[RPG] Is Stormguard Warrior really that good

dnd-3.5etome-of-battle

I have an idea of build centered around the Crusader class, with some possible dips in Warblade/Swordsage to take advantage of the goodies in other disciplines (such as Ironheart Surge or Time Stands Still).

The dip in the Warblade class brings me the opportunity to take the Stormguard Warrior tactical feat, and I have seen it recommended a number of times specifically for its Channel the Storm option (ToB, p.36):

Channel the Storm: To use this option, you must choose to refrain from making one or more available attacks of opportunity against a single opponent. On your next turn, you gain a +4 bonus on attack rolls and damage rolls for each attack that you refrained from making against the same opponent. You gain this bonus only against an opponent that you refrained from making an attack of opportunity against in the previous round.

I am wondering if this feat is really that good. It seems that it requires a huge investment (in terms of feats) and it is unclear to me whether it really pays off.

The bonuses +4 AR/dmg per refrained AoO (which you have an infinite supply of (*)) do seem interesting, at first, however:

  • A prerequisite of Stormguard Warrior is Ironheart Aura, which in itself does not seem that interesting, especially for a Crusader (Thicket of Blade is not an Ironheart stance)
  • The bonuses gained can only be used against the opponent that generated them, and no other (it's a minor restriction, but worth keeping in mind)
  • An AoO is likely to do much more damage than 4, especially if using a two-handed weapon (even at level 1, we are looking at 1d10 + 6 ~= 11.5)

Thus, the two feats investment seems only worth it if one can generate more AoOs than one has available. In the recommendations I have seen, it is combined with Robilar's Gambit (-4 AR, 1 AoO per foe attack in melee) which itself requires Combat Reflexes. Dexterity is unlikely to be ignored (since it benefits Touch AC), and therefore we are looking at a minimum of 3 or 4 available AoOs per round…

Letting Combat Reflexes and Robilar's Gambit aside, is it really worth it investing in Ironheart Aura and Stormguard Warrior? Am I missing something?

(*) I have seen some debates where it is argued that refraining to take an AoO to fuel up Channel the Storm should use it up, which I ignore here. The feat is much worse in this case.

Best Answer

Stormguard Warrior is an excellent feat – for building a character around

Stormguard Warrior can add huge amounts of attack and damage bonuses, but it requires that you be pretty dedicated towards generating attacks of opportunity to not take. Specifically, the feats Karmic StrikeCWar and Robilar’s GambitPHB2 are often used, because these feats allow you to take many more attacks of opportunity than you could otherwise (Karmic Strike allows you an AoO every time you’re hit, while Robilar’s Gambit allows you an AoO every time you’re attacked, whether they hit or not). Other ways of getting attacks of opportunity (defensive rebuke Devoted Spirit boostToB) or prevents others from avoiding them (thicket of blades stanceToB as mentioned, Mage Slayer featCArc) are also useful, but don’t add nearly as much as Karmic and/or Robilar’s.

But Ironheart Aura is pretty much a dead feat, yes, and without Karmic or Robilar’s, you’ll rarely see more than +4/+4 from Stormguard Warrior. +4/+4 for two feats isn’t entirely awful, of course; the Weapon Focus/Specialization line (which are awful) is four feats for +2/+4. If you have reach and thicket of blades, the +4/+4 seems pretty likely; using defensive rebuke can improve that dramatically. And it is pretty much expected that you’re using Power Attack with a big two-hander, so it’s really +0/+12. Basically, you’re trading extra attacks (attacks of opportunity) for more potent attacks in general (skip one AoO, get a full attack with +12 on each attack). So it’s not a terrible use of feats. Just not the highly-recommended one that it would be with Karmic and/or Robilar’s.

Also, note the Combat Rhythm option on Stormguard Warrior; it’s not nearly as explosive as Channel the Storm, but it is cool. Personally, I have always wanted to have that opportunity to combine it with avalanche of blades for hilarity. That’s not really an option for a crusader with a warblade dip, though.

The other thing to point out about Stormguard Warrior is that the Evasive Reflexes featToB uses the same “don’t take an AoO you could have, get something instead” mechanic, and like Stormguard Warrior, it doesn’t use up the AoO. You can use both Evasive Reflexes and Stormguard Warrior. This is particularly useful when you have thicket of blades – their 5-ft. steps provoke an AoO from you, which lets you 5-ft. step to keep up with them and gives you +4/+4. If that step was to try to get away from you so they could do something that provokes (say, cast a spell while you have Mage Slayer, or attack an ally after you hit them with defensive rebuke), you have either just prevented them from doing that, or are going to get pumped up even more.