I recently got to choose a feat and was really considering going Mounted Combatant to abuse that shield and heavy lance combo, but my DM advised against it as that would be a feat limiting me to open terrain, effectively losing me out on a trait whenever we ventured indoors or some other terrain unfriendly to mounts. So, I instead went with Sentinel, since I build my Leonin as a massive tower of imposing armour, which has made him even more of a punishment to get close to, but sometimes I think wistfully on what it would have been like to charge into battle with a heavy lance and advantage on attacks against anything that had the misfortune of being smaller than my horse.
I really don’t like mounted combatant. As your dm said, you only get use of it under just the right conditions. You can’t use your horse inside, which is going to be campaign dependent how often that happens I suppose, but it’s likely to be a significant number of combats (sentinel you can use in every one). And if you ever have to climb a rope, or a cliffside, where does your horse go?
Beyond that, while the idea of mounts is cool, they rarely live up to the cool in actual play. 19 hp doesn’t go very far — first failed save against a fireball and the horse is dead, (or it runs into an aura with no save) and now your feat is useless again.
And you are free to use a shield and lance without the feat. And sentinel will keep enemies focused on you instead of the horse. Still dead after the fireball, though.
Imo, basically don't take the feat unless you have access to any of the mount summoning spells.
To me, the mount summoning spells are even less of a reason to take it. You only get 4-5 feats in a whole campaign, but you get more spell slots every morning. It’s a lot cheaper, in terms of resources, to let the summoned mount die and get a new one tomorrow, than it is to use a feat to try and keep it alive.
It could work if you're a small creature with access to a medium creature to mount, because that will still work indoors. I think the best way would be as a gnome Battle Smite artificer, but yeah, its hard to make it work
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It could work if you're a small creature with access to a medium creature to mount, because that will still work indoors. I think the best way would be as a gnome Battle Smite artificer, but yeah, its hard to make it work
That absolutely makes it less bad, but there's still problems. For one, you give up that advantage on attacks against most creatures (aka medium or larger, though that's certainly going to be campaign dependent). For two, you still can't go up a ladder.
My character right now is a halfling pally (ancients) so I can summon my medium steed, and I can use misty step to get it to places that would otherwise be impossible. I use my mount all the time, and still, I wouldn't take this feat.
Mounted combatant is a great feat if you are insistent about it. I've played with mounted combat in a variety of tables with different people, and I've had some DMs and players alike who'll disliked my mount and tried to separate me from my steed, for one non-issue or another. The trick is to insist on your horse and force it wherever you can. You gotta puff up your chest and beat it as you tell your DM it makes perfect sense that your horse was brought indoors, stare down your fellow players until they submit to your pony. If a corridor is at least 10ft wide, you can get your horse in! If it's only 5 ft wide, well, your horse can squeeze through!
Now, the trick to making the most out of it is to use this feat when you've got access to special kinds of mounts. Ever get one of them fancy nightmare pokeballs? Don't matter where you go, if it's go time you use your item interaction to bust that figurine, use movement to hop on, and vamoose! Also applies to phantom steed too.
point being, mounted combat's as good as you make it.
It really depends on the campaign setting. I played a campaign back in 2nd edition where we were an attachment of military force, with lots of large scale battles, and Mounted Combatant would have been great... but as stated, it has limited uses in most scenarios. Your mount will eventually die or you'll get knocked off, and you'll be back to infantry duties like everyone else.
From a role-playing perspective, it is kinda cool to be thus badass on a mount.. but there are probably more versatile options to this in terms of mechanics
Imo, basically don't take the feat unless you have access to any of the mount summoning spells.
To me, the mount summoning spells are even less of a reason to take it. You only get 4-5 feats in a whole campaign, but you get more spell slots every morning. It’s a lot cheaper, in terms of resources, to let the summoned mount die and get a new one tomorrow, than it is to use a feat to try and keep it alive.
I don't think people get this feat to keep the mount alive, it's for the advantage on medium and smaller creatures.
It's a fantastic feat if you're a small creature and can convince your DM to let you ride on the shoulders of a fellow party member 😄
But yeah, it's a tricky one to actually make full use of, definitely makes more sense on a Paladin with Find Steed for example, as they're a lot less limited by the availability of mounts.
