A mechanic, my riding drone, and Shot on the Run

[Geiras]

I am essentially trying to work out which combination of Feats would be required to maximize a drive-by attack. I know I can accomplish one of us making the attack, I'm just trying to work out what it would take for both of us to do it, if its possible.

The Skills section under Survival seems to indicate my mount's movement can simply be used to replace my own, especially since the Riding Saddle mod removes the need for any Survival checks to do so.

----------

Scenario #1: I am riding my Drone and I have Shot on the Run, but my Drone does not

My reading of the rules would seem to allow at least for me to take the shot, but what about my Drone

Scenario #2: I am riding my Drone and it has Shot on the Run and I do not

If I use Master Control for the Drone to use a Full Action to use Shot on the Run, am I able to use my Standard Action to make an attack during that movement, as well?

Scenario #3: I am riding my Drone and we both have Shot on the Run

Same general idea as above, but with an extra 2 feats invested. I assume a role reversal in this scenario, where I use my Full Action and the Drone attempts a drive-by shot, would be the same.

[Magyar5]

First, lets go over the feat you are working with.

Shot on the run requires a full action. Actions and the type of actions allowed per round is important.

Your drone can not take a full action by itself until you reach level 20 and attain a True AI.

It can however use your full action under Master Control.

Now that this is out of the way let's look at your scenarios:

1). You may perform a Shot on the Run as a full action using your mount's movement speed. Your mount can not use Shot on the Run as it requires a full action and does not possess the feat.

2). Using Master Control you may give your swift action and move action to your drone thus giving it a full action. You, however, can not take a full action as you have used your move action to control the drone directly.

3). Scenario 1 and 2 answer this question. Either you or your drone may take a full action but not both as controlling your drone requires your move action. The Expert AI does not give your drone a full action while not under your direct control. A full attack is NOT the same as a full action.

Once you reach level 20, both you and your drone may perform a full action. If you substitute the drone's movement for your own for the movement action of the feat, I supposed that you could both perform the same Shot on the run.

Now, all that being said.. why would you bother taking this feat at all with a drone you are riding?

Remember that your drone acts IMMEDIATELY after you do on your turn. If the goal is to find some cover after your attack you don't need to take the feat. Just perform your action and then have the drone move you in to some cover as it's action.

If your goal is to move 15 feet, shoot at an enemy, and then move 15 more feet to some kind of cover, (I am assuming that your initial movement was to deny your enemy some kind of cover or concealment) there are other feat, items, or mechanics in the game which can reduce or remove the cover an enemy has. (Guided weapons, phasing ammunition, etc...)

[Geiras]

Magyar5 wrote:

Now, all that being said.. why would you bother taking this feat at all with a drone you are riding?

Remember that your drone acts IMMEDIATELY after you do on your turn. If the goal is to find some cover after your attack you don't need to take the feat. Just perform your action and then have the drone move you in to some cover as it's action.

If your goal is to move 15 feet, shoot at an enemy, and then move 15 more feet to some kind of cover, (I am assuming that your initial movement was to deny your enemy some kind of cover or concealment) there are other feat, items, or mechanics in the game which can reduce or remove the cover an enemy has. (Guided weapons, phasing ammunition, etc...)

Its more of a fun concept build than an optimal one. I'm dead certain I could make something similar that would increase effectiveness, but the imagery is more fun this way. It's going to be a big group of PCs, so DPR isn't really a huge worry.

The idea is to have him running around the battlefield with a scattergun or other blast weapon, peppering groups of enemies with drive-by attacks while positioning himself to lob grenades or some such. This was an interesting idea wondering if it would be possible to get 2 of those blasts in as another tactical option, such as for those rounds where seeking cover may not be quite as preferable as getting in an additional attack or some other desirable positioning stuff. Its about opening up options more than hitting harder.

This would also open up some additional movement for getting into cover if the target is either just out of range or just a bit far away for a single movement to get me back to cover. Say the target is 20 feet away, I would need to almost wast a movement for a 5 foot step, scattergun blast (15ft range), and then use another movement to get away again. With Shot on the Run, I would get to move a full 40 feet (with a stealth drone and goblin rider) with an attack anywhere I want in that movement, and still have either another movement left afterwards, or another action such as a grenade throw.

["Dr." Cupi]

As from a similar thread, if your drone get Shot on the Run, you ready a shot for when it gets to X position, use your move and swift actions to give your drone a full action, then your drone goes and uses Shot on the Run. This seems to be supported by RAW.