I'm playing an air elementalist wizard who's about to hit Level 11 and have his first chance to take Fly-By Attack as a feat since he got the ability to cast fly at will. I've been planning all along to take Fly-By Attack, but now that I'm right on top of it, I'm wondering if it's going to be all that great. (And my DM hasn't made up his mind whether to let me take it anyway, but leave that to one side.) Does anyone have experience using that ability as a PC, and how big a deal was it for you?
I think as a spellcaster it's solid, since you only ever use standard actions anyway, but I wouldn't recommend it for melee, as multiple attacks are your bread n butter.
Of course, that being said, you still provoke as you pass by, so be careful.
Yeah, I wasn't planning on getting within striking range, since Fly-By Attack still allows attacks of opportunity. The idea is more flying from cover to cover and blasting off spells along the way, or setting up some obscuring mist and darting in and out of it casting spells. I guess I'm trying to decide whether that ability is worth more than Spell Focus, or a metamagic feat to put toward Spell Perfection, or an arcane discovery like Opposition Research. Thinking about opportunity costs mostly, but it still seems like a golden defensive ability!
I appreciate the suggestion, but there's no point in a caster like me taking Spring Attack, since I'd have to take Dodge and Mobility first, and I have no interest in making the melee attacks that Spring Attack is limited to anyway. The whole point of Fly-By Attack for me would be enabling movement from cover to cover while blasting the bad guys along the way, so every turn I could end somewhere relatively safe.
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I appreciate the suggestion, but there's no point in a caster like me taking Spring Attack, since I'd have to take Dodge and Mobility first, and I have no interest in making the melee attacks that Spring Attack is limited to anyway. The whole point of Fly-By Attack for me would be enabling movement from cover to cover while blasting the bad guys along the way, so every turn I could end somewhere relatively safe.
Could always hide behind objects and cast with partial cover and prone / duck after casting to get full cover. Also may be worth looking into spells that create or add cover. Example: Tiny Hut spell, some wall spells can be shaped, etc. Would save you a feat.
It is really really strong. Being able to fly by an alley and lob spells into it and end up elsewhere will come up a lot. Heck just being able to drift into close range spell reach and then drift out will come up.
True that! Though many of those spells would be hard or impossible to use up in the air, and the feat would allow me to spend that round casting something else to mess up the baddies or buff my buddies rather than setting up cover.
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True that! Though many of those spells would be hard or impossible to use up in the air, and the feat would allow me to spend that round casting something else to mess up the baddies or buff my buddies rather than setting up cover.
May want to check with your GM as "casting on the move" may require concentration checks...especially if it's windy outside. Just throwing that out there as it may be a wise choice to grab Combat Casting and one of the concentration check boosting traits. It'll greatly depend on what your GM rules though.