Covert Operator
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Which one is better (for a rogue of course)?
Feint
- Bluff check against a DC of 10+their Sense Motive (or BAB+Wisdom if untrained).
- There is no penalties for failing.
- Requires only one (worse) prerequisite feat.
Canny Tumble
- Acrobatics against their CMD.
- If you fail, you provoke an Attack of Opportunity (but get +4 AC from Mobility).
- You get to move half your speed.
- If you have Concealment, you may make a Stealth check.
- You get an additional +2 to attack rolls
- Requires two prerequisite feats, which are both decent.
Malag
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Improved Feint if you ask me. It effectively increases your chance of hitting target also by denying them Dex to AC and CMD, but it depends on size and type of opponent. Canny Tumble might grant you bigger bonuses, but the risks are also greater. It might depend on a character type you plan to play also. A more tanky but still Dexterous individual might grab Canny Tumble, but more squishy individual might be better of with Improved Feint.
Adam
| Blave |
Depends on the rest of the build and how much you can invest into the tactics.
Canny Tumble is better if you can support it with acrobatics bonuses like skill focus or (if you're small) Underfoot. Daredevil Boots or Boots of Elvenkind are also a big help. It can however occasionally be hard to use in really close quaters.
Feinting only works if you are already close to the enemy. In many cases, it should be more effective to just full-attack him instead of wasting a move action on a feint (assuming a half-decent damage bonus from Unchained rogue). It is easier to use, because Sense Motive is usually a lot lower than CMD on many creatures though you'll get a penalty against non-humanoids. Biggest downside is the really bad Combat Expertise as a requirement. It's rarely useful and even then, with 3+ ranks in Acrobatics, fighting defensively is almost as effective.
Alternatively, be a sout, boost you acrobatice really high and/or get spring attack.
Malag
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I think that Combat Expertise can be useful if you stack it with other temporary bonuses, but if your only objective is Improved "something" feat, it sees much less use in a fight. The bonus is too small on it's own, but if it you add a Shaken condition through Intimidate check for example it can definitively increase your chances of dodging a blow.
Adam
| Blave |
You use Combat Expertise to get an AC bonus and don't care if your attack bonus drops. That means for a rogue who (most likely) keeps acrobatics maxed, fighting defensively is simply better from levels 1 to 10 because it provides the bigger AC bonus. At levels 11-15, combat expertise pulls ahead very slightly (same AC bonus but lower attack penalty). It doesn't start to get any better AC-wise until level 16, which is WAY too late to make a difference.
As for combining it with other bonuses, you can do the same with fighting defensively.
Oh, and if you need a better AC really badly, you'll probably just use total defense which is better than Combat Expertise will ever be for a rogue.
So yeah, I think Combat Expertise is a comletely wasted feat with no use whatsoever.
Malag
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Fighting defensively isn't same as Combat Expertise. It grants similar modifiers, but it isn't same. It can also be combined with fighting defensively so the usage varies. Just for the reference, I don't plan to turn topic into another complaint about feat taxes, so let's just agree to disagree here.
Adam