Snap Shot + Combat Reflexes w / Firearms: Do you provoke?

[MrRetsej]

As my PFS Musket Master gains in levels I've been hard pressed to choose between the Deft Shootist, Richochet Shot or Snap Shot+Combat Reflexes line of feats. Combing the boards the consensus seems to lean heavily towards Snap Shot and Improved Snap Shot however carefully looking at the errata on Snap Shot and the rules for firearms brings up a pretty big issue as far as I can tell.

According to the errata on Snap Shot, as long as you can reload your weapon as a free action, you can use Snap Shot with Combat Reflexes to make multiple ranged attacks of opportunity. For a Gunslinger this could potentially be a very high number of extra attacks. However it only clarifies that your ranged *attacks* do not provoke an AoO in this manner.

Neither the feat nor the errata say anything about whether the act of reloading provokes. And according to the base firearm rules, reloading a firearm always provokes. So, if a gunslinger is in the following placement,

1X2
XGX
3XX

where G represents the gunslinger and 1,2 and 3 are enemies, if enemy 1 does two things that provoke (lets say, move through and cast a spell) and the gunslinger takes two AoOs with Snap Shot on enemy 1, those two Snap Shotted ranged attacks would not provoke, however the reloading necessary to get that second AoO *would* still provoke from all three enemies according to the RAW, correct?

If this is in fact the case, it seems like Snap Shot is incredibly risky as a feat with Combat Reflexes for use with firearms or crossbows.

[Kazaan]

There's a deed for that.
Lightning Reload (Ex): At 11th level, as long as the gunslinger has at least 1 grit point, she can reload a single barrel of a one-handed or two-handed firearm as a swift action once per round. If she has the Rapid Reload feat or is using an alchemical cartridge (or both), she can reload a single barrel of the weapon as a free action each round instead. Furthermore, using this deed does not provoke attacks of opportunity.

So, with Fast Musket at lvl 3, you consider your 2-h musket as a 1-h firearm for base reload speed (standard action reload) and Rapid Reload, which you get for free at lvl 1, reduces it from standard to move, and using an alchemical cartridge reduces it another step from move to free. This, however, doesn't avoid provoking for reloading.

But, with Lightning Reload, you can reload once per turn as a free action without provoking AoO, even while not using alchemical cartridges.

Lastly, there's the principal of tactics. When do you spend that non-provoking reload? The situation you described, being surrounded by enemies is a perfect situation to do so. But if you don't have that ability yet, it's a choice between tanking the AoOs or skipping the snap shot. Or, have a bandoleer of throwing daggers and quick-draw for situations where it wouldn't be safe to reload a firearm.

[Michael Sayre]

Snapshot in no way affects the AoO from reloading a firearm, so it can be a pretty risky proposition depending on the layout of the battlefield. Hopefully you'll be able to maintain a little bit of range during most fights, and have Lightning Reload as a fallback if things get ugly.

[cnetarian]

deft shootist (a grit feat you can pick up at level 1) allows both firing and reloading without provoking BUT it is rare to actually be on the receiving end of many reloading AoOs in modules. Mostly due to monster choice, few of them have combat reflexes and they have to make it in range of the gunslinger and survive the gunslinger's AoO(s) to make an AoO while reloading. For home play with a GM who loves to shut down gunslingers deft shootist is mandatory but a PFS character should be able to get by with just snap shot.

[MrRetsej]

cnetarian wrote:

deft shootist (a grit feat you can pick up at level 1) allows both firing and reloading without provoking BUT it is rare to actually be on the receiving end of many reloading AoOs in modules. Mostly due to monster choice, few of them have combat reflexes and they have to make it in range of the gunslinger and survive the gunslinger's AoO(s) to make an AoO while reloading. For home play with a GM who loves to shut down gunslingers deft shootist is mandatory but a PFS character should be able to get by with just snap shot.

I was under the impression you had to take Dodge and Mobility to get Deft Shootist. Am I reading it wrong?

[Xaratherus]

MrRetsej wrote:

cnetarian wrote:

deft shootist (a grit feat you can pick up at level 1) allows both firing and reloading without provoking BUT it is rare to actually be on the receiving end of many reloading AoOs in modules. Mostly due to monster choice, few of them have combat reflexes and they have to make it in range of the gunslinger and survive the gunslinger's AoO(s) to make an AoO while reloading. For home play with a GM who loves to shut down gunslingers deft shootist is mandatory but a PFS character should be able to get by with just snap shot.

I was under the impression you had to take Dodge and Mobility to get Deft Shootist. Am I reading it wrong?

No, you're reading it correctly. Unless you've been granted an extra feat as a Gunslinger, you could not get Deft Shootist until 3rd level at the earliest (human, 1st level Dodge and Mobility, third level Deft Shootist).

And to echo what others have said, Snap Shot does not remove the AoOs for reloading.