Alternatives to pounce for melee chars


Advice

Lantern Lodge

DM for one of my games has said I cannot take beast totem on my Barbarian, which will deny me ability to get pounce. Are there any alternatives for getting a full attack more often? All I can think of off-hand is Lunge and the Step Up line.


Nope, not really. Get a bow? I hope your GM is screwing casters over hard, too...


Increasing size will increase your reach.

Depending on how you read it a quick runner's shirt might help.

There are some teamwork feats which can help. Callous Casting (you'll be the abettor, of course) is surprisingly good. Coordinated Reposition is limited but may help.

If you invest in mounted combat you can eventually get the mounted skirmisher feat, which is essentially pounce if mounted. Level 14 minimum though.

A level in battle oracle can give you immediate action movement via surprising charge.

Ranged combat is pretty easy to get full attacks with, and there are ranged barbarian archetypes.

Edit: the Ulfen Guardian PrC lets you follow an ally as an immediate action at level 6. If your ally is moving up to an enemy that works for you.


Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber

11 levels of the mobile fighter archetype gives Rapid Attack, which is similar to pounce. It's less powerful (lose the highest bonus iterative attack), but isn't restricted to charges (a bit more versatile).

You could also dip a level in synthesist summoner: Quadruped eidolon with Limbs (2 arms) and Pounce evolutions. Depending on what point-buy you are using and the ability score distribution, this may not be a good option (if your physical scores are significantly better than the eidolon).


1 level of sohei+ a mount gets you mounted skirmisher.

There's pummeling charge for unarmed builds.

Spell combat+Bladed Dash for the Magus.

Runner's shirt gets you an extra move action at the cost of a swift. Just have a bunch around and switch out of them after combat.

Pretty esoteric, but Mocking Dance with a whip also gets you a move action as a swift (since the Whip does not threaten, you can move up to 15 feet away from an enemy and just full attack with it).

Dimensional Dervish feat line if you can get DD as a spell like.

That's about it off the top of my head.

EDIT: yeah, synth summoner's pounce works but the DM banned pounce from the barb so I don't expect it working for the synth either.


Oh yeah, I'm assuming a barbarian mostly. Teleportation effects + the dimensional agility line, or shapeshifting, or a bunch of other casting effects can do pounce of course.


Pummeling Charge is probably the easiest alternative to pounce. It even works while mounted if you can pull off the feats. Getting Improved Critical as soon as possible to increase the chance of that amazing Pummeling critical is pretty legit. Ideally you want to either have a flying mount or a pretty good move speed and access to Dragon Style and Rhino Charge.

If your GM doesn't want you pouncing too early, you can get it at 12, which is only a little behind when the barbarian would be pouncing normally; otherwise a single level of monk will get you there, which seems like an acceptable dip.


You know, Pummeling style alone is basically mounted skirmisher. You make a full round action, not a full attack action.

Lantern Lodge

Exguardi wrote:

Pummeling Charge is probably the easiest alternative to pounce. It even works while mounted if you can pull off the feats. Getting Improved Critical as soon as possible to increase the chance of that amazing Pummeling critical is pretty legit. Ideally you want to either have a flying mount or a pretty good move speed and access to Dragon Style and Rhino Charge.

If your GM doesn't want you pouncing too early, you can get it at 12, which is only a little behind when the barbarian would be pouncing normally; otherwise a single level of monk will get you there, which seems like an acceptable dip.

I should clarify, this is for a Barbarian. So I cannot rely on brawler feats like Pummeling Charge.

The feat says you need either brawler or monk level 8th. Pummeling Style was similarly errata'd, apparently, to affect only unarmed attacks.


You can just take two levels of Master of Many Styles to get Pummeling Style and Pummeling Charge.


Not as a Barbarian you can't.

Scarab Sages

bob_the_monster wrote:
Exguardi wrote:

Pummeling Charge is probably the easiest alternative to pounce. It even works while mounted if you can pull off the feats. Getting Improved Critical as soon as possible to increase the chance of that amazing Pummeling critical is pretty legit. Ideally you want to either have a flying mount or a pretty good move speed and access to Dragon Style and Rhino Charge.

