I was just thinking about a character while reading the storm light archive, and I realized a flying character with a reach weapon would be amazing. In melee, you could fly up to around 15 ft, and still be able to reach with your reach weapon. The melee characters would be stuck, and you would be untouched. You would still be vulnerable to ranged weapons, but you could control the battlefield from anywhere. Also from the flavor perspective, a halberd or a glaive would be too unbalanced to wield well, but a pike would be more balanced and more convenient to use.
I’m not sure about 15’, but yes, flying and reach can by a good combination. Get on a flying mount, and dual wield lances is typically the thing I see people wanting to pull off. Though PAM doesn’t work with a lance.
A flying Polearm Master threathen a lot more space since every space/squares below him also become potential one to provoke Opportunity Attacks meanwhile when on the ground they aren't.
I’m not sure about 15’, but yes, flying and reach can by a good combination. Get on a flying mount, and dual wield lances is typically the thing I see people wanting to pull off. Though PAM doesn’t work with a lance.
I’m not sure on the exact, but I was thinking the person is about 5 ft tall and you are 10 ft above so 15 ft total.
I’m not sure about 15’, but yes, flying and reach can by a good combination. Get on a flying mount, and dual wield lances is typically the thing I see people wanting to pull off. Though PAM doesn’t work with a lance.
I’m not sure on the exact, but I was thinking the person is about 5 ft tall and you are 10 ft above so 15 ft total.
But that would also minimize your horizontal reach, so you might want to stay at 10ft instead to make sure you can hit them.
Or just be a bugbear on a flying mount and that 15' reach becomes a thing.
Bugbear's Long-Limbed trait don't increase the range of your Opportunity Attacks though.
To make the most out of flight + PAM you give up the opportunity attacks anyway. Because staying 10ft above the ground is extremely dangerous as any old creature can jump up into melee with you, grapple you causing you to fall for 1d6 damage and being knocked prone.
To stay out of reach of creatures that would jump, to attack you you must remain farther than 15 feet away, in which case you loose half the benefit from Polearm Master feat though.
A flying Polearm Master threathen a lot more space since every space/squares below him also become potential one to provoke Opportunity Attacks meanwhile when on the ground they aren't.
In theory they're covering more area, but in practice it's about the same. You don't actually reach farther, you're just reaching down instead of forward.
A flying Polearm Master threathen a lot more space since every space/squares below him also become potential one to provoke Opportunity Attacks meanwhile when on the ground they aren't.
In theory they're covering more area, but in practice it's about the same. You don't actually reach farther, you're just reaching down instead of forward.
I don't understand your reasoning of down instead of forward, it's down and up.. You have a greater reach, 45 squares instead of 27.
A flying Polearm Master threathen a lot more space since every space/squares below him also become potential one to provoke Opportunity Attacks meanwhile when on the ground they aren't.
In theory they're covering more area, but in practice it's about the same. You don't actually reach farther, you're just reaching down instead of forward.
I don't understand your reasoning of down instead of forward, it's down and up.. You have a greater reach, 45 squares instead of 27.
Ah, I see what you mean. I still stand by what I said, very few creatures will attack from above, and regardless if they're melee fighters they'd need to enter the threatened area anyways and if not they won't be moving into range in the first place. You have technically gained 18 addition squares of coverage, but they're unlikely to come up often.
Ah, I see what you mean. I still stand by what I said, very few creatures will attack from above, and regardless if they're melee fighters they'd need to enter the threatened area anyways and if not they won't be moving into range in the first place. You have technically gained 18 addition squares of coverage, but they're unlikely to come up often.
Wether or not they often come up is a different matter, the point was more that in theory and practice a flying Polearm Master threathen more squares, not about the same.
Ah, I see what you mean. I still stand by what I said, very few creatures will attack from above, and regardless if they're melee fighters they'd need to enter the threatened area anyways and if not they won't be moving into range in the first place. You have technically gained 18 addition squares of coverage, but they're unlikely to come up often.
Wether or not they often come up is a different matter, the point was more that in theory and practice a flying Polearm Master threathen more squares, not about the same.
Really PAM is optimal when swimming, since it eliminates the risk of falling while also giving larger threat area and ensuring that threat area is not wasted b/c the opponents cannot fly.
Although... thinking about it... ground based PAM is better than swimming or flying PAM assuming enemies are also ground based because the threat area must be compared to "possible paths by the enemy" - i.e. threatening 17 squares when the enemy has 60 squares they could occupy is better than threating 27 squares when the enemy has 240 squares they could occupy. Since ground-based combat has far fewer spaces the enemy can occupy, PAM is more effective than for flying combat.
The possible path of an enemy is optimal if it can get into your reach from all around your space, including below you, so being in the air or underwater where no ground blocks any possible path to you means that you threathen more squares.
