Something to increase +Attack?

[Quatar]

Hi

There's Power Attack that does -attack for +damage
There's combat expertise that does -attack for +AC

Is there something similar that increases attack, on the cost of damage or AC maybe?

Obviously there's Weapon Focus, and True Strike, but thats not what I mean.

[Serisan]

Quatar wrote:

Hi

There's Power Attack that does -attack for +damage
There's combat expertise that does -attack for +AC

Is there something similar that increases attack, on the cost of damage or AC maybe?

Obviously there's Weapon Focus, and True Strike, but thats not what I mean.

Only for Barbarians: Reckless Abandon

[Veiled Nail]

We had a homebrew feat that let you trade damage for attack:
I don't remember the exact name we called it or the precise wording, but here's the crunch

Measured Strike
Prereq: Wis 13

Benefits: Decrease damage to add to your attack roll, on a 1-for-1 basis. The value subtracted from your damage roll can never exceed your Wisdom modifier. This feat cannot be used in conjunction with Power Attack.

[Fatespinner]

Barbarian rage increases attack bonus indirectly by increasing STR (which increases damage as well) at a penalty to AC and some minor action restrictions. This is further enhanced by rage powers such as Reckless Abandon (mentioned above) and Surprise Accuracy.

Bards can use Inspire Courage to boost their own attack and damage rolls as well as those of the entire party.

If you're looking for a feat, however, I don't believe there exists such a thing.

[Some call me Tim]

I'll answer the unasked question: "How do you hit something with a high AC?"

Don't forget the Aid Another action. Sometimes when you just can't hit the high AC a friend flanking and aiding can give you +4 to hit. Sure your friend doesn't get a chance to hit, but what is better a 5% chance to hit or +4 to someone else who can hopefully do more damage. Also Aid Another is one of the few places where similar bonuses add. So you and all your buddies can gang up on that high AC foe.

[brassbaboon]

It's actually a pretty rare set of circumstances where "aid another" increases the party's overall damage potential.

In circumstances like these it is usually best to be sure the party has maximized their buffs and the de-buffs they have cast on the target.

For example if you can get flanking, have "bull's strength" cast on you and "evil eye" on the target, that's a net +6 to your attack.

I would hesitate to create house rules or feats which allow a character to exchange damage for attack bonuses. That has the potential to become unbalanced pretty fast, especially if you can gain full attacks against the target.

[Fatespinner]

Flanking, aiding, and buffing/debuffing are the best ways to hit high-AC targets, this is true.

Also don't forget that simply being at a higher elevation than your target in melee gives an often-overlooked +1 to the attack roll. Whether you have the high ground on a staircase or are fighting a ground-based opponent on horseback, that +1 can help. Charging an opponent also grants you a +2 on the attack roll in exchange for a -2 penalty to AC.

[WhipShire]

Quatar wrote:

Hi

There's Power Attack that does -attack for +damage
There's combat expertise that does -attack for +AC

Is there something similar that increases attack, on the cost of damage or AC maybe?

Obviously there's Weapon Focus, and True Strike, but thats not what I mean.

Shocktrooper 3.5 feat from complete warrior let's you trade - AC to + hit for offsetting power attack. Allows you to hit as easy as you normally would with the extra power ATT dmg, while leaving yourself more open. It's also one of those 3.5 tactical feat that has a total of 3 different abilities but I don't recall what the rest are.

[Thazar]

Bards and various magic buffs, weapon focus, flanking, aid another, are the easiest ones to get.

There is no universal feat that any class can take the does what Power Attack and Combat Expertise do for all attacks.

[Some call me Tim]

brassbaboon wrote:

It's actually a pretty rare set of circumstances where "aid another" increases the party's overall damage potential.

It's not as rare as most people think.

Sure if you got another way to boost your ally's attack bonus its probably better to do that. Sometimes that ain't an option.

Any time your +2 to aid means your ally no longer needs a natural 20 to hit you're better off statistically to aid. This is what most people usually think about when they use aid another.

However image you're a second-tier melee type. Or for a more striking example, you have two identical fighters, one just has bull's strength cast on him so +4 to STR. Your buddy has a to-hit modifier just +2 more than you and only does +2 more damage than you.

Statistically, you are better off to aid him anytime you need to roll 16 or more to hit and he needs less than a natural 20.

For a 'real-world' example, our first level iconic heroes Merisiel (rapier +1 [1d6+1 & sneak attack]) and Valeros (longsword +4 [1d8+2]) have an AC20 flanked. Because of the flank Merisiel can hit on a 17 or higher and get sneak attack, so she should attack, right? She can actually do more damage because of her sneak attack. Statistically speaking, she should aid Valeros. She will double her average damage per round by doing so.

Now, I know most people don't want to be bothered with all the math and would rather attack themselves, but Aid Another is not as useless as people think.