If your GM doesn't want you pouncing too early, you can get it at 12, which is only a little behind when the barbarian would be pouncing normally; otherwise a single level of monk will get you there, which seems like an acceptable dip.

I should clarify, this is for a Barbarian. So I cannot rely on brawler feats like Pummeling Charge.

The feat says you need either brawler or monk level 8th. Pummeling Style was similarly errata'd, apparently, to affect only unarmed attacks.

It does only affect unarmed strikes but you don't need to be a monk or brawler you need: Pummeling Style and (11 BAB OR 8th Level Monk Or 8th Level Brawler)


PolydactylPolymath wrote:
Not as a Barbarian you can't.

You can if you take the trait that lets you.


Isn't Martial Artist compatible with Master of Many Styles?


mplindustries wrote:
Isn't Martial Artist compatible with Master of Many Styles?

Why, so it is.


Quickrunners shirt and blood crow strike come to mind.

Grand Lodge

Losing pounce isn't an end all to Martial characters.

No if he wants to take away pounce then here is what you do instead:

Step 1: As many people have said before buy about 5-10 Quick Runners Shirt

Step 2: Build as hard as you can for damage. High critical Weapon, Witch Hunter, Come and get me, Power attack, Reckless Rage, Raging Brutality and (once you can easily rage cycle: Mighty Swing, Powerful Blow)

This will make your first round of combat Look like this:
Swift action: Move full speed to target.
Free Action: Enter a Rage
Full Action: Full Attack

Enemies Turn: Immediate Action: Come and Get me Triggered attack....Hopefully he be dead.

After combat change Quick Runner's Shirt to one you haven't used. Typically a session has about 5 fights....start taking note of how many fights you get into each session and plan to buy accordingly.

At this point your DM will be pissed off and Ban Free Runner Shirts and pounce....Next character roll a Full caster and focus hard on a low level spell and abuse it all game...and hopefully your DM will break and see that pounce is far from broken and there are other things you could be abusing besides a legitimate rage power.


I'd actually like to point out a reach weapon is superior to pounce if you lose initiative.


1 person marked this as a favorite.

The various lockdown methods I know of mostly involve being a type of fighter (pindown, the brawler's no escape, etc).

You could grab the new fortuitous weapon property and stick it on a reach weapon. It basically turns you AoO attack into a full attack by giving it an iterative 1/round (ok, it is only mimicing the first 2 attacks of a full attack...but that is all that really matters for a 2 hander, no?). Overall, it is fantastic for a mere +1 property.

The strategy with that weapon is actually the opposite of a pounce barbarian- you wait for the enemy to engage you, rather than engaging the enemy. Mostly because a normal reach attack leaves the enemy in 5' step range. So if you attack first, then the enemy avoids the AoO.

Unless you use lunge...then feel free to attack first, since the enemy is left 15' away after your attack. That feat guarantees at least 1 AoO for a large swath of opponents.


lemeres wrote:
Unless you use lunge...then feel free to attack first, since the enemy is left 15' away after your attack. That feat guarantees at least 1 AoO for a large swath of opponents.

While a great idea (I use it often) I believe lunge gives you 20 foot while you have a reach weapon since reach weapons double your 10 foot reach.


Undone wrote:
lemeres wrote:
Unless you use lunge...then feel free to attack first, since the enemy is left 15' away after your attack. That feat guarantees at least 1 AoO for a large swath of opponents.
While a great idea (I use it often) I believe lunge gives you 20 foot while you have a reach weapon since reach weapons double your 10 foot reach.

Not really, no. Lunge gives you a specific increase to the area your attack can reach to, and reach weapons do not explicitly state that they double your reach (that is the practical way they work given size, but it doesn't come out and say it, as such it is jsut that each size has a different effect with a reach weapon)

If I am wrong, then I would love for you to show me where, since that view is extremely tempting (since it means I can full attack anything in a 55' wide circle, instead of a 45' wide circle).