Without a swimming speed, attacking underwater is not optimal for a Polearm Master unless using a spear, which threathen less space due to lower reach though.
Underwater: When making a melee weapon attack, a creature that doesn't have a swimming speed (either natural or granted by magic) has disadvantage on the attack roll unless the weapon is a dagger, javelin, shortsword, spear, or trident.
No, I think you're wrong about that. Threatening a square isn't valuable in itself. What matters is the number of threatened squares * the probability of an enemy being within that square.
For example if your combat has a large open room with a narrow passage into it, what is the best place to stand?
If you stand in the middle of the room you threaten the most squares, but it is easy for enemies to walk around you, never entering your reach.
If you stand in the narrow passage way you threaten fewer squares but every enemy will have to enter your reach in order to enter the room.
The latter is obviously better from a tactical point of view. And if we consider PAM you are getting an evtra attack every round in the latter case, but there is no guarantee you'll get any extra attacks in the former case.
Thus, when considering flight we have to consider that "in the air" in nearly always a blank open space, and flying creatures typically have higher movement speeds than groundbased creatures. Thus in aerial combat it is much easier for enemies to avoid the squares you are threatening than in ground based combat.
Space you threathen are squares that may provoke an Opportunity Attack from you if an enemy enter or leaves them. It's a static value very easily established that may reduce with space around you that cannot be occupied due to total cover onstacle such as wall or ground, because these spaces suddenly cannot be left or entered to provoke an opportunity Attack.
The same principle exist for the Polearm Master bonus action attack since more space within your reach an enemy occupy, means more possibility to eventually make one there. If you're in a wide room, spaces are around you can be occupied, while if you're in a 5 feet corridor dead end, only the two squares in front of you can be occupied, and only one threathen (the farthest one) If the same dead end corridor is 5 x 10, when four squares in front of you can be occupied, and only two threathen (the farthest ones)
But you only get 1 reaction per round. And you can move on your turn to get enemies within your reach.
E.g. let's say there are 5 goblins with shortswords attacking you.
Case 1: narrow hallway 5ft wide, you are threatening 1 square.
Round 1: 1 goblin run into reach getting an AoO, and attacks you, a 2nd goblin moves into your reach with no AoO because your reaction is used. Goblin1 stabs you. You kill goblin 1 in 2 hits and make the BA attack on goblin 2.
Round 2: goblin 3 moves into your reach triggering an AoO, goblin 2 stabs you, you kill goblins 2&3.
Round 3: goblins 4&5 move into your reach the first triggering an AOE....
Total 3 AoO
Case 2: you are out in the open threatening lots of squares.
Round 1: all 5 goblins swarm you, you get 1 AoO. All goblins stab you, you kill 1 and injure a second.
Round 2: 0 AoO because all enemies are already within your reach.....
Total 1 AoO
Case 3: goblins see you are threatening those spaces and move around you and attack your allies instead... Total 0 AoO
Right bieng able to threathen more squares doesn't let you make more Opportunity Attacks since you still have only one reaction per round, it let you represent a threat in a greater area if you prefer, by having more squares from which you can possibly attack. The difference between a two characters wielding an halberd but only one of them having the Polearm Master feat means only one of them threathen creatures moving from within 15 feet to 10 feet of it in every direction, which may include below the character whenever possible.
I was just thinking about a character while reading the storm light archive, and I realized a flying character with a reach weapon would be amazing. In melee, you could fly up to around 15 ft, and still be able to reach with your reach weapon. The melee characters would be stuck, and you would be untouched. You would still be vulnerable to ranged weapons, but you could control the battlefield from anywhere. Also from the flavor perspective, a halberd or a glaive would be too unbalanced to wield well, but a pike would be more balanced and more convenient to use.
I’m not sure about 15’, but yes, flying and reach can by a good combination. Get on a flying mount, and dual wield lances is typically the thing I see people wanting to pull off. Though PAM doesn’t work with a lance.
A flying Polearm Master threathen a lot more space since every space/squares below him also become potential one to provoke Opportunity Attacks meanwhile when on the ground they aren't.
I’m not sure on the exact, but I was thinking the person is about 5 ft tall and you are 10 ft above so 15 ft total.
But that would also minimize your horizontal reach, so you might want to stay at 10ft instead to make sure you can hit them.
If you have a reach of 10 feet/2 squares, then this is the distance from you on the ground that the creature must be in order to be able to attack it.
So if you fly up 15 feet in the air, Medium creature on the ground won't enter your 10-foot reach. Large creature would stil though.
Or just be a bugbear on a flying mount and that 15' reach becomes a thing.
Bugbear's Long-Limbed trait don't increase the range of your Opportunity Attacks though.
