpler. That doesn't mean those interpretations are correct!
In order to NOT be able to combine a Free Action with an AoO, you have to be decalring that an AoO is NOT an action at all. How does that fit into the rule sstructue, letting people do as many as 5 or 6 damage dealing attacks in a round that aren't actions?
You say it is not an immediate action. Okay. What kind of action is it? Immediate seemed the best fit. Without a Feat to change the rules you can only do one a round, and you can interrupt other people's actions in order to take this action.
The rules don't specify.
It is not a free action, free actions can only be taken on your turn unless explicitly spelled out, and you can take as many free actions in a turn as you want (subject to GM limitation). You only get one AoO per turn (without overriding feats/abilities).
It is not a swift action, swift actions can only be taken on your turn and you only get one per turn (though it would be easy to read the combat reflexes feat as a special overriding condition there). AoO's do not prevent you from still taking a swift action on your turn though.
It is not an immediate action, immediate actions can be taken on someone else's turn, but you only get one per turn, and doing so consumes your swift action for your upcoming turn, again AoO's do not consume your swift action.
So if an AoO is an action, it is a hybrid form of an immediate and free action - but the rules don't specify. Thus the rules, currently, leave it up to GM interpretation of it being some kind of action or no action at all. For an AoO I...
I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that AoO are considerd an "immediate attack action." Unless I'm mistaken, they do use up your immediate action for the turn unless you have combat reflexes or a similar feat, in which case, I would rule that combat reflexes increases the number of immediate actions you can take.
Quick Draw is for switch hitters mostly and those that commonly encounter mixed DR enemies such as Skeletons and Zombies in a single encounter. You can hack it up with a Slashing weapon against zombies and Quick Draw your Bludgeoning weapon after dropping/passing off/sheathing the slashing weapon.
Note: this could be over 2 rounds.
The main trick for switch hitters (specificly rangers not sure if the other classes will spend the feats) is to at level 2 get rapid shot then you can full attack with a bow until the enemy is in charge distance then quickdraw a reach weapon to mess them up as they run in.
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Note: "Drawing ammunition for use with a ranged weapon (such as arrows, bolts, sling bullets, or shuriken) is a free action." (It wasn't clear if you were talking about drawing arrows, or drawing the bow)Quickdraw is still good for throwing, and for being able to attack in a surprise round if you didn't have your weapon already drawn.
You can also use Two-Weapon Fighting to get multiple attacks before BAB+6, including thrown and splash weapons.
I agree on this point. if you use a lot of thrown weapons like daggers and chakrams, quickdraw has a definite use... after level 6 (or 8 for 3/4ths BAB classes).
Ammunition and shuriken can be drawn as a free action anyways so there's no need to invest in quickdraw.It's very popular with the switch-hitter type builds where they use different weapons for different situations. Being able to switch weapons fast can be quite useful.However, since drawing a weapon is a move action, there's no real advantage for being able to draw faster until you can take advantage of a full attack action.
Barring a disarm manuever or an "Oh, you're really a werewolf?! I need silver!!" moment there's no reason you should need to switch weapons once engaged in melee. How often has you been swinging away with your +2 keen falchion and thought, "Hmm, I think I'm gonna drop my falchion and fight the rest of the combat with my dagger."?
Well off the bat anything with Sneak Attack benefits from it so they can get in an attack in the Surprise round. Rogue's especially use it to Quick Draw a dagger and throw it in the surprise round for sneak attack.That's a good point. I hadn't thought about suprise rounds. being able to draw and attack while your foes are flat footed is pretty nice, but it really depends on how often you expect to be suprised.
here is how the Switch Hitter works.
Enemies are 100 ft away (or more). You are shooting your bow.
Enemies double move to be 40 ft out.
Keep shooting arrows into enemy with full attack. Drop your bow, draw your 2H weapon, and 5 ft. step up to put you close to the enemy than your casters.
