Siege Gunner Feat

[CalebTGordan]

If I am reading things correctly, the only thing the feat actually does is make misdirects from indirect-fire siege engines go from 1d4 per range increment to 1 per. Why? Well, in the paragraph about direct siege engines it says that any ranks in Knowledge (engineering) removes penalties from the siege engine being larger than the commander.

Here is the feat:

Siege Gunner:

Aiming outsized siege weapons poses little difficulty for you.

Prerequisites: Siege Engineer, Profession (siege engineer) 5 ranks.

Benefit: You take no size penalty for aiming a direct-fire siege weapon larger than yourself. If you operate an indirect-fire siege weapon and miss, you misdirect fire by 1 square per range increment.

Normal: Direct-fire weapons impose a –2 attack roll penalty per size category by which the weapon is larger than the creature aiming it. An indirect-fire weapon that misses misdirects fire by 1d4 squares per range increment.

By the way, the above feat requires the feat Siege Engineer, which requires you have 5 ranks in Knowledge (engineering.)

And here is the paragraph explaining the penalties for size difference.

Direct Fire Siege Engines:

Direct-Fire Ranged Siege Engines: Direct-fire weapons launch their projectiles on a relatively flat trajectory, allowing them to more easily target creatures or pummel barriers directly in front of them. A direct-fire weapon uses a normal attack roll, with the normal penalty for nonproficient use. In addition, a direct-fire weapon takes a –2 attack roll penalty per size category that the weapon is larger than the creature aiming it. Creatures that have ranks in Knowledge (engineering) or use a targeting platform (see below) are not adversely affected by their size when firing direct-fire ranged siege engines. Sheer manpower can also reduce the penalties for size. Increasing the crew of these weapons by 1 or more can reduce the attack roll penalty for creature size: as long as an extra crew member is no smaller than three size categories smaller than the direct-fire weapon, it can reduce the penalty due to the aiming creature’s size by 2. For example, a Huge ballista fired by a Medium creature that is part of a crew of two (the creature aiming the ballista and someone to help position it) takes only a –2 penalty on attack rolls.

Bold mine.

So... am I reading things correctly? Does the requirement for the feat actually just make the first part of it redundant?

[Riveos]

The feat Siege Engineer requires Profession(Siege Engineer) or Knowledge (Engineering), so no, the requirements don't necessarily negate the penalty, though they might.

[CalebTGordan]

It doesn't make the feat completely useless, just less appealing.

I doubt the mistake will be fixed anytime soon, as there are tons of other things for the team to do.