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Per the SRD, the magic shield property Arrow Deflection says:
This shield protects the wielder as if he had the Deflect Arrows feat. Once per round when he would normally be struck by a ranged weapon, he can make a DC 20 Reflex save.
Yet the feat alone requires no save. Is this legacy from 3.5 and one needs correction? Or is there a rationale why there is a difference?
If you take a look at gloves of Arrow snaring it also does not require a reflex save. My best guess is that the save is to get the shield in place quickly (or at least mostly in place so that the magic can take over). but I can also see it as a copy/paste error. :P
Any official ruling on this?
Further more, can the shield stack with the Deflect Arrows Feat (and/or the Missile Shield feat) to allow more than one deflection per round? What about pairing the shield with Gloves of Arrow Snaring?
Well assuming that you have a weapon with your shield (as most folks are wont to do) then you do not have a free hand for arrow snaring.
But if you wanted to carry just a shield and had the gloves, as a DM I'd house rule to let you do it X2 per round. (since one requires a DC 20 check). By RAW tho, they both grant you the Deflect (or the improved Snare Arrows) feat which is only 1 per round.
I'm actually looking at a free-hand fighter Archetype:
Improved Shield Bash
Improved Unarmed Strike
Missile Deflection
Deflect Arrows
Crane Style
faq it
I think its a hold over from 3.5 where I think you had to do the reflex save.
In 3.5 Deflect Arrows didn't require a save, an Arrow Deflection shield did.
In PF Deflect Arrows doesn't require a save, an Arrow Deflection shield does.
In fact the only difference is the shield says it works like Deflect Arrows. Strike that it says it protects like Deflect Arrows. Which could mean that it works, mechanically, the same as Deflect Arrows, and the reference to a save is a mistake, or it could mean that simply mean that, like the Deflect Arrows feat, an Arrow Deflection shield also deflects arrows.
Personally, I find it less likely that the Devs made an intentional change to Arrow Deflection, yet somehow failed to correct the very rule they were changing in the very next sentence.
More likely, the Devs added the reference to Deflect Arrows as a clarification to what the shield does, as opposed to an Arro3w Catching shield, which protects you from arrows in a completely different way.
That is to say, leaving the save was intentional.
So, can I, as a free hand fighter, fight with improved unarmed strike, improved shield bash, two weapon fighting, missile deflection, an arrow deflecting shield, gloves of arrow snaring, and crane style, to be immune to 4 ranged attacks and 1 melee attack per round, while two weapon fighting?
I mean, I'd rule no (Deflect Arrows Feat + Gloves of Arrow Snaring = Same thing) but I want to be very certain. And what about the mechanically different effects of the arrow deflection shield property and the deflect arrows feat?
And does the Arrow Deflection property, which says 'grants the deflect arrows feat', full stop; also then grant the reflex save? it's a +2 bonus and WAY more expensive than buying the gloves. As well as reducing the actual armor value of the shield (+2ac would actually give you a 10% chance to avoid ALL attacks vs ac... not just sometimes making the save against one ranged attack a round).
It gets worse when you look at this feat
Missile Shield (Combat)
You are skilled at deflecting ranged attacks with your shield.
Prerequisites: Dex 13, Shield Focus.
Benefit: You must be using a light, heavy, or tower shield to use this feat. Once per round when you would normally be hit with an attack from a ranged weapon (not including spell effects, natural attacks, or massive ranged weapons), you may deflect it so that you take no damage, as if you had the Deflect Arrows feat. You must be aware of the attack and not flat-footed.
I know its two feats but lets be honest if you using a shield enough to be enchanting it your then this and shield focus wouldn't be a bad choice.
All of these say "as if you had the Deflect Arrows feat." which means that they wouldn't stack. The Deflect Arrows feat only allows one arrow per round.
Unless your DM house rules it.
You might be right, Blitz.
Poor Captain America...
I certainly hope they errata the Arrow Deflection property to give you the Missile Shield feat, and call it a day. Particularly if they drop the cost down to +1 instead of +2.
Argh. I was hoping this one had finally gotten a correction, but there's nothing in the FAQ about it. I'm tagging the FAQ button on every thread discussing this issue in the hope of stirring some action.