Without Quickdraw you have to rely on drawing while moving and sometimes you need to take that 5 ft step and change weapons. The point is to put as many arrows into the enemy while they get to you. Having Quick Draw allows you to full attack that last round while they close in and then have a melee weapon out to attract AoOs the next movement they make, or to at least be prepared for melee next round and not have to rely on movement to draw.
To the Quickdraw in AoO argument. I would describe that as the Samurai or Fighter having his hands just right to strike the enemy when they are open. Which is the key aspect of Battoujutsu(sp?).
I would allow it. Whenever you could get an AoO you can use 1 free action as well.
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To the Quickdraw in AoO argument. I would describe that as the Samurai or Fighter having his hands just right to strike the enemy when they are open. Which is the key aspect of Battoujutsu(sp?).
I would allow it. Whenever you could get an AoO you can use 1 free action as well.
But to clarify that is a Houserule not a RAW?
I agree on this point. if you use a lot of thrown weapons like daggers and chakrams, quickdraw has a definite use... after level 6 (or 8 for 3/4ths BAB classes).
Or because you use more than one weapon.
Barring a disarm manuever or an "Oh, you're really a werewolf?! I need silver!!" moment there's no reason you should need to switch weapons once engaged in melee.
Only relevant if all enemies are located in one spot. If you're attacked by eight orcs, four which have melee weapons charging in and four which have crossbows, there's all reason in the world to switch between them.
Also note that while drawing is a move action, so is sheathing - so when you only want to take a standard attack action, quickdraw is still useful to keep your other weapon on your person when switching (if you don't have quickdraw you have to drop the weapon to the ground as a free action).
Also, IIRC drawing as part of a move just works if you make a standard move. You can't for example draw a weapon as part of a charge, or drawing and loading a crossbow as a move action.
Quick Draw is for switch hitters mostly and those that commonly encounter mixed DR enemies such as Skeletons and Zombies in a single encounter. You can hack it up with a Slashing weapon against zombies and Quick Draw your Bludgeoning weapon after dropping/passing off/sheathing the slashing weapon.
Note: this could be over 2 rounds.
I'm currently playing a switch hitter and I can't seem to think of a reason to take "Quickdraw". I think that the feat could be spent better on something else (like "Vital Stike" for instance).
Sheathing a weapon could lend some utility to "Quickdraw". You could sheath your weapon (move action) instead of dropping it (free action) and then draw another one and attack, however that has a few disadvantages:
1) You can draw a weapon as a free action as part of a move, but would probably be at the mercy of your GM when it comes to sheathing a weapon as part of a move (so that you can draw as a free action using quickdraw).
2) If you're already engaged combat, Sheathing a weapon provokes an attack of opportunity. you're probably just better off dropping it (free action), and drawing another (move action). You won't miss out on an attack until you get your second attack action at level 6 (or 8).
I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that AoO are considerd an "immediate attack action." Unless I'm mistaken, they do use up your immediate action for the turn unless you have combat reflexes or a similar feat, in which case, I would rule that combat reflexes increases the number of immediate actions you can take.
I'm pretty sure I have not seen that written anywhere :).
Neither the rules on AoO's or Immediate actions call that out. I'm not sure what other sections of the rules you'd look to find something that isn't covered in either of the two relevant parts of the rules.
Quickdraw saves you actions. Actions are expensive and hard to come by. If playing a fighter, I'd take quickdraw sooner or later more or less regardless of build. It's not going to be good in every combat, but every time it works, it basically gives you an extra move action - and that's very powerful.
Also, IIRC drawing as part of a move just works if you make a standard move. You can't for example draw a weapon as part of a charge, or drawing and loading a crossbow as a move action.
Actually you can, with some restrictions.
"If you move a distance equal to your speed or less, you can also draw a weapon during a charge attack if your base attack bonus is at least +1."
For full reference http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/combat.html#charge
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The rules are a nice package that work togehter.
