I notice that sometimes a particular ability seems to pop up all over the place in Pathfinder. For instance, there are about eleventy zillion different feats, class abilities, etc. which let you make someone shaken (although I think the flow of new "shaken" abilities is starting to taper off).
After looking through the "what's so good about the ability to treat your weapon as if it were magic" thread, I was inspired to comment about another popular(ish) ability that I find pretty useless: a bonus (either to attack rolls or AC) when confirming critical hits.
I can understand why someone might take Critical Focus: a +4 bonus is large enough to notice, and it's a prerequisite to some other useful feats. But Shield Specialization? Am I really supposed to care about a +2 bonus to AC versus critical hit confirmations?
I'd love to hear an impassioned defense from someone who has taken Shield Specialization or the Low Blow halfling racial feature or the elf ranger favored class option and has found it useful. Any takers?
It's a good thing to have, but like you said the numbers are a bit off. The halfling Low Blow racial feature is pretty damn laughable. A +1, really? And I'd probably consider taking shield specialization of it was a +3-4 bonus or if it had some other perks alongside it.
Modifying how likely you are to crit or how likely others are to crit you is a good idea and would be viable if they hadn't been a little too careful with it.
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I'm going to be honest with you, man, I can't fathom a build that would use those things. I guess shield specialization could be mildly useful, as crits can become really deadly at certain points in the CR scale, but there are so many other options that seem superior - and even more thematic to the shield user, in some cases - that I really don't see it ever getting used.
I'm going to be honest with you, man, I can't fathom a build that would use those things. I guess shield specialization could be mildly useful, as crits can become really deadly at certain points in the CR scale, but there are so many other options that seem superior - and even more thematic to the shield user, in some cases - that I really don't see it ever getting used.
To be fair, Shield Specialization also has a useful ability (+2 or +3 to CMD while wearing a shield), but the +2 to AC vs. critical confirmations is just a silly afterthought. "So let me get this straight -- if I get attacked two hundred times, then it'll protect me from one or two critical hits? Wow!"
Feats and abilities that give a +1 to something I really care about (like all attack rolls or overall AC) are kind of dull, but they make up for it by being relatively useful. Dull + not very useful means that I'll probably choose something else, thanks.
I had actually wanted to take this feat on my paladin, but the "Requires 4th-level fighter" part has completely put a damper on that plan.
Anyway, this game seems largely balanced around offense. In my limited play experience, I've discovered that having a high AC (~29) doesn't really seem to do all that much by level ~7. Also, some of the rules aren't too logical in terms of where shield bonuses apply. For example, why shouldn't you get your shield bonus versus a touch attack that's being made by a corporeal creature?
The logic of "oh hey, this cleric is trying to touch my body, maybe I should knock his hand away or block it with my shield" seems to fit just fine. Now, if it's a ghost that's delivering the touch and your shield isn't enchanted to effect incorporeal attacks then it definitely shouldn't apply there.
Another example is involving firearms. I can't for the life of me figure out why a shield doesn't possibly block the bullet. It's not like Pathfinder bullets are armor-piercing rounds being fired at super-high velocity from a rifled barrel... for all intents and purposes, they're muskets! A heavy steel shield can definitely stop a musket bullet, and plate armor should at least greatly reduce the velocity and thus reduce damage. Again, logic isn't attached to these rules.
Another example is involving firearms. I can't for the life of me figure out why a shield doesn't possibly block the bullet. It's not like Pathfinder bullets are armor-piercing rounds being fired at super-high velocity from a rifled barrel... for all intents and purposes, they're muskets! A heavy steel shield can definitely stop a musket bullet, and plate armor should at least greatly reduce the velocity and thus reduce damage. Again, logic isn't attached to these rules.
Not to derail the thread, but the reason armor stopped being used was because musket balls *could* punch through the armor. There's little reason to be so encumbered if a bullet makes you dead anyways.
Back on topic about the touch attacks / shields thing. Some touch attacks make sense to be blocked by shields (say a venomous skin), but for most touch attacks, it's magical energy that just needs to touch something to course through whatever that thing is attached to. So if they touch a shield, it's going to go through the shield handle and into you.
Not to derail the thread, but the reason armor stopped being used was because musket balls *could* punch through the armor. There's little reason to be so encumbered if a bullet makes you dead anyways.
Back on topic about the touch attacks / shields thing. Some touch attacks make sense to be blocked by shields (say a venomous skin), but for most touch attacks, it's magical energy that just needs to touch something to course through whatever that thing is attached to. So if they touch a shield, it's going to go through the shield handle and into you.
Not to seem argumentative but I'm trying to grasp this concept...
If you can channel a touch attack through physical objects to pass into what's attached to the object, then why doesn't every class with touch attacks have the magus's Spellstrike ability? Or at least a simplified version of it where you can cast a touch spell on one turn and store it to use in a channeled melee attack next turn instead of the free touch attack.
To go one step farther, why would a class with the Channel Energy class feature need the Channel Smite feat to channel their energy through their weapon on an attack if you can by default pass your energy through an object and into the target? (A Inflict/Cure Wounds spell is simply channeling negative/positive energy, as said in the spell description.)
This seems like a bit of a double standard to me...
In regards to musket bullets piercing armor... you are right, it can pierce plate armor as referenced here. However, a 2mm thick plate could stop a 9mm bullet (and I imagine a heavy steel shield is thicker than 2mm). A musket round travels at approximately 475 ft/s, compared to a 9mm at 2-3 times that velocity. IMO... a shield should come into play versus muskets... And shields applying versus firearms and certain touch attacks is applicable since the thread is about boosting AC versus critical confirmation via shield.