guided hand pathfinder

Guided Hand Pathfinder⁚ An Overview

The Guided Hand feat in Pathfinder allows characters to use their Wisdom modifier for attack rolls with their deity’s favored weapon. This provides an alternative to Strength or Dexterity, enhancing combat potential for certain builds that prioritize Wisdom.

The Guided Hand feat is a unique option in Pathfinder that allows a character’s divine connection to influence their combat prowess. Specifically, it enables the wielder to replace their Strength or Dexterity modifier with their Wisdom modifier when making attack rolls, but only with their deity’s favored weapon. This feat is designed to give divine characters that focus on Wisdom a viable option for melee combat, especially those who might not have a high Strength or Dexterity score. It is beneficial to clerics and warpriests, making them more effective in battles by focusing on their Wisdom stat.

Prerequisites for Guided Hand

To acquire the Guided Hand feat, a character must possess the Channel Energy class feature, the Channel Smite feat, and proficiency with their deity’s favored weapon. These are essential requirements.

Channel Energy Class Feature

The Channel Energy class feature is a fundamental requirement for obtaining the Guided Hand feat in Pathfinder. This ability, typically possessed by classes like Clerics and Warpriests, allows the character to channel divine energy, either to heal allies or harm undead. The presence of this ability signifies a character’s connection to a deity, which is important for the divine blessing granted by Guided Hand. It is not enough to simply be a divine class; one must have the ability to actually channel energy to qualify for the Guided Hand feat. This prerequisite links the feat to a character’s divine power.

Channel Smite Feat

The Channel Smite feat is another essential prerequisite for acquiring the Guided Hand feat. This feat allows a character to channel their divine energy directly into their weapon, adding extra damage to their attacks, especially against undead. The Channel Smite feat demonstrates the character’s ability to utilize their divine energy offensively, a key aspect for benefiting from the divine guidance offered by the Guided Hand. Furthermore, Channel Smite serves as a stepping stone, establishing a connection to divine power necessary for the subsequent use of the Guided Hand feat. It is a crucial bridge between the divine source and combat.

Proficiency with Deity’s Favored Weapon

Proficiency with your deity’s favored weapon is a necessary prerequisite for the Guided Hand feat. This requirement ensures that the character has the appropriate training and skill to effectively wield the chosen weapon. It also signifies a dedication to their deity and their teachings, reinforcing the connection between faith and combat prowess. The proficient use of the favored weapon allows the character to channel their divine blessings more effectively, making the Wisdom-based attacks possible through the Guided Hand feat. Without this proficiency, the character cannot unlock the full potential of the feat.

Benefits of Guided Hand

The primary benefit of Guided Hand is using your Wisdom modifier instead of Strength or Dexterity for attack rolls with your deity’s favored weapon. This enhances accuracy for Wisdom-focused characters.

Wisdom Modifier for Attack Rolls

The core advantage of the Guided Hand feat lies in its ability to replace the traditional Strength or Dexterity modifier with the Wisdom modifier when making attack rolls. This is particularly beneficial for classes like Clerics and Warpriests who often have higher Wisdom scores. By utilizing Wisdom for attack rolls, these characters can focus on enhancing one key ability score, streamlining their build and making them more effective in combat. This also allows for more synergy with other abilities and feats that rely on Wisdom.

Guided Hand and Combat

Guided Hand significantly impacts combat, allowing Wisdom-focused characters to be more accurate with their deity’s favored weapon. This enhances their offensive capabilities and overall battlefield effectiveness when engaged in melee.

Effect on Warpriests and Clerics

For Warpriests and Clerics, the Guided Hand feat offers a unique advantage, especially since they often have high Wisdom scores. By using Wisdom for attack rolls, these classes can become more effective in melee combat without needing to heavily invest in Strength or Dexterity. This synergy allows them to focus on spellcasting and other divine abilities, making them versatile combatants. While archery is an option for Warpriests, clerics may find it less optimal due to feat requirements, delaying its effectiveness until later levels. Ultimately, Guided Hand enhances their combat role.

Versatility and Survivability with Guided Hand

The Guided Hand feat greatly enhances a character’s versatility and survivability. By utilizing Wisdom for attack rolls, characters can focus on improving other aspects of their build, such as spellcasting or defensive abilities. This allows for a more well-rounded character, capable of handling various combat situations. The feat’s synergy with other options like Power Attack or Weapon Finesse can further increase its effectiveness. Characters can be both offensively potent and resilient, making them adaptable and better equipped to survive challenging encounters. It also makes certain builds that might normally be MAD (Multiple Attribute Dependent) much more viable.

Mythic Guided Hand

The Mythic Guided Hand feat enhances the original by adding your Wisdom modifier to damage rolls with your deity’s favored weapon. This significantly boosts the offensive capabilities of a character.

Adding Wisdom Modifier to Damage Rolls

The Mythic version of Guided Hand takes the feat a step further by allowing you to add your Wisdom modifier to damage rolls, not just attack rolls when using your deity’s favored weapon. This is a significant upgrade, turning a character who relies on wisdom into a potent damage dealer. This makes the character much more versatile and survivable in combat scenarios. This feat is a key component for builds that focus on Wisdom as their primary stat, making every strike much more impactful.

Guided Weapon Enhancement vs. Guided Hand

The guided weapon enhancement, predating Pathfinder, is often considered non-legal. Guided Hand, a feat from Ultimate Combat, provides a similar effect but is officially part of the Pathfinder ruleset.

Distinction and Legality in Pathfinder

The key distinction lies in their origins and official status within Pathfinder. The guided weapon enhancement is a relic from pre-Pathfinder 3.5 material, making it largely considered illegal in standard Pathfinder games. This enhancement allowed the wielder to use their instinct, striking at the right moment based on wisdom. In contrast, Guided Hand is a feat explicitly designed for Pathfinder, found in the Ultimate Combat sourcebook, making it a legitimate and widely accepted option. Therefore, while both aim to leverage Wisdom for attacks, only Guided Hand is lawful within Pathfinder’s rules.

Guided Hand and Ranged Weapons

Guided Hand is particularly effective with ranged weapons like bows and daggers (thrown), allowing Wisdom-focused characters to excel without relying on Strength or Dexterity for attack accuracy.

Suitability for Bows and Daggers

The Guided Hand feat demonstrates exceptional synergy with ranged weaponry, specifically bows and daggers. This combination is particularly advantageous because it enables characters to effectively utilize their Wisdom modifier for attack rolls, rather than relying on Strength or Dexterity. This is very beneficial for builds that prioritize Wisdom for spellcasting or other abilities, allowing them to maintain accuracy in ranged combat without splitting their focus on multiple attributes. The versatility of daggers, which can also be thrown, further enhances the appeal of this synergy.

Building a Character Around Guided Hand

Creating a character centered on Guided Hand involves careful feat selection and a focus on Wisdom. This allows for a build that is both powerful and versatile in combat, particularly for Clerics.

Feat Progression and Character Strength

Optimizing a character around Guided Hand requires careful feat progression. Initially, the Channel Smite feat is a prerequisite. Then, taking Guided Hand itself enables the Wisdom-to-attack bonus. Further progression can include Mythic Guided Hand for Wisdom-to-damage. This careful selection of feats will create a character that is powerful and versatile. Depending on your build you might want to include feats such as Power Attack (Mythic) or Weapon Finesse (Mythic). These feats will help to enhance your character’s strengths. It is also important to remember the character’s deity and their favored weapon, which are central to using Guided Hand.