I'm pretty sure that this is exactly what they are not :)
There are lots of areas of the rules that are unclear or contradictory. GMs have to rule and everyone has to accept table variation.
I have never thought of an AoO as an action, purely as a response to one.
So, what kind of action is an AoO.
Is an AoO an action? I believe no.It's an action. It's not a free or a standard or a full-round or an immediate or a swift action, but it IS still an action. Since it's something you're doing.
This was in reference to a dazed creature being able to take no actions, thus not threatening and thus being unable to make an AoO.
here is how the Switch Hitter works.
Enemies are 100 ft away (or more). You are shooting your bow.
Enemies double move to be 40 ft out.
Keep shooting arrows into enemy with full attack. Drop your bow, draw your 2H weapon, and 5 ft. step up to put you close to the enemy than your casters.Without Quickdraw you have to rely on drawing while moving and sometimes you need to take that 5 ft step and change weapons. The point is to put as many arrows into the enemy while they get to you. Having Quick Draw allows you to full attack that last round while they close in and then have a melee weapon out to attract AoOs the next movement they make, or to at least be prepared for melee next round and not have to rely on movement to draw.
you wouldn't need quick draw to switch to melee until level 6 because you only get 1 attack with your melee weapon. enemies close, you drop your weapon (free action), draw your sword (move action), attack (standard action)
it does give you an extra attack with your bow in the first round, but otherwise, until you get to level 6 and take manyshot, you're only gaining one extra attack at 1d8 (+0 because you probably don't have mighty yet)
for a switch hitter, quick draw only becomes useful after level 6, and for nearly every other build that doesn't revolve around a switch hitter or weapon thrower concept, quickdraw is a less than optimal choice
Edit: that attack would probably be at 1d8+2 or 1d6+4 (lvl4) because of deadly aim. that does make quickdraw much more valuable. an extra attack at the beginning of every combat. good for switch hitter. still subpar for almost everyone else (non-archery)
So, what kind of action is an AoO.Is an AoO an action? I believe no.It's an action. It's not a free or a standard or a full-round or an immediate or a swift action, but it IS still an action. Since it's something you're doing.This was in reference to a dazed creature being able to take no actions, thus not threatening and thus being unable to make an AoO.
Nice lookup!
But to clarify that is a Houserule not a RAW?To the Quickdraw in AoO argument. I would describe that as the Samurai or Fighter having his hands just right to strike the enemy when they are open. Which is the key aspect of Battoujutsu(sp?).
I would allow it. Whenever you could get an AoO you can use 1 free action as well.
Technically yes. Though it is based on an old 3.5 ruling.
for a switch hitter, quick draw only becomes useful after level 6, and for nearly every other build that doesn't revolve around a switch hitter or weapon thrower concept, quickdraw is a less than optimal choice
Yeah, it's useless, until you need to retrieve an item, open a door, or do any sort of move actiony goodness. Even if it is useless at level 1, is that a big deal? So are lots of other feats.
Yeah, it's useless, until you need to retrieve an item, open a door, or do any sort of move actiony goodness. Even if it is useless at level 1, is that a big deal? So are lots of other feats.for a switch hitter, quick draw only becomes useful after level 6, and for nearly every other build that doesn't revolve around a switch hitter or weapon thrower concept, quickdraw is a less than optimal choice
Well said
Isnt there a racial feat that allows you to do this up to 5 feet away? That could be fun.
Now, you won't threaten with a gauntlet.
Sean K Reynolds (Designer): "Brass knuckles should be armed (light melee weapon) attacks. (As should gauntlets and spiked gauntlets.)"
Sean K Reynolds (Designer): "Treating brass knuckles, gauntlets, spiked gauntlets, cesti, and rope gauntlets as "unarmed attacks" doesn't make a lot of sense (because you're not unarmed, you have metal/leather/rope/etc. there).... Making all of these weapons act 100% like weapons and not refer to unarmed attacks at all means these questions go away."
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One thing comes to mind.
Im a spy, or undercover, or whatever.