Quote:
Reach Weapons: A reach weapon is a melee weapon that allows its wielder to strike at targets that aren't adjacent to him. Most reach weapons double the wielder's natural reach, meaning that a typical Small or Medium wielder of such a weapon can attack a creature 10 feet away, but not a creature in an adjacent square. A typical Large character wielding a reach weapon of the appropriate size can attack a creature 15 or 20 feet away, but not adjacent creatures or creatures up to 10 feet away.
Quote:
Not really, no. Lunge gives you a specific increase to the area your attack can reach to, and reach weapons do not explicitly state that they double your reach
Quote:
If I am wrong, then I would love for you to show me where, since that view is extremely tempting (since it means I can full attack anything in a 55' wide circle, instead of a 45' wide circle).

Ok.


PolydactylPolymath wrote:
mplindustries wrote:
Isn't Martial Artist compatible with Master of Many Styles?
Why, so it is.

Incorrect - Master of Many Styles & Martial Artists do not stack.

Enlarged & bolded because I've seen this combination proposed a number of times on the forums and saw it accidentally used at a table.

Master of Many Styles - Perfect Style (Ex) wrote:
At 20th level, a master of many styles can have the stances of five style feats active at once, and can change those stances as a free action. This ability replaces perfect self.
Martial Artist - Extreme Endurance (Ex) wrote:
At 5th level, a martial artist gains immunity to fatigue. At 10th level, he also gains immunity to exhaustion. At 15th level, he gains immunity to stunning. At 20th level, he gains immunity to death effects and energy drain. This ability replaces purity of body, diamond body, and perfect self.

Though, I do understand why people make this mistake, Extreme Endurance is a 5th level ability that scales and replaces higher level abilities. IMO this ability should have been written as 3 different abilities - would have avoided this kind of confusion. If I had to guess, it was probably wasn't done in order to keep the archetype within the footprint laid out for it - which I also understand.


Quote:
Reach Weapons: A reach weapon is a melee weapon that allows its wielder to strike at targets that aren't adjacent to him. Most reach weapons double the wielder's natural reach, meaning that a typical Small or Medium wielder of such a weapon can attack a creature 10 feet away, but not a creature in an adjacent square. A typical Large character wielding a reach weapon of the appropriate size can attack a creature 15 or 20 feet away, but not adjacent creatures or creatures up to 10 feet away.

Nokay.

It doubles your natural reach. Lunge is not a part of that.


Grab a reach weapon and go for Combat Patrol.

Make your GM regret forcing you to give up pounce, and simply sit in the middle of the Battlefield while Enlarged with a Reach weapon, smiling, as you prevent all of the enemies from moving ^_^

Alternatively, ask one of your fellow players to play as a Critfisher (Inspired Blade Swashbuckler with Butterfly's Sting) and simply grab a 4x Crit weapon. Who needs to full attack when your buddy sets you up for the biggest single hits you could possibly need?

This works well with Vital Strike if you are alone, or with Spirited Charge if you can get a mount. Go for Mounted Fury and get the chain of feats that double your damage on a charge (also boon Companion). Then use a lance, that will triple your damage on a charge.

Then you Auto Crit thanks to a critfisher, so you are tripling your tripled damage while raging.

Also note that if you can get someone ELSE to play a Summoner, then you can Ride their Eidolon AND make use of Ferocious Mount to make the Eidolon Rage. Then you can give it your Rage Powers.


lemeres wrote:

Nokay.

It doubles your natural reach. Lunge is not a part of that.

I'd just like to point out there is no distinction between types of reach. Unnatural reach does not exist.


Reach builds and Vital Strike builds are not bad ideas, but have you considered that it might be because the other characters are not nearly as optimized as yours and the GM is just trying to keep a semblance of balance?

If the GM is banning Druids, the Pounce evolution, Pummeling Charge and so on it probably isn't a big deal.

If the GM doesn't understand why archers and casters are more effective in the first place you could point them to the boards, there are tons of people here who would love nothing more than to explain it.

If it is just your character getting the nerf, you might consider talking it out and explaining your frustration.

Community / Forums / Pathfinder / Pathfinder First Edition / Advice / Alternatives to pounce for melee chars All Messageboards

Want to post a reply? Sign in.