Does power attack work with weapon finesse and xbows?

[Relenthe]

I am wondering, if you made a build with 18 dex and 14 strength, could you make this buildd have power attack with putting in points to dex at each lvl? Or does power attack only work with strength based items?

[Darkwolf]

Nope. Power Attack doesn't work with Light or Ranged weapons.

(At least it's not supposed to according to te tabletop rules. I'd have to double check DDOs accuracy in this.)

[Blazer]

Power Attack does indeed work with finesse weapons. I have PA on my ranger (24 STR/32 DEX, weapon finesse) and it's on all the time.

Power Attack does not work, however, with any ranged weapons.

[rimble]

Power Attack does indeed work with finesse weapons. I have PA on my ranger (24 STR/32 DEX, weapon finesse) and it's on all the time.

Power Attack does not work, however, with any ranged weapons.

What weapons are you using? It should deffinitely work with Rapiers (medium finessable weapons), but it'd be nice to know for sure how DDO did it. You should be able to make a 1st level Human Fighter and figure it out.

I know many people dislike Weapon Finesse builds due to damage problems, but they can usually jack their Dexterity higher than the Strength based build can jack their Strength and use Power Attack to equalize things fairly well, while having the flexibility of turning off Power Attack when just high +ToHit is desired.

[GeneralDiomedes]

This is what my Halfling Ranger does .. 34 DEX/20 STR with Power Attack and GTWF can do some decent DPS.

A Drow Ranger with 36 DEX/20 STR, Drow melee enhancements and Power Attack would also do some very nice DPS.

Power Attack works with Finesse weapons and also gives you a +5 dmg bonus to both hands (not sure if that is how it is supposed to work, but it does).

[Relenthe]

ok ty

[Darkwolf]

So it does work with shortswords, light maces, etc...?

Hmm, I know what Zhan's 15th level feat will be.

[Blazer]

What weapons are you using? It should deffinitely work with Rapiers (medium finessable weapons), but it'd be nice to know for sure how DDO did it. You should be able to make a 1st level Human Fighter and figure it out.

My primary weapon pairs for my ranger are rapier/kukri or dual kukris (Greenblade). If you check my next post, however, you'll see I also use light hammers, maces, daggers, etc, especially if they have greater banes on them.

I know many people dislike Weapon Finesse builds due to damage problems, but they can usually jack their Dexterity higher than the Strength based build can jack their Strength and use Power Attack to equalize things fairly well, while having the flexibility of turning off Power Attack when just high +ToHit is desired.

I think the stigma behind Weapon Finesse builds comes from the Max DEX/sub-par STR rangers from Mod 1/2. I have no problem with a Weapon Finesse ranger (obviously, since I play one), but I feel you've gotta get that STR up above 20, at a minimum. Since I'm dual wielding, that's a +5 damage to each weapon or, over a chain of 7 swings, an additional +35 damage. That's a pretty **** nice boost.

[Blazer]

So it does work with shortswords, light maces, etc...?

Hmm, I know what Zhan's 15th level feat will be.

Yes sir, PA works with *any* melee weapon, finessable or not. One of my weapon sets is a pair of greater undead bane finessables (I think light hammer and ghost touch dagger?). The +4 from the greater bane nearly offsets the -5 from PA, and when you tack on the Favored Enemy attack bonus, you come out ahead. The result is simply silly amounts of damage from weapons like light hammers, shortswords, light maces, daggers, etc.

Heck, if you've got a feat you feel like swapping out, give it a try now. Pretty numbers everywhere.

[Darkwolf]

As long as I have been playing you'd think I'd have learned not to assume things work by PnP rules. It really just never occured to my to try it because I know it doesn't work.

I wonder if I have a feat I can afford to swap out...

[Blazer]

As long as I have been playing you'd think I'd have learned not to assume things work by PnP rules. It really just never occured to my to try it because I know it doesn't work.

I wonder if I have a feat I can afford to swap out...

I stopped playing PnP about 6-7 years ago, back with AD&D, so I came into DDO with zero knowledge of 3.0 or 3.5. To some extent, I think that helped since I had to learn the rules based on how Turbine put them into place, not how they were in tabletop. Hell, as I was making my first character back in Headstart, I was sitting there wondering, "When do I get to choose my non weapon proficiencies?"

Not knowing what your feats are (other than Weapon Finesse), I'm sure you've got something you can swap out, even if it's just for 3 days. PA is one of those "anytime" feats, so you can probably ditch some level 1,3, or 6 feat to pick it up. Alternatively, if you've got 2 different Improved Critical feats, you could just ditch one of them for a test drive with PA. Then after 3 days you can just do the Dragonmark quest in the Harbor to get the free feat exchange to swap it back.