I recently got to choose a feat and was really considering going Mounted Combatant to abuse that shield and heavy lance combo, but my DM advised against it as that would be a feat limiting me to open terrain, effectively losing me out on a trait whenever we ventured indoors or some other terrain unfriendly to mounts. So, I instead went with Sentinel, since I build my Leonin as a massive tower of imposing armour, which has made him even more of a punishment to get close to, but sometimes I think wistfully on what it would have been like to charge into battle with a heavy lance and advantage on attacks against anything that had the misfortune of being smaller than my horse.
Athos of the Golden Plains | Leonin Fighter
I really don’t like mounted combatant. As your dm said, you only get use of it under just the right conditions. You can’t use your horse inside, which is going to be campaign dependent how often that happens I suppose, but it’s likely to be a significant number of combats (sentinel you can use in every one). And if you ever have to climb a rope, or a cliffside, where does your horse go?
Beyond that, while the idea of mounts is cool, they rarely live up to the cool in actual play. 19 hp doesn’t go very far — first failed save against a fireball and the horse is dead, (or it runs into an aura with no save) and now your feat is useless again.
And you are free to use a shield and lance without the feat. And sentinel will keep enemies focused on you instead of the horse. Still dead after the fireball, though.
Imo, basically don't take the feat unless you have access to any of the mount summoning spells.
Altrazin Aghanes - Wizard/Fighter
Varpulis Windhowl - Fighter
Skolson Demjon - Cleric/Fighter
To me, the mount summoning spells are even less of a reason to take it. You only get 4-5 feats in a whole campaign, but you get more spell slots every morning. It’s a lot cheaper, in terms of resources, to let the summoned mount die and get a new one tomorrow, than it is to use a feat to try and keep it alive.
It could work if you're a small creature with access to a medium creature to mount, because that will still work indoors. I think the best way would be as a gnome Battle Smite artificer, but yeah, its hard to make it work
Three-time Judge of the Competition of the Finest Brews! Come join us in making fun, unique homebrew and voting for your favorite entries!
Re-imagining unpopular subclasses as part of FIFY WotC. Let us know what you think of our changes!
That absolutely makes it less bad, but there's still problems. For one, you give up that advantage on attacks against most creatures (aka medium or larger, though that's certainly going to be campaign dependent). For two, you still can't go up a ladder.
My character right now is a halfling pally (ancients) so I can summon my medium steed, and I can use misty step to get it to places that would otherwise be impossible. I use my mount all the time, and still, I wouldn't take this feat.
Mounted combatant is a great feat if you are insistent about it. I've played with mounted combat in a variety of tables with different people, and I've had some DMs and players alike who'll disliked my mount and tried to separate me from my steed, for one non-issue or another. The trick is to insist on your horse and force it wherever you can. You gotta puff up your chest and beat it as you tell your DM it makes perfect sense that your horse was brought indoors, stare down your fellow players until they submit to your pony. If a corridor is at least 10ft wide, you can get your horse in! If it's only 5 ft wide, well, your horse can squeeze through!
Now, the trick to making the most out of it is to use this feat when you've got access to special kinds of mounts. Ever get one of them fancy nightmare pokeballs? Don't matter where you go, if it's go time you use your item interaction to bust that figurine, use movement to hop on, and vamoose! Also applies to phantom steed too.
point being, mounted combat's as good as you make it.
It really depends on the campaign setting. I played a campaign back in 2nd edition where we were an attachment of military force, with lots of large scale battles, and Mounted Combatant would have been great... but as stated, it has limited uses in most scenarios. Your mount will eventually die or you'll get knocked off, and you'll be back to infantry duties like everyone else.
From a role-playing perspective, it is kinda cool to be thus badass on a mount.. but there are probably more versatile options to this in terms of mechanics
I don't think people get this feat to keep the mount alive, it's for the advantage on medium and smaller creatures.
Altrazin Aghanes - Wizard/Fighter
Varpulis Windhowl - Fighter
Skolson Demjon - Cleric/Fighter
It's a fantastic feat if you're a small creature and can convince your DM to let you ride on the shoulders of a fellow party member 😄
But yeah, it's a tricky one to actually make full use of, definitely makes more sense on a Paladin with Find Steed for example, as they're a lot less limited by the availability of mounts.
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