"Omg, my cover is blown and the only weapon I have is hidden"
Quick draw allows me to draw my hidden weapon and attack in the first round. It would be rather comforting to know you can get that boot dagger out, or whatever. Being armed is, as we all know, important.
I guess it doesn't matter if you have "improved unarmed strike" but id imagine most people take neither that feat, nor wear gauntlets at the fancy shmancy party they are crashing.
RPG Superstar 2011 Top 32
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Quick Draw is one of those feats that rarely looks as good as other options on paper. Every time you get a new feat, there always seems to be somethign sexier to take. However, once you have it you keep finding new and better uses for it. I've never had a character regret taking Quick Draw.
As far as the whole AoO/Quick draw thing, I'm of the opinion that taking an AoO is an action in the sense of the English noun, but not an action in the sense of a game term. It's probably not RAW but I'd also say that you should have to take your AoO with the weapon you threatened with, so even if you could draw as a free action during the AoO you're still punching with the gauntlet, you just have a sword in your hand when you're done.
Thus, an AoO is an action.
One or more Free Actions, by definition, can be taken in conjunction with another action that you perform.
If you threaten, you can take an AoO action. Then you can take a free Action in conjunction with the AoO action in order to quickdraw a weapon other than the one you were threatening with.
Now, you won't threaten with a gauntlet. That's one of the rules "clean-up" changes between 3.x and Paizo. You DO threaten with, say, a cestus, however.
This is NOT a 3.x artifact. This is not houserules. This is RAW.
It's not a well-written rule, but I think it's fair to assume it's not intended as part of ANY other action - since you can speak whenever you want. There would be no point in stating "you can only do free actions on your turn" and then state "you can do free actions as part of talking and you can talk whenever you want to, even out of your turn".
Yes, it can be argued RAW doesn't forbid it, but it's clearly not intended and taking RAW over RAI is bug exploitation - which in any other gaming situation is frowned upon.
What? Two-feat? I'm talking in more general terms than this specific feat application. If I understood you correctly, you say that the "free actions may be done as part of another action" overrides the limitation "free actions must be made on your turn". That is the interpretation that allows the QD on AoO stuff (and I don't see anything broken with QD on AoO). However, that interpretation causes a lot of other weird stuff:
For example, it states that free actions can be made only on your turn, so if the orc shoots at you in it's turn, you can't simply drop prone and get +4 AC - unless you say "Shenanigans!" because then you can make a free action as part of the talk action.
So your reflexes increase because you say something? It simply doesn't make sense. That's what I mean it's probably not intended.
In my campaign, I treat readily acessible items (like potions in a potion belt, or wands in waist sheats) as weapons for retrieve purpose. So you can retrieve a wand as part of a move action as long as it is easily acessible. Sudenly Quick Drawn becomes a better feat, as you can pop a potion in half the time needed before.
The balance in my vision comes from the fact that as you walk with wands and potions dangling from your belt, enemies can easily see it and Steal/Sunder. So if you want your potions safe, stow it in your backpack/handy haversack.
If I understood you correctly, you say that the "free actions may be done as part of another action" overrides the limitation "free actions must be made on your turn".Well, since the statement that one or more free actions may be performed as part of another action that you take is from the PRD, yes, I think it over-rides the common wisdom claim that free actions can be done on your turn only.
For example, it states that free actions can be made only on your turn,No, that limit is NOT in the PRD. It is one that was created by people as a simple way of explaining the limits that ARE called out in the PRD. It is not an accurate description of those limits, just a simple one. The limit ACTUALLY in the PRD is two-fold:
1) You can perform one or more free actions as part of performing another action (so you have to already have the right to do SOMETHING other than the free action, such as take an AoO)
2) The GM has the right to limit you to a reasonable number of free actions per base action
Try providing direct rules references for your position, and you will find that they do not exist. You are arguing for the momentum of common wisdom, not about what the rules actually say.
