Vital Strike

[carrdrivesyou]

Just a few questions about the feat chain.

1. Can it be used on a charge?

2. Can it be used with Smite Evil (paladin)?

3. Is it worth taking, or should I put those feats elsewhere? (Or is this really dependent on level?)

[exelsisxax]

Just a few questions about the feat chain.

1. Can it be used on a charge?

2. Can it be used with Smite Evil (paladin)?

3. Is it worth taking, or should I put those feats elsewhere? (Or is this really dependent on level?)

1. No, unless you get an exception.

2. Smite evil can be used with literally everything that isn't a swift action

3. Only if you can get size increases and exceptions to use it more effectively(i.e. on charges) or use spheres of might.

[noob]

1. No, unless you get an exception.

2. Smite evil can be used with literally everything that isn't a swift action

3. Only if you can get size increases and exceptions to use it more effectively(i.e. on charges) or use spheres of might.

For example use the vital strike chain with your giant animated cannon.

[stack]

Mythic vital strike is pretty nice, but requires the mythic rules to be in play, which I can't recommend.

There is a paizo prestige class that opens up the use a fair bit, Heritor Knight (http://archivesofnethys.com/PrestigeClassesDisplay.aspx?ItemName=Heritor%20Kni ght). The level 6 ability, specifically, which lets you use vital strike on any standard action attack, not just attack actions, so cleave works.

DSP has a feat, Seize the Opportunity I think its called, that lets you make attack actions on an AOO, which includes vital strike.

As noted vital strike combines well with Spheres of Might, which uses attack actions heavily. (Seize the Opportunity should probably not be combined with SoM unless the table is good with that kind of thing)

[Florian]

Just a few questions about the feat chain.

1. Can it be used on a charge?

2. Can it be used with Smite Evil (paladin)?

3. Is it worth taking, or should I put those feats elsewhere? (Or is this really dependent on level?)

1 - Not without a feat or class feature
2 - Yes, but you wouldn't deal more smite damage
3 - ....

... now that is the real question that will need some in-depth answers.

VS can be very powerful, it just can't replace a full attack. Its actually pretty good when using attribute independent weapons like crossbows and guns, simply replacing the need to solve the reloading issue, making it quite brutal as a delayed attack (I will shoot the first one trying to cast a spell.. *snicker*) and most of the feat chains that build upon it are pretty powerful - check out Gorum´s Swordmanship for example.

[Pex]

Just a few questions about the feat chain.

1. Can it be used on a charge?

2. Can it be used with Smite Evil (paladin)?

3. Is it worth taking, or should I put those feats elsewhere? (Or is this really dependent on level?)

1) No

2) Yes

3) It looks better on paper than it does in practice, but it is not a terrible feat that some make it out to be. It's always better to full attack as a full round action than use Vital Strike. In general you don't hunt for situations to use Vital Strike. Rather, Vital Strