Boggartbae
2017-10-23, 01:21 PM
I've been working on a Vital Strike build for a Fighter that gets around the single attack action restriction, and I came across these two feats that allow you to combine Cleave attacks with Vital strike:
All-Consuming Swings a feat that lets you deal VS damage against the first target of your Cleave, and the Cleaving Smash option of the Two-Handed Weapon trick feat lets you deal VS damage one step down, but to everyone you hit with your Cleave
So together they allow you to apply Improved Vital Strike to the first creature you hit, and also Regular Vital strike to all creatures you hit (including the first one)
If you're a dwarf (preferably a duergar if your GM lets you) then you can get Goblin Cleaver and Orc Hewer, and now you can hit 3 targets every turn when you use great cleave as long as they're within reach, and you get vital strike damage on all of them, in addition to Improved vital strike on the first one
So I was thinking something like this for a Dwarf Fighter's feat progression in order to get everything online as fast as possible:
1: Power Attack, Exotic Weapon Proficiency: Butchering Axe*
2: Cleave*
3: Goblin Cleaver
4: Orc Hewer*
5: Furious Focus
6: Lunge*
7: Great Cleave
8: All-Consuming Swing*, retrain Great Cleave into Vital Strike
9: Great Cleave (again :P)
10: Two-Handed Weapon Trick*
11: Improved Vital Strike
*denotes fighter bonus feat
After that you can get things like Devastating Strike, Cleave Through, Improved Cleaving Finish, and Giant Killer (remember that your first attack with Orc Hewer can be against someone of any size, it's just the iterative attacks that have the size restriction)
I did have a few questions, too:
Should I use a Reach Weapon like the Dwarven Poleaxe? Or is Butchering Axe better for maximum Vital Strike damage, and I'll just count on getting enlarge person when I need it?
Is three vital strike attacks as a standard action enough to build around? Or am I just taking bad feats like Great Cleave to make bad feats like Vital Strike better?
Are there any options I've missed?
Do All-Consuming Swing and Cleaving Smash even work together like I think they do?
All-Consuming Swings a feat that lets you deal VS damage against the first target of your Cleave, and the Cleaving Smash option of the Two-Handed Weapon trick feat lets you deal VS damage one step down, but to everyone you hit with your Cleave
So together they allow you to apply Improved Vital Strike to the first creature you hit, and also Regular Vital strike to all creatures you hit (including the first one)
If you're a dwarf (preferably a duergar if your GM lets you) then you can get Goblin Cleaver and Orc Hewer, and now you can hit 3 targets every turn when you use great cleave as long as they're within reach, and you get vital strike damage on all of them, in addition to Improved vital strike on the first one
So I was thinking something like this for a Dwarf Fighter's feat progression in order to get everything online as fast as possible:
1: Power Attack, Exotic Weapon Proficiency: Butchering Axe*
2: Cleave*
3: Goblin Cleaver
4: Orc Hewer*
5: Furious Focus
6: Lunge*
7: Great Cleave
8: All-Consuming Swing*, retrain Great Cleave into Vital Strike
9: Great Cleave (again :P)
10: Two-Handed Weapon Trick*
11: Improved Vital Strike
*denotes fighter bonus feat
After that you can get things like Devastating Strike, Cleave Through, Improved Cleaving Finish, and Giant Killer (remember that your first attack with Orc Hewer can be against someone of any size, it's just the iterative attacks that have the size restriction)
I did have a few questions, too:
Should I use a Reach Weapon like the Dwarven Poleaxe? Or is Butchering Axe better for maximum Vital Strike damage, and I'll just count on getting enlarge person when I need it?
Is three vital strike attacks as a standard action enough to build around? Or am I just taking bad feats like Great Cleave to make bad feats like Vital Strike better?
Are there any options I've missed?
Do All-Consuming Swing and Cleaving Smash even work together like I think they do?