Multiclassing in Pathfinder-How do Feats work?

Question

I'm making a character who is going to be multi-classing, specifically Fighter/Cleric. He's a Reach Cleric, so I wanted him to have some good feats (Selective Channel, Power Attack, Combat Reflexes, Improved Initiative, and Extra Channel), thus he will have a fighter level. Thing is, I can't figure out how many feats he's supposed to have.

He's coming in as a level 4 Character, I was thinking of Lvl3 Cleric, Lvl1 Fighter. He's also human. Now I know that fighters at level 1 gain a bonus feat. So from being a fighter, he should have 2 feats. Being a human grants him an extra feat. And a level 3 cleric would normally have 2 feats.

Does this mean he would have 5 feats? Or does the number change due to the multi-classing?

Answer 1

Feats are based on character level, not class level

All characters gain a feat at first level, then another every two levels thereafter. This is based on your character level - that is, the sum total of all of your class levels. Your feat breakdown should look like this -

Human Cleric 1 (ECL 1) - 2 feats at first level (2 feats total)

Human Cleric 2 (ECL 2) - No additional feat

Human Cleric 3 (ECL 3) - 1 additional feat (3 feats total)

Human Cleric 3/Fighter 1 (ECL 4) - 1 additional feat (fighter bonus feat, 4 feats total).

Fighter's bonus feat is its class feature and is unrelated to the feats gained through your ECL (Equivalent Character Level).

As far as feats go, Combat Reflexes and Improved Initiative, from your list, are both solid. Power Attack may not be a good choice; your attack bonus will be low for your level and Power Attack may just remove any chance you had at hitting. Channel isn't really the greatest ability to invest in and you might want to consider some metamagic feats instead, as a down-the-road investment.

Answer 2

You have four feats.

• One feat for being Human, gained at 1st level
• Two feats from leveling up, gained at 1st level (Cleric 1) and 3rd level (Cleric 3)
  _{Level-up feats are based on your total level (Effective Character Level), which is the sum of all the class levels you have. Yours is 4 (Cleric 3 + Fighter 1 = ECL 4). You get a feat for every odd ECL (so you’ll get a feat next level, at ECL 5, regardless of what class you take).}
• One feat from Fighter 1, gained at 4th level (assuming Cleric 3 before multiclassing to Fighter)

Combat Reflexes and Improved Initiative are pretty good feats, though with Combat Reflexes I wouldn’t take it without at least 14 Dex, which is a bit high for your typical Cleric or Fighter (who often use heavy armor). It’s still pretty useful though. I don’t think the channeling feats are that great. If you have high Dex, I’d consider Weapon Finesse or Point-blank Shot, to use that Dex with your weapon. Power Attack doesn’t work so well with those, though. Metamagic (particularly Extend Spell) is pretty useful.