Divine Fighting Technique: An Often-Overlooked Pathfinder Feat

Feats are a contentious topic among Pathfinder players, and this is particularly true when we're talking about the first edition of the game. Because for some players they represented a buffet of blocks to build their own, unique characters from, and for other players they were a confusing slog that simply added more moving parts to an already complicated game. However, with that said, there is one feat that I don't think gets enough love, simply because of how wild it is... Divine Fighting Technique, which was first found in the Pathfinder Player Companion: Weapon Master's Handbook, and which was expanded on in the Pathfinder Player Companion: Divine Anthology.

And if you haven't gotten your own copy, you should consider checking it out!

Before we get into the nitty gritty this week, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.

Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!

What This Feat Is, And What It Does

Divine Fighting Technique is a feat with a lot of moving parts. However, what it does is that it creates a different benefit for every deity listed in the feat. It doesn't hit every deity in Golarion, but it touches on most of the big names. And when you take this feat, it represents you learning the unique fighting style practiced by the faithful when wielding the deity's chosen weapon, allowing you to do unusual things that other warriors won't be able to match.

The scimitar option is particularly fun!

Now, as I said, this feat is keyed to a particular deity, and each of them have their own set of prerequisites... but they also have secondary effects if you meet a secondary set of prerequisites, unlocking additional benefits of this feat.

I'll give you an example.

If you take Way of The Merciful, associated with Sarenrae, this allows you to deal non-lethal damage with a scimitar, as well as making any additional damage the strike deals (say from weapon enchantments, sneak attack, etc.) non-lethal as well. The kicker, though, is that you can deal non-lethal damage with any spell with the fire, light, or good descriptor which... is something that can drastically change the strategies you use in games where you may want to capture and interrogate enemies instead of outright killing them. Or when you want to put down a riot with a fireball that is unlikely to actually kill anyone (a huge deal in and of itself).

However, that is merely the initial benefit of this particular Divine Fighting Technique. If you also have Weapon Focus (scimitar), Great Fortitude, and 10 ranks of Heal you unlock the second ability, which allows you to heal yourself once per round. If you deal non-lethal damage to a foe with a weapon, you heal 1d6 hit points. If you deal this non-lethal damage with a scimitar, you heal 2d6 damage instead. Which has a bit of a hefty cost, but is certainly a neat benefit... especially if you're planning on playing any kind of dervish dancer who gets into melee and lays about them with their weapon!

Now, different gods have different rules for unlocking their primary and secondary features. For example, Erastil's Way of The Distracting Shot can be chosen by a lawful good ranger as one of their style feats if they choose Archery Style. Not only that, but they could forego the prerequisites for the second feature (normally Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Divine Fighting Technique, BAB of 10, and Dexterity of 17) if they replace the feat granted by their combat style at level 10. We also see this for bards with Desna's Way of The Shooting Star, or with Irori's Way of The Perfected Fist for monks and brawlers... but not all gods show such favoritism. Some require you to do things the hard way.

Which of These Feats Are The Best?

While it has a single write-up, Divine Fighting Technique has a lot of options and moving parts, such as some requiring worship of a particular deity, and other just requiring a certain alignment... but of the options presented, which ones are worth pursuing, and which ones are just dead ends?

Well, as with all other recommendations I make, take this list with a grain of salt. Because while some of these are worth investing in, just because I think the price of entry is too steep for others, that doesn't mean there isn't a build out there that will benefit from them. But if I don't mention them in the list below, assume that I don't think they're a great investment of your limited resources.

Okay? Okay.

Now let's get into it!

Top of the list for me is Way of The Merciful. The ability to do non-lethal damage with spells (especially some particularly damaging spells if you're used to fire-based clerics, sorcerers, wizards, etc.) is a huge boon for those who want to do non-lethal runs, or who want to be able to let-loose with spells that are normally not something you set off in urban environments unless you're looking to actively be charged with war crimes.

With that said, there are other options that still have really good uses that are worth pursuing.

Way of Hunger is a particularly nasty option, and a fun little power for all the scythe-wielders out there who need to grab all the temporary hit points they can get (especially with that x4 crit modifier on the scythe). The higher level unlock, which can make the diseases inside of a target manifest, has a significantly narrower application, though. Generally speaking, I'd argue that antipaladins with their plague bearer ability, and clerics and warpriests who can manifest diseaes in targets, will be the ones to get the most out of this secondary power.

And it's really evil, so it's not something that every group will take a shine to.

Way of The Silent Shiv at first allows you to deal damage as if you were a size category larger against opponents unaware of you, but the higher level unlock allows you to make a Stealth check as a swift action to treat a single target as unaware of you for the purposes of all your class features and abilities (if you beat their CMD by 5 or more, that is). That's a stiff challenge, but it is a godsend to rogues, assassins, ninjas, slayers, and even vigilantes who might rely on a maxed-out Stealth skill. So if you can really boost those numbers, and you want to be treated as having a target who's unaware of you every round (which can be hard at higher levels where enemies get see invisibility, scent, and other abilities that can give Stealth-based killers a run for their money, definitely invest in this one.

Again, it's an evil flavor, so make sure the group is willing to tolerate Norgorber's followers doing what they do best.

Flensing Chain is a nasty piece of work, particularly since it is difficult to get much out of the spiked chain as a weapon. If you're playing a full BAB character who worships Zon Kuthon (as Nidal has its share of fighters and barbarians), or even a warpriest who can pick up this weapon and focus on it via their class features, then the ability to leave an enemy first sickened, and then nauseated, can be a devastating debuff... especially if you, yourself, become immune to the sickened condition.

See previous notes regarding evil characters and the fighting styles of evil gods.

Lest you think all the evil gods get the good powers, the Inspiring Sword technique associated with Iomedae is great for paladins (who can swap additional mercies for both the initial feat, and its later unlock). The first ability, which lets you grant allies within 30 feet who can see and hear you a +2 sacred bonus on attacks, skill checks, and saving throws for 1 round + 1 bonus round per 5 points of BAB you have isn't bad (especially if you can't reach the enemy, so you may as well boost your allies using a bonus type that won't interfere with the bard). The later unlock, which allows you to use a standard action to hit a foe with a longsword (or to use the ability as part of a charge) grants the same bonus to all allies who see you.

While you can go through the rigamarole of giving this to other martial classes, I'd say that fighters are the only ones who will really have the feats to spare (and even then, they pay more than a paladin does for a useful, but not crucial, boost).

Greatsword Battler is good for all followers of Gorum who are going to invest in the Vital Strike tree. While barbarians can exchange a Rage Power for the feat, fighters, slayers, rangers, and any other melee bruiser who will be charging into battle with a greatsword while using Vital Strike are going to get the most out of this fighting style. The later unlock isn't great, but the lower-level ability basically allows you to do what so many of us who use Vital Strike with oversized weapons have always wanted to do, and use it as part of a charge.

Lastly, Divine Crossbow is fun and stylish, but there are so many other options for ranged disarm and steal that it isn't really the best strategy for achieving this method of shooting items off of your opponent... however, the ability to carry items a range increment away from them is both stylish and effective if you want to strip your enemy of their magic items, wands, spellbook, etc., and put them too far out of reach to easily reacquire. Which is something that makes it at least worth mentioning, even if the later ability it grants of pinning enemies in place with crossbow bolts is replicated in other feats and class features.

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Crunch post. To stay on top of all my content and releases, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of the page!

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the Azukail Games YouTube channel, or my Rumble channel The Literary Mercenary! Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my dystopian sci-fi thriller Old Soldiers, my hardboiled gangland noir series starring a bruiser of a Maine Coon with Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!