Technically, you are correct that it does not say free actions can only be taken on your turn. However, it also doesn't say that about any of the actions. The only action the PRD specifies on whose turn it can be taken is the immediate action, which is specifically called out as saying it can be taken on someone's else turn.
Relevant quotes:
In a normal round, you can perform a standard action and a move action, or you can perform a full-round action. You can also perform one swift action and one or more free actions. You can always take a move action in place of a standard action.
Immediate Action: An immediate action is very similar to a swift action, but can be performed at any time—even if it's not your turn.
So by your logic, any action can be taken on anyone's turn simply because it doesn't state you can't. However, I believe that because the immediate action is the only one to have the "even if it's not your turn" part, it is the only one that can be taken outside of your turn.
*Edit* Also found the part on speech.
Speak
In general, speaking is a free action that you can perform even when it isn't your turn. Speaking more than a few sentences is generally beyond the limit of a free action.
Emphasis mine. This implies to me that it being allowed to be taken outside of your turn is a special case, and thus not the norm for free actions.
I second that quickdraw is an often underestimated feat. At the same time it is also very character dependent, i.e. what kind of weapons will you be using, will you be in melee or not etc.
I am currently playing a fighter with shield and unarmed strikes at low levels and I plan to take quickdraw later to be able to freely switch between attacks with shield, unarmed strikes and ranged weapons such as javelins or knives. Often enough I have knocked out/finished an enemy with one or two attacks remaining from a full attack, but not a move action - so that attack is wasted. Taking quickdraw allows me to make the most use of it.
Since quickdraw is being discussed here: Does quickdraw also affect the drawing of shields? Until recently I had thought that it is always a move action to don them. However, shields are also listed as weapons (shield bash, spiked shield etc.), so I am not entirely sure anymore.
An archer can have 2 attacks at level 1. A human or a fighter can take rapid shot then.
JJ isn't a developer and what he says isn't a ruling by any means. If you want to argue RAW with citations you need a dev like SKR or Jason Buhlman (sp?).
Well, I often take quickdraw early since as you level up you get better options, which you will want to take right away: this could force me to wait double digit level to take QD, simply because there are things I like more at level 6-12 or so. For many build, especially human fighters, you will find that at low level you have more feat slots than feats that you really want: in this case I prefer to get a feat that I will not use for 3-4 levels rather than taking other feats that I can use right away but that are not very good in the long run.
Since quickdraw is being discussed here: Does quickdraw also affect the drawing of shields? Until recently I had thought that it is always a move action to don them. However, shields are also listed as weapons (shield bash, spiked shield etc.), so I am not entirely sure anymore.
They are only listed as weapons in reference of their shield bash damage.
But if you have a quickdraw shield, the quick draw feat allow you to don it or put it away as a free action. For a normal shield, the feat does not help.
The feat does give a two-handed fighter the opportunity to use his weapon twohanded on his own turn, while wearing a quickdraw shield on the enemies' turns.
Apart from that, the feat isn't only helpful with thrown weapons at lvl 6+. It becomes relevant as soon as you got rapid shot and/or TWF. At lower levels this matters a lot, as the potential damage output rises significantly. Heck, even an archer should be using thrown weapons at lower levels before he can afford that composite longbow.
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In my campaign, I treat readily acessible items (like potions in a potion belt, or wands in waist sheats) as weapons for retrieve purpose. So you can retrieve a wand as part of a move action as long as it is easily acessible. Sudenly Quick Drawn becomes a better feat, as you can pop a potion in half the time needed before.
The balance in my vision comes from the fact that as you walk with wands and potions dangling from your belt, enemies can easily see it and Steal/Sunder. So if you want your potions safe, stow it in your backpack/handy haversack.
The rules for pulling weapons pretty much say this is the case. Combine that with Accelerated Drinker and you can pull and drink a potion off your belt in just a Move Action. Thats pretty nice when you then use another Free Action to pull a wand off your belt and use it with a Standard Action.