| Shield Bash | |
|---|---|
| |
| Details | |
Prerequisites |
Shield Proficiency |
Effect(s) |
You may attack with light and heavy shields. This incurs standard penalties for two-weapon fighting if you have a weapon in your other hand. A light shield deals 1d3 damage and is considered a light weapon. A heavy shield deals 1d4 damage and is considered a one-handed weapon. |
[Show Code]
| |
| ShieldBashFeature (121811173a614534e8720d7550aae253) | |
Shield Bash is a feat in Owlcat Pathfinder Games.
Required For
Along with Shield Proficiency, Two-Weapon Fighting and BAB 11, Shield Bash is required for Shield Master.
Effects
You may attack with light and heavy shields. This incurs standard penalties for two-weapon fighting if you have a weapon in your other hand.
A light shield deals 1d3 damage and is considered a light weapon. A heavy shield deals 1d4 damage and is considered a one-handed weapon.
Notes
| Shield to use | Damage |
|---|---|
| Light Shield | 1d3 bludgeoning |
| Spiked Light Shield | 1d4 piercing |
| Heavy Shield | 1d4 bludgeoning |
| Spiked Heavy Shield | 1d6 piercing |
| specific Bashing Shield | 1d8 bludgeoning |
Tower shields (except for the bugged Unbreakable Bastion) and bucklers can't be used for shield bashing.
Strategy
This is a very decent alternative to "standard" two-weapon fighting (usually a sword + a dagger, or something like that) for martial classes, because a shield used for bashing grants both defense and offense. However, the number of feats you need to make shield bashing work well is significant, and that is on top of all the two-weapon fighting feats. Therefore, this fighting style is only recommended for classes that have a lot of combat feats (like the Fighter or Slayer).
Both light and heavy shields incur only a -2 attack penalty for two-weapon fighting (usually, a one-handed weapon in the off-hand incurs a -4 attack penalty). As a result, heavy shields are always better for Strength-based attacks (full damage bonus from Power Attack instead of only half), while light shields are better suited for Dexterity-based attacks (attack bonus from Dexterity with Finesse Wielding, Dexterity damage from Finesse Training, and bonus damage from Piranha Strike).