Sword and Buckler Style You can use your buckler in tandem with your blade, bypassing the defenses of other duelists. Prerequisites: BCB +2 Benefit: While fighting with a sword and buckler, you can ignore the bonus to AC an enemy gains from using combat expertise. They still take the penalty. When using a buckler and a sword with which you have Weapon Focus, your buckler hand counts as empty for feats and special abilities.