Dual Strike with Smite

[LordotheMorning]

I'm working on an incandescent champion build. It's primarily for the flavor, but I want to have it as optimized as possible.

The idea is to go with 1 Bard/1 Cleric/2 Incarnate/2 Ordained Champion/2 Prestige Paladin/Incandescent Champion X/Sapphire Heirarch X (if the game goes that long). Get Snowflake Wardance, Sapphire Smite, and Divine Power, and get my Cha as high as possible.

I really want to get two-weapon fighting up and running with this build. I know it's not the optimized choice, but bear with me. The problem is this build gets a lot of power from charging (I can get Rhino rush from the Wrath domain). I may have found a solution in the Dual Strike feat from Complete Adventurer, which enables me to attack with both weapons with a single attack roll.

My DM and I are currently having a disagreement on the interaction of dual strike with smite. If I smited while using Dual Strike, would I be able to apply the damage boost to both weapons? The text says smite is a single attack, and dual strike is technically a single attack. (The text is slightly different for Ordained Champion and Paladin, but they say basically the same thing). My DM says smite should only apply to one weapon. Is RAW on my side or his? Would it be broken if interpreted my way?

[Psyren]

I see two possible interpretations of this combo:


1) You can dual-smite, but it costs two smites.

Even though you're attacking with two weapons simultaneously, Dual Strike is still two attacks:


As a standard action, you can make a melee attack with your primary weapon and your off-hand weapon. Both attacks use the same attack roll to determine success, using the worse of the two weapons' attack modifiers.

Each use of smite evil only applies to one attack. You CAN get two smites onto a dual strike, but doing so would cost two of your daily uses, not one.



2) You can't dual-smite at all.

Smite evil states:


Once per day, a paladin may attempt to smite evil with one normal melee attack.

This combo depends on whether a dual-strike attack counts as a "normal melee attack."


(1) may not be quite what you were looking for, but it beats the alternative.

[LordotheMorning]

What about spells/incarnum based things that read "on your next attack"? Same deal? The attacks are technically simultaneous... What would be the point of the feat in that case? If all I want is to attack with both weapons after moving, I can just cheese it with Lion Totem Barbarian, though I really would rather not. I guess I'll ask my DM to take Rule of Fun over RAW and hope for the best?

[Medic!]

They would still require two melee attack rolls. I wouldn't see an issue with using 2 smite attempts in one round though. Another feat to consider to just add more spice to your style is Two Weapon Rend from PHB2 if you haven't already looked at it. It could make using up 2 smite attempts (if your DM ends up going that route) a little easier to swallow.

[Big Fau]

And then you have the problem of Smite and Full Attacks not being possible due to RAW screwing up.

[LordotheMorning]

They would still require two melee attack rolls.

That's just it though. Dual strike makes both weapons hit on one attack roll.

[Psyren]

Rereading the feat, I think you could make a case for it being one attack:


Special: When you make this attack, you apply precision-based damage (such as from a sneak attack) only once.

I would run it by your DM and see if you can get a favorable ruling.

[Medic!]

That's just it though. Dual strike makes both weapons hit on one attack roll.

That teaches me to go read the feat descriptions instead of going off my shoddy memory! That changes my vote, I'd lump smite in with sneak attack/etc as a class-based source of extra damage and only apply it once. All that said and done, it makes Two Weapon Rend look that much more attractive.

EDIT: Dual Strike looks like the melee version of Many Shot (without the additional arrows for BAB)

[Chronos]

I would also rule that you attack with both weapons, but only add your Smite bonus damage once.

[LordotheMorning]

What if I were to suggest a homebrew feat then? Does this seem balanced?

Two Blades as One:
Prerequisites: Two-Weapon Fighting, Improved Two-Weapon Fighting, Dual Strike
Benefit: When fighting with two weapons (or a double weapon), any feat, spell, or class feature that applies to your main hand weapon also applies to your off hand when using the Dual Strike feat. This does not include weapon abilities or enhancments, nor effects that persist for more than one attack.
Special: You may select this as a fighter bonus feat.

Yes? No? Balance Issues?