power attack

[Bloodymango]

so currently im playing a melee cleric in the savage tide campaign. if you have never played this game let me tell u, you are item starved from levels 4 to i think im currently 11, with no chance of seeing a half decent sized town in site to sell all of our goods. i no waht your thinking teleport well we dont have a arcane caster that strong. any way to get back on topic. i was talking to several of my group mates, asking what enhancement i should get on my weapon. i thought vicious would be a good choice +2d6 dmg to enemy and i take a d6. but then it was said i should just get a +4 weapon. bc power attack doubles the enhancement bonus when u power attack. can some 1 give me a clearifacation on how power attack works, and what enhancement is better.


as written in the srd.
Benefit

On your action, before making attack rolls for a round, you may choose to subtract a number from all melee attack rolls and add the same number to all melee damage rolls. This number may not exceed your base attack bonus. The penalty on attacks and bonus on damage apply until your next turn.

Special ( i am using a 2h spear)

If you attack with a two-handed weapon, or with a one-handed weapon wielded in two hands, instead add twice the number subtracted from your attack rolls. You can’t add the bonus from Power Attack to the damage dealt with a light weapon (except with unarmed strikes or natural weapon attacks), even though the penalty on attack rolls still applies. (Normally, you treat a double weapon as a one-handed weapon and a light weapon. If you choose to use a double weapon like a two-handed weapon, attacking with only one end of it in a round, you treat it as a two-handed weapon.)

[Bloodymango]

also my character is a "Demon Hunter" (knight of the raven/Fist of rizeal) so i wanted to get a new metal put on my weapon. is Adamantine better or cold iron

[Badgerish]

Power Attack has little/nothing to do with the enhancement bonus of your weapon.

When you 1st attack during your turn, you can choose to start power attacking for 1-Y points (let's call it X), where Y is your base attack bonus (that's from class/level only, not strength or enhancement bonus)

Until the start of your next turn, you suffer a penalty to attack rolls equal to X, and gain a bonus of X to melee damage rolls (0.5 * X with light weapons, 2 * X with a weapon in two hands).

So, it starts when you 1st attack and ends at the start of your next turn, so it effects AoOs etc. Enhancement bonus only matters in how your accuracy suffers from power attack, so a higher enhancement bonus is better.

[00dlez]

+4 is a mighty expensive enhancement and there is a lot of more deadly/damaging enchantments one could get with that kind of dough.

But in answer to your question, yes, the +4 bonus will help with your power attack because it lets you take a larger penalty from your to hit roll. You are still maxed at your BAB, but with +4 STR, +4 enchantment and what I'm presuming is a few other tack-on bonuses, you are still hitting regularly for some good damage.

That said... Just going from the DMG:

If you actually expect to be fighting demons often, getting a +3 Bane (evil outsider) weapon will serve you a lot better.
By the same token, the Holy enchantment will bypass the Demon DR the same as cold iron, so you are covered there also.

Cold Iron vs. Adamantine: Adamantine weapons have a purpose, but I don't think it is your purpose, at least not to the tune of an extra 3,000 gold. Cold Iron will serve you better, presuming you actually fight demons and the like.

Short version: +4 will help with power attack, but isn't the best buy for your money. Adamantine is expensive and unless you intend to sunder things, stick with cold iron.

[Big Fau]

+4 is a mighty expensive enhancement and there is a lot of more deadly/damaging enchantments one could get with that kind of dough.

But in answer to your question, yes, the +4 bonus will help with your power attack because it lets you take a larger penalty from your to hit roll. You are still maxed at your BAB, but with +4 STR, +4 enchantment and what I'm presuming is a few other tack-on bonuses, you are still hitting regularly for some good damage.

That said... Just going from the DMG:

If you actually expect to be fighting demons often, getting a +1 Holy Bane (evil outsider) weapon will serve you a lot better.
By the same token, the Holy enchantment will bypass the Demon DR the same as cold iron, so you are covered there also.

Cold Iron vs. Adamantine: Adamantine weapons have a purpose, but I don't think it is your purpose, at least not to the tune of an extra 3,000 gold. Cold Iron will serve you better, presuming you actually fight demons and the like.

Short version: +4 will help with power attack, but isn't the best buy for your money. Adamantine is expensive and unless you intend to sunder things, stick with cold iron.

Fixed that for you. Then apply judicious amounts of Greater Magic Weapon.

[Greenish]

Fixed that for you. Then apply judicious amounts of Greater Magic Weapon.Yeah, GMW is going to be +3 for him on next level (if he doesn't already have CL boosts).

[Piggy Knowles]

Yeah, you're a level 11 cleric. Greater Magic Weapon lasts 11 hours and by next level, gives you a +3 bonus. Keep it a +1 bonus, and stack on as many fun enhancements as possible. Then cast Greater Magic Weapon every day.

[00dlez]

Fixed that for you. Then apply judicious amounts of Greater Magic Weapon.

Of course, just illustrating the fact that the enchantment powers would get better mileage than boosting his power attack potential.

[Greenish]

Yeah, you're a level 11 cleric. Greater Magic Weapon lasts 11 hours and gives you a +3 bonus. Next level it'll go up to a +4 bonus, too.GWM is +1/4 CL, so it's now +2, and goes up to +3 next level.

[Piggy Knowles]

GWM is +1/4 CL, so it's now +2, and goes up to +3 next level.

Yeah, I caught my own mistake and edited the original post. This is why I shouldn't try to multi-task, and respond to posts while at work...

[Alefiend]

Until the start of your next turn, you suffer a penalty to attack rolls equal to X, and gain a bonus of X to melee damage rolls (0 * X with light weapons, 2 * X with a weapon in two hands).

Fixed. Light weapons can't benefit from Power Attack unless it's unarmed strike or another natural attack.

[Siosilvar]

Cold Iron vs. Adamantine: Adamantine weapons have a purpose, but I don't think it is your purpose, at least not to the tune of an extra 3,000 gold. Cold Iron will serve you better, presuming you actually fight demons and the like.

Cold iron weapons cost an extra 2000 to enchant, so the adamantine only costs an extra 1000. Cold iron does help more against demons, though.

[candycorn]

Cold iron weapons cost an extra 2000 to enchant, so the adamantine only costs an extra 1000. Cold iron does help more against demons, though.

I prefer Transmuting or Metalline weapons, personally.

[Metahuman1]

The best way to bypass DR is to just be doing so freaking much damage on each hit that the DR is irrelevant.

Evil and Evil Outsider as separate Banes would be good tack on's to a +1 weapon. I like adding Great Magic Weapon (Extended if you can afford a 4th lvl spell slot and have the extend spell feat.) to it as well. There's an Item property somewhere out there that let's you heal half the damage you dole out on each hit. This is good as it cuts down one the cure spells you have to cast, meaning you get to spend more time focusing on wiping out the enemy.