flying magus

[Gwaedh]

Hello All,
I have a hexcrafter magus with the flight hex. Is is about to make level 5 which will give him flight for 5 minutes a day.

Flight is obviously great for all sorts of reasons. But I'm trying to figure out how to leverage it in combat...and I'm not coming up with alot. Does anyone have ideas on how a dervish based melee fighter type can effectively use flight to his advantage in combat?

[CraziFuzzy]

Watch the peter pan animated movie, and watch how peter flies about while swashbuckling with hook. Best source of inspiration i can think of at a moment's notice. Basically, use the flight capability as a way to control the positioning on the battlefield.

[Gwaedh]

I guess I'm looking for specific tactics and advantages from flight.

I believe that I can claim higher ground pretty much all of the time for a +1 to hit.

I've been pondering the fly by attack feat. It doesn't work with spell combat, but I could cast a touch spell, fly by to deliver it with my sword and then continue on to end my turn in a safe square. It still provokes but might still be useful in some cases....maybe to avoid closing with a mob with a crazy full attack.

[CraziFuzzy]

I dont' think you can TAKE the flyby attack feat, as you don't inherently have a fly speed (the prereq). Moving into and out of combat zones is the same when flying as it is when on solid ground.

You can charge while flying assuming you have the space, which would not provoke an AoO unless the target has reach.

You can take the mobility line of feats:
-> Dodge (+1 to AC)
--> Mobility (+4 to AC vs. movement based AoO)
----> Spring Attack (move/attack/move as full action, avoiding AoO)
As you are about to advance to 5th level, I'd recommend taking Dodge as your 5th level feat, and then Mobility as your bonus feat. Then, at 7th level, when you get your next feat, your BAB will be high enough to take Spring Attack.

There are limits to how you move when flying. Momentum has to be managed. Turning takes extra move points. a 45° turn burns up 5' of movement, turning quicker requires a Fly skill check. You flight capability has 60' and good maneuverability, which means you will get a +4 to Fly skill checks. Once you are at 5th level and have the flight hex, you should be considered to 'possess a reliable means of flying daily', and can start taking ranks in Fly to improve those checks.

The Acrobatics feat can help by giving a +2 to fly checks, but I'm not sure it's worth it over the Dodge/Mobility/Spring Attack feat chain.

[Gwaedh]

Thank you for the very thoughtful advice.

I hadn't considered that not having a constant fly speed would be a disqualifier for the flyby feat. If it was a home game I would just check in with my GM. But this is for PFS so I want to be sure everything is completely on the up-and-up.

I don't have three feats set aside in my build to get sping attack. Does anyone know if there is an official interpretation of the "fly speed" requirement for the feat? For 5 minutes a day at level 5 I have a fly speed of 60. But does the feat require that you have an inherent and perpetual fly speed to qualify?

[CraziFuzzy]

That feat is a monster feat, so by default, not usually available to humanoids. It's intended to be applied to winged beasts.

[lovecheese45]

Just so you know, flight has to be used in 1 minute increments too.

[LazarX]

Gwaedh wrote:

I guess I'm looking for specific tactics and advantages from flight.

I believe that I can claim higher ground pretty much all of the time for a +1 to hit.

Only if you're legitimately higher than your target. If your'e doing your combat in a tight dungeon space that's only 6 feet or so high, you can't claim that bonus.

[CraziFuzzy]

There's no clarification in pathfinder, but the 3.5 feat was only included in monster manuals, and the druid/ranger/barbarian add-on 'masters of the wild'. In it's description, it specifically stated that 'You can use this feat only while you are in a form that allows natural flight; it cannot be used in conjunction with magical flight (such as a fly spell).' Intended to be used by monsters, and shapechanged druids.

[Matt2VK]

If I see someone Flying, I always ask them to show me their maneuver rules for the type of Fly they are using. As I can never keep track of them.

Main things I ask for -
Flight Speed
Turning
Hovering Rules.

7 out of 10 times, people don't have these rules and expect they can maneuver like they were still on the ground but in 3D.