To make the most out of flight + PAM you give up the opportunity attacks anyway. Because staying 10ft above the ground is extremely dangerous as any old creature can jump up into melee with you, grapple you causing you to fall for 1d6 damage and being knocked prone.
To stay out of reach of creatures that would jump, to attack you you must remain farther than 15 feet away, in which case you loose half the benefit from Polearm Master feat though.
In theory they're covering more area, but in practice it's about the same. You don't actually reach farther, you're just reaching down instead of forward.
I don't understand your reasoning of down instead of forward, it's down and up.. You have a greater reach, 45 squares instead of 27.
Ah, I see what you mean. I still stand by what I said, very few creatures will attack from above, and regardless if they're melee fighters they'd need to enter the threatened area anyways and if not they won't be moving into range in the first place. You have technically gained 18 addition squares of coverage, but they're unlikely to come up often.
Wether or not they often come up is a different matter, the point was more that in theory and practice a flying Polearm Master threathen more squares, not about the same.
Really PAM is optimal when swimming, since it eliminates the risk of falling while also giving larger threat area and ensuring that threat area is not wasted b/c the opponents cannot fly.
Although... thinking about it... ground based PAM is better than swimming or flying PAM assuming enemies are also ground based because the threat area must be compared to "possible paths by the enemy" - i.e. threatening 17 squares when the enemy has 60 squares they could occupy is better than threating 27 squares when the enemy has 240 squares they could occupy. Since ground-based combat has far fewer spaces the enemy can occupy, PAM is more effective than for flying combat.
The possible path of an enemy is optimal if it can get into your reach from all around your space, including below you, so being in the air or underwater where no ground blocks any possible path to you means that you threathen more squares.
Without a swimming speed, attacking underwater is not optimal for a Polearm Master unless using a spear, which threathen less space due to lower reach though.
No, I think you're wrong about that. Threatening a square isn't valuable in itself. What matters is the number of threatened squares * the probability of an enemy being within that square.
For example if your combat has a large open room with a narrow passage into it, what is the best place to stand?
If you stand in the middle of the room you threaten the most squares, but it is easy for enemies to walk around you, never entering your reach.
If you stand in the narrow passage way you threaten fewer squares but every enemy will have to enter your reach in order to enter the room.
The latter is obviously better from a tactical point of view. And if we consider PAM you are getting an evtra attack every round in the latter case, but there is no guarantee you'll get any extra attacks in the former case.
Thus, when considering flight we have to consider that "in the air" in nearly always a blank open space, and flying creatures typically have higher movement speeds than groundbased creatures. Thus in aerial combat it is much easier for enemies to avoid the squares you are threatening than in ground based combat.
Space you threathen are squares that may provoke an Opportunity Attack from you if an enemy enter or leaves them. It's a static value very easily established that may reduce with space around you that cannot be occupied due to total cover onstacle such as wall or ground, because these spaces suddenly cannot be left or entered to provoke an opportunity Attack.
The same principle exist for the Polearm Master bonus action attack since more space within your reach an enemy occupy, means more possibility to eventually make one there. If you're in a wide room, spaces are around you can be occupied, while if you're in a 5 feet corridor dead end, only the two squares in front of you can be occupied, and only one threathen (the farthest one) If the same dead end corridor is 5 x 10, when four squares in front of you can be occupied, and only two threathen (the farthest ones)
But you only get 1 reaction per round. And you can move on your turn to get enemies within your reach.
E.g. let's say there are 5 goblins with shortswords attacking you.
Case 1: narrow hallway 5ft wide, you are threatening 1 square.
Round 1: 1 goblin run into reach getting an AoO, and attacks you, a 2nd goblin moves into your reach with no AoO because your reaction is used. Goblin1 stabs you. You kill goblin 1 in 2 hits and make the BA attack on goblin 2.
Round 2: goblin 3 moves into your reach triggering an AoO, goblin 2 stabs you, you kill goblins 2&3.
Round 3: goblins 4&5 move into your reach the first triggering an AOE....
Total 3 AoO
Case 2: you are out in the open threatening lots of squares.
Round 1: all 5 goblins swarm you, you get 1 AoO. All goblins stab you, you kill 1 and injure a second.
Round 2: 0 AoO because all enemies are already within your reach.....
Total 1 AoO
Case 3: goblins see you are threatening those spaces and move around you and attack your allies instead... Total 0 AoO
Right bieng able to threathen more squares doesn't let you make more Opportunity Attacks since you still have only one reaction per round, it let you represent a threat in a greater area if you prefer, by having more squares from which you can possibly attack. The difference between a two characters wielding an halberd but only one of them having the Polearm Master feat means only one of them threathen creatures moving from within 15 feet to 10 feet of it in every direction, which may include below the character whenever possible.