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My wife is starting a new fighter and since she is doing two-weapon fighting she has a fairly high Dex score (17 at 1st level). I was thinking of having her take Combat Reflexes to take advantage of the high Dex but does it really come in handy that often? Do you really end up with that many opportunities to get in those extra AoO? Do you get more out of it at low levels than high levels (lots of little monsters at low levels typically)? Do you only take it as a prerequisite for another feat? I think I had it on one character in the past but to be honest don't really remember if it came in that handy. She is the primary front line fighter if that makes a difference.
It's particularly useful if you have reach (either with a reach weapon, or being enlarged, or preferably both). If you don't have reach, it's less useful.
The opportunist feats from Dragon 340 help a lot. The Exploit Adjustment and Two-Weapon Attack of Opportunity really help. Also, Improved Combat Reflexs and Greater Combat Reflexes allow you to expend multiple AoO against a target when they provoke.
Since she's taking two-weapon fighting it sounds like she plans to get up close and personal in combat a lot. I'd take it. Hordes of grunts can show up at any level and those extra AoO come in handy.
Also, depending on what kind of weapons she's using, she might provoke more AoOs. A whip can be used to trip and disarm foes, as can flails, and sickles. Too bad whips don't threaten all the squares in their reach. Also, Combat Reflexes lets you make an AoO when flatfooted, so occasionally when she rolls poorly and the mooks run past her to get some tasty wizard, she can slap them silly.
The opportunist feats from Dragon 340 help a lot. The Exploit Adjustment and Two-Weapon Attack of Opportunity really help. Also, Improved Combat Reflexs and Greater Combat Reflexes allow you to expend multiple AoO against a target when they provoke.
Thanks for everyone's input. I think we'll have her pick it up. I also picked up Dragon 340 which does have a lot of good additional feats to go along with it. Thanks again.
Ultimately, I find it to be a subjective feat, in terms of use. Not because its bad, but because it depends on another creature's actions to come into play. True, this can be said of almost any counter-attack or defensive feat, like Combat Expertise or Great Fortitude. But Great Fortitude is passive, and it would be very difficult for a character to live their entire lives not being subjected to at least one poison, disease, transmutation, or otherwise body affecting attack, thus making the feat get used.
But a DM can make choices that can invalidate Combat Reflexes. He can choose for every monster fought to be a tactical genius despite having an intel of 6. There are many ways to avoid attacks of opportunity, and the DM could employ them all. Granted, this does two things: teaches the players how to avoid them as well, and often limits tactical choices if the ONLY goal is avoiding attacks of opportunity.
What I'm trying to say is, Combat Reflexes is going to be valuable based on how the DM play's his various monsters. To each their own style, but from my personal preferences, I would feel good about taking the feat if the DM I played under showed that veteran fighters and intelligent monsters would take pains to avoid attacks of opportunity, espeically if aware of my ability, thus limiting some of their other options (like charging past me, or drinking a potion), while rookie fighters and less inteligent monsters might make those mistakes, allowing me to revel in the ability I actively chose to possess.
But a DM can make choices that can invalidate Combat Reflexes. He can choose for every monster fought to be a tactical genius despite having an intel of 6. There are many ways to avoid attacks of opportunity, and the DM could employ them all. Granted, this does two things: teaches the players how to avoid them as well, and often limits tactical choices if the ONLY goal is avoiding attacks of opportunity.
That's true. I've played in games where we don't really use a map, and in that case we could make an attack of opportunity whenever the DM said so (not terribly often). So you should take that into consideration, I agree.
I'm going to echo Black Bard here:
If you are going to take this feat, you MUST sit down with your DM and discuss the viability and fairness of it. I had a fighter character a few years back whose build was based on AoO. After he really got rolling in levels and feats, suddenly every canon fodder goblin and minion with a low intelligence became a master tumbler or agile tactician -the DM would go out of his way to manuever these opponents around my character in such a way as to avoid the AoO. After several frustrating sessions, I had to call him out and come to some compromise, because his NPCs acted premeditatively with the DM knowledge that they should take all these crazy routes around the battlefield instead of the route that made the most sense.
Of course, if the stories of your character's prowess grow, of course certain NPCs might be cautious as to your abilities, but that should be the exception -don't let it get out of hand with all the minions...keep your DM honest if you are going to pay for that feat!
Otherwise, that guy was my favorite fighter build EVER!
B.
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In my expereince combat reflexes isn't very useful unless you have reach. If you aren't using a spiked chain, halberd, longspear, or another reach weapon, you shouldn't take it unless it's a prerequisite for a PrC or feat that you want to qualify for. Robillar's Gambit is a decent feat in PHBII for two-weapon fighters with combat reflexes, but it's got some pretty steep prerequisites.
I guess I should add that, just like an accurate portrayal of battlefield savvy helps with the active use of the feat, so too does an active potrayal of battlefield savvy help with opportunities to use the feat. That may sound like splitting hairs, but bear with me.
Ultimately, and im going to use some Mumorpuger slang here, its about Aggro, or Threat.
If a monster of above intel, say, 5 or so sees the funny man in shiny armor wave his hands, and the funny man in shinier armor gets better, that monster will likely realize that hand waving man needs to die first, otherwise shiny armor man just wont die at all. The higher up the intel score, the faster these conclusions get made. Round about intel 12, its a given the conclusion is made when the fight starts, assuming the creature can recognize a healer type, like druid, cleric, or the healer class (love that class!).
This also becomes the case with Area of Effects. After the man in robes says strange words, and fire erupts all over the battlefield, assuming the surviving enemies don't run away, expect a full retaliation against the man in robes.
DMs who accurately portray this shifting of threat on the battlefield will give you better opportunities to use things like trip, disarm, and attacks of opportunity. A creature smart enough to recognize a healer might risk the attack of opp. A pair especially might try to rush past you, thinking "at least one of us will get past". Then you get to prove them wrong.
If you play on a grid, and you like mixing it up in a fight, and you have a high Dex, Combat Reflexes is a really good choice. Your attacks are at full, and you are no longer limited to one AoO per round. This comes up more often than one might think! I am a fan, both as a DM and as a player of a 9th level rogue. (The fighter in our group finally took CR and it's paying for itself.)