New Feats


Round 3: Alchemist and Inquisitor

Silver Crusade

Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Allied Spellcaster - overcoming SR is ... hmm. Situational. Caster level increase maybe ?

Coordinated Defense - meh, not worth a feat.

Coordinate Maneuvres - Good for a pair of Maneuver Monkeys (fighter + monk ?) Still, I would make the bonus +4 to make it feat-worth.

Duck and Cover - Well, I imagine a monk or a rogue here, but the feat would be somewhat one-sided.

Lookout - Great for a precision damager (full attack in a surprise round ? yes please).

Ouflank - One of the better feats in the bunch, if not the best one. Flank with a pair of melee hard-hitters and watch the damage soar.

Paired Opportunists - This + Lunge + Combat Reflexes + Stand Still.

Precise Strike - Same as Outflank.

Shield Wall - Meh. Boosting AC is never the way to win fights.

Shielded Caster - Good for a cleric/ek/duskblade combo.

Swap Places - Nice, up there with Outflank and Precise Strike.


I think the idea behind tactical feats is great as it helps players modify the party to their liking and not just their characters.

That said, I think it would be a good idea to have the feats grant the player a bonus which is doubled or enhanced when the ally knows it as well. That way the feats are effective on their own but come to full power in the right circumstances.

Sovereign Court

Pathfinder Maps, Rulebook, Starfinder Maps, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

I can see several of these feats being very common in PFS play.


The tactical feats are an awesome idea, and the Inquisitor gets to use them solo, which rocks. I'm sure that with play-test feedback, that these feats will be refined if need be, before book release, but on first glance (without considering all the implications) it's pretty cool that there is finally something that rewards cooperative combat...

RPG Superstar 2011 Top 16

Lookout can be awesome. Someone play a diviner. Everyone take lookout. Travel with the diviner in the middle of the party. Everyone acts in the surprise round every time.

Scarab Sages

Pathfinder Battles Case Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber

Maybe I'm missing something here, but isn't Swap Places basically the same as Friendly Switch from Seeker of Secrets?

The only difference is that someone with Friendly Switch can switch places with anybody who is willing, whereas Swap Places requires both to have the feat. I don't get it.

The only reason this jumped out at me is Friendly Switch discussion came up the other night. :)


I love the idea, but to be honest i can only see some of them being used. Even with more feats in PF than in 3.5 a feat is always worth a lot and taking something, that only works in very limited circumstances. I also think they should grant a certain benefit, that increases, when the supplemental feat is there.
Imagine the player with the second feat dying. Will his new build have the same tactical feat? Cheesy if yes, sucks if not?

I think Outflank is great, Lookout and Precise Strike sound cool and Paired Opportunists as well. Rest seems pretty meh at first glace. Have to see that in action. :)Swap Places might be fun when combined with a Tank and a fast hitter like a Monk or a Rogue with the Mobility Tree maxed out.

Paizo Employee Director of Game Design

Cralius the Dark wrote:

Maybe I'm missing something here, but isn't Swap Places basically the same as Friendly Switch from Seeker of Secrets?

The only difference is that someone with Friendly Switch can switch places with anybody who is willing, whereas Swap Places requires both to have the feat. I don't get it.

The only reason this jumped out at me is Friendly Switch discussion came up the other night. :)

Interesting.. that is what I get for not combing through that book as I designed these feats. I will look into other options for this feat. Right now, it stands as written.

Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer
Paizo Publishing

Grand Lodge

Personally, for me I'm glad to see the tactic feats but at the same time I'm left with a bit of a sour taste from reading them.

The tactic feats emphasise teamwork but at the expense of costly feats not by one character but two! Add to that their situational restrictions and I think players will be ignoring them for traditional feats with more frequent uses.

What I would have liked to have seen is Tactics added as a core mechanic - What Jason has produced in feat form will often have my players asking "why do we both need that feat to hide behind two shields?."

What would be cool is to open up watered down versions of these feats that everyone can use. The Inquisitor can keep the use of these as a solo character and all you need is a couple of new feats (Improved tactician, Master Tactician) which expands on the bonus these tactics grant or allows the use of more than one at a time.

It would also be nice to see some tactical options related to skills also because right now skills are getting the proverbial short straw with this advanced players guide.

Dark Archive

Snakey wrote:
The tactical feats are an awesome idea, and the Inquisitor gets to use them solo, which rocks. I'm sure that with play-test feedback, that these feats will be refined if need be, before book release, but on first glance (without considering all the implications) it's pretty cool that there is finally something that rewards cooperative combat...

Truly; I've already said it, but I'm not ashamed to admit that I like these feats at a quick glance. However, only proper playtesting and seeing them "in action" will reveal any "flaws" or problems with math. And your fighter can pick most of them, too!

One of our 3E campaigns was based around characters concentrating on "melee synergy" (esp. flanking and attacks of opportunity, including feats that grant bigger bonuses if your allies have them too) so maybe that is also why I feel so positive about Tactical Feats?

Sovereign Court

Pathfinder Maps, Rulebook, Starfinder Maps, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

I built and played a lvl 9 inquisitor tonight.
The 3 tac feats I gave him were Outflank, precise strike and paired opportunist.

I can say that outflank and precise strike really helped deal the damage. We always play or frontline folks as flanking buddies. This gives us extra oomph!

Community / Forums / Archive / Pathfinder / Playtests & Prerelease Discussions / Advanced Player's Guide Playtest / Round 3: Alchemist and Inquisitor / New Feats All Messageboards
Recent threads in Round 3: Alchemist and Inquisitor