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You seem to assume all Hobgoblins are taking the Weapon Familiarity Feat when that just isn't the case.
There isn't a tight usage correlation between the Feats, which are both Level 1 Feats i.e. zero implied chain.
While you can "go back" and take lower level Feat with high level slot, most characters will have only one 1st level Feat.
Martial classes with full martial proficiency inherently get more out of Leech-Clipper because they will Crit more.
Martials get nothing out of Familiarity currently, which is mostly for classes which don't get full martial proficiency.
Like there can be feats for Hobgoblin casters, or Alchemists, these are mostly for Martials and non-Martials, respectively.
Not every Hobgoblin Feat has to synergize, it doesn't spell out who is supposed to use what because you have free choice,
and maybe a normally martial Feat could be used by a Favored Weapon:Flail Cleric or Rogue or Wizard with General Martial Feat.
But just because it allows you broad possibilities doesn't mean every combo work great and every feat must synergize.
If you found a build where these don't synergize or enable each other then guess what: you don't have to use both of them.
You acknowledged the possibility of an Advanced Hobgoblin Flail qualifying.
But the only way the Hobgoblin Weaponry Familiarity grants that proficiency is if you have Martial weapon proficiency.
In which case you can use regular Martial Flails just fine with Leech Clipper.
With or without Hobgoblin Weapon Familiarity. Which most martial classes won't bother taking.
Maybe there will be a Advanced Hobgoblin Flail printed in future. Maybe there won't be.
These Feats are fine on their own regardless, as long as you aren't fixated on idea they are obligated to synergize.
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If you have martial proficiency then you will also unlock the critical specialization effect, so it doesn't count.
This is absurd, "it doesn't count" is not rules discussion.
Certainly, even if you have CritSpec it is relevant to impose Prone AND -10 speed for major mobility/action debuff.But just having martial proficiency DOESN'T automatically grant CritSpec, which is why they are distinct abilities.
You can get martial proficiency from General Feat with nothing else. Clerics get Favored Weapon but no CritSpec.
Paladins only get CritSpec if they choose Weapon Bond. Rangers only get CritSpec VS Hunted Prey.
Barbarians only get CritSpec while Raging. Fighter CritSpec is limited by Group until Level 13. Etc.
Just don't think about the class right now. Every race has:
- its group of weapons lvl 1
- its critical specialization lvl 5
- its expert progression lvl 13 ( if needed )
You realize if you take all those, you haven't taken Leech-Clipper and can't take it until 17th level?
But yes, if you notice Flails aren't on Hobgoblin CritSpec at all. So nobody should think Flail feats like Leech-Clipper have anything to do with that chain.They don't, they're for people who have own Flail proficiency from class or elsewhere.
Just like some Ancestry feats improve on Spellcasting even though not everybody can cast spells. Or the Hobgoblin feats boosting allies...
Well not everybody has allies, some Hobgoblins are just solo characters, who can't use those Ally feats.
Hobgoblin also are skilled enough to clip their enemy feet with a flail, but are not used to manage a flail.
No, "Hobgoblins" aren't skilled enough to clip their enemy with a flail, "Hobgoblins who choose to take that Feat" are thusly skilled.
Who presumably have proficiency in flail. Just like the Hobgoblins who take Ally feats presumably have allies.Hobgoblins are not monolithic group defined by every single Hobgoblin Feat: each Hobgoblin Feat is only present in small subset of Hobgoblins. So all Hobgoblins don't have any special skill with Flails, or even all the Hobgoblin Weapon Familiarity weapons, just as all Dwarves don't have proficiency in Dwarven Weapons and don't have Vengeaful Hatred. The game assumes you can pick Feats that work well together with your abilities, every Feat isn't required to work well for everybody no matter what.
Have you not played the game and have no experience with it at all, but have just come across it and focused on Hobgoblins for some reason? That's really the only way I can make sense of your posts, like when you say "Just don't think about the class right now. Every race has..."
Well there is no character defined by race/ancestry alone, ancestry actually has much less influence on a character than their class... which all come with weapon proficiencies for free, which ones depending on the class. Not every Ancestry Feat is guaranteed to work equally well for any and every class. You're welcome to find combos that work well together. Or you can choose ones that don't work well together. If you are insistent on taking Leech-Clipper on a character without Flail proficiency it still works, you just don't add +Level to your attack roll.
Crazy thread.
Yeah, I don't see the problem.
The Leech-Clipper feat is for a specific subset of Hobgoblins, not all of them. It's something that some Hobgoblins would have, not all of them, or even most of them.
And that actually is true of all Ancestry feats.
Unless you think all Humans should be able to use the Adapted Cantrip feat, even though they don't have spell casting.
In this scenario, the spell casting requirement for the feat is similar to t the Leech-Clipper feat. But you'll note that you're not actually required to even be proficient with flails to get the benefit. You're just a lot less likely to critically hit them without it.
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I realized if you don't have Martial proficiency by Class but plan to get it via Multiclass, it's actually very convenient to be able to take Leech-Clipper at 1st Ancestry Feat and then take Fighter Multiclass at 2... Or even retrain into Leech-Clipper at Level 2/3, after you have proficiency to make best use of it (but not actually required, 1st level probably has least difference if you're not rolling +Level+2).
But yeah, overall... ALL Hobgoblins don't have every Hobgoblin Feat, they merely CAN choose them.
Ability to choose something doesn't mean you can or will make best use of it, that's what free choice is for.
Leech-Clipper and Weapon Familiarity are both at same Ancestry Feat level, so by default aren't chosen together.
Although... a decent way to use both Leech and Weapon Familiarity might be on Cloistered Cleric with Favored:Flail, they wouldn't work together directly, but you would have wide range of Expert weapons for melee B/S/P and reach and ranged, especially nice Flail crits but able to use other weapon/damage traits when most appropriate. Basically ending up as a Warpriest in all but name but with better Spell Saves, you can even add Champion Multiclass for better Armor.
Seriously, though... Crazy thread.
Or even a Champion might like taking Leech and Weapon Familiarity chain... Not for the proficiency on latter, which they already get (although any Advanced Hobgoblin weapons would be bonus). Familiarity would just be a Feat Tax to later get Ancestral CritSpec... Since they don't normally get CritSpec at all without Blade Ally (and that only to one weapon/day). Ancestral CritSpec doesn't apply to Flail since that isn't in Hobgoblin "group", but Flail gets Leech Crit effect amounting to same+more, while CritSpec would apply to all other "group" weapons (covering S/P + reach/ranged in addition to Bludgeoning Flail), so they can be effective crit-debuffing combatants with wide range of weapons appropriate to each enemy. Not the worst you can do with 3 Ancestry Feats.