On The Hunt being Quicken is a little awkward

[Squiggit]

Beating my "Core class features shouldn't be typed" drum again that I know some people disagree with, but-

I really dislike that On The Hunt confers the quickened condition, because it's a nonstackable commodity that already exists in the game as part of a support toolkit. At low levels quickened is rare so it's not a huge deal, but at higher levels in parties that can apply quickened more easily (say via heightened haste), on the hunt can end up a depreciated class feature, which is really awkward. In parties that don't have that, it's less of a problem but I also think that creates unnecessary volatility because On The Hunt is a baseline class feature whose value can change dramatically depending on who's buffing people (if anyone).

I know buff stacking can be a problem, but there's a reason full martial gimmicks are basically never typed benefits, because you don't want class features to potentially turn off depending on party dynamics.

[John R.]

A significant part of On the Hunt is it enables quickened for actions other than stride and strike (like with haste). However, on a class like slayer, you are highly likely to be taking a stride or strike action most turns anyway. I can see both sides of this argument.

[exequiel759]

I totally agree this. The main problem of On the Hunt is that it isn't reliable because its reliability is highly dependant on how the GM designs an encounter. If there's low level creatures then its pretty much always on, but on boss encounters its not so much.

I also don't think it makes sense design-wise? Like, it doesn't feel like the slayer was designed in a way to be extra effective against mooks, it kinda seems like its opposite (or at least that's the idea), and if On the Hunt was meant to be a compensation feature for when the slayer isn't fighting against their quarry, I feel its even more of a problem because a 4th action is way better than the bonuses you have against your quarry.

And, as I said in other thread, the fact that On the Hunt exists pretty much restricts the slayer from taking any reaction from the game (so no Shield Block, Reactive Strike, etc) because that 4th action is really juicy and most of its class feats sinergize with it due to the relentless trait.

If the idea is for the slayer to juggle 4 actions (almost) every turn I feel it should be in a more reliable way, kinda like how the summoner has effectively 4 actions through Act Together, but preferably in a way that's thematic for the slayer. Though I also think its a bit weird for such a class to juggle 4 actions, so I wouldn't be bothered if they removed it. If they ever make a time-based class I think that would be the perfect opportunity to test out a class that can juggle more actions.

[yellowpete]

The ability struck me as a strange reversal – normally you want more reactions as a martial rather than actions as to dodge MAP (rogue even pays an expensive feat to be able to convert them), so it seems like using it means trading down. Early on it seems fine, but I imagine as soon as you can get access to an actually good reaction via archetype, you'd rather use that instead.