Parry skill

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Can somebody explain how does the parry skill work? I thought you were supposed to select it; but at some point, my character got spotted (i was hiding) and some kobolds started pelting me with arrows, and I got some message that my char has succesfully parried (compete with dice rolls, and DC).

So, anyhow, from the description in the manual it says that you roll a D20+ parry skill versus a DC equal to the modified attack roll of the opponent; and if you beat it, you parried succesfully. What happens next? do you get any attacks during the round when you parry or not? If the parry was not succesfull, does the opponent's attack roll have to beat your armor check, or is an automatic hit?

I guess what I am finally interested in, is this skill something useful? Worth spending skill points for?

 

The parry skill is useless and broken, it's been that for over 50 patches now.

 

@Taza: How come? I have been using Parry with all my rogues and rangers since I got the game and it works as it should... or it gives me that impression, at least. What is wrong with it?

If the parry roll is higher than the attack check of the opponent, your character will deflect the other's melee attack. If your parry roll is about 10 points higher than the enemy (or was it 14?), then you counterattack.

You can try to parry as many times as the number of attacks per round that you are allowed. If you only have one attack per round, and the opponent has two, then parry will be definitely useless against him, as you will eventually be hit.

[ August 21, 2005, 16:37: Message edited by: Colthrun ]

 

The conclusion is that Parry is definitely the best in the hands of a Finessed fighter or ranger (barbarian, paladin etc) with an insane DEX score to support skill ranks and also a sufficient number of attacks per round.

You need to consider if you stand a chance when the opponent rolls d20 and adds BAB (equal to level if he's a fighter) + weapon to hit bonus + STR/DEX (whatever he's using) + Weapon Focus/other feats and you just roll d20 and add your Parry skill with the DEX modifier.

Hint: Parry is a skill, therefore skill feats applies. This means that, apart from the Improved Parry feat for +4 to the skill, you can also take a normal Skill Focus (Parry) for +3 to checks and then Epic Talent (Parry) for + 10 to checks.

Supposing you're level 28 and have 22 DEX, you get 31 ranks, 6 DEX bonus and +17 from 3 feats for a 54 total. Well, d20 + 54 is mighty stuff, as your own attack roll is probably d20 + 40 or a little more at this stage. You actually stand a chance of counterattacking.

Not like I've ever tried using the Parry skill myself but I recall opponents using it (even the wererats and other such scum from the OC) and such fights last and last. And last. And last. Therefore, if you rely on spell buffs for some additional strength, the skill is not quite for you.

For all I remember, the description says that you counterattack at your full Attack Bonus. Does this mean that if you counterattack three times during a round, all your attacks will be at the same, highest bonus you can have (e.g. three 40's as opposed to 40/35/30)?

Perhaps monks with their great multitude of unarmed attacks per round could make a magnificent use of the Parry skill but I don't know.

 

This is false information. Parry can block as many attacks as you have TO A MAXIMUM OF THREE. It's useless and broken as soon as you go past level 10.

You also roll d20 + Parry against opponent's d20 + AB. If you succeed in the roll by ten more than the opponent, you get a Riposte Attack - which is a normal attack.

It's definately useless except when used with ACP's fencing style in some modules. ACP is a hak available from the vault, and the only reason it isn't useless then is because it looks cool.

 

So, do you get any attacks of your own in while parrying? or you have to rely on counterattacks? If so, it stinks big time. You'd definitely need skill feats then, and probably a fighter build.

 

I understand the "broken skill" part now, but I still disagree with the "useless" point.

I wouldn't call 3 attacks parried useless. Granted, perhaps at high levels is not as useful, when the opponent can hit you more than 3 times, but at low levels is a life saver. Check the image in the link. I defeated this Sword Coast Boy without receiving a single scratch just using Daelan as a damage dealer while I parried the attacks. Even without Daelan, I could have defeated him just with rispostes... in time.

http://www.geocities.com/colthrun_sp/images.html

 

Yees... so, if you're under level 10 and have a henchman deal the damage, you can defeat non-boss monsters using only parry. So it's not completely useless. Only very close.

No, you don't get attacks of your own when parrying.

 

If the skill wasn't working at all I'd totally agree with you, Taza. But I have the impression that your only reason to disregard it is that it becomes obsolete the moment any enemy goes beyond 3 attacks per round. There are many feats, skills, weapons, and spells that also become obsolete as you level up and face tougher enemies. Do you apply the same reasoning to all of them?

For instance, do you refuse to buy and learn any low-level Monster Summon with a mage, because every two levels they become obsolete as the new version is available?

And Light... pfff! Who needs Light when a torch does the job?

 

As far as I can see, there are 2 drawbacks to this skill:

1: you need a boatload of points in it to be useful (to the point where is higher than the AC). This probably means you need skill increasing feats, therefore need to be fighter (I was thinking of using it for a druid)

2: you sacrifice your attacks. So, if you do not want to rely on henchmen... or the skill ckeck is not enough to get counterattacks, is not so good.

So, it might be useful for highly specialized builds, but not as a general skill.

 

Regarding the original poster's question about Parry working while some goblin's shot arrows at him:

that's actually NOT the parry skill. For some reason, the game engine will declare a ranged attack successfully "parried" if it's "to hit" die roll falls into your character's shield AC. The concept being that your character parried the arrow out of the way with his shield. So the term is the same but the concept completely different. This type of "parrying" happens automatically (so long as you're holding a shield) and has nothing to do with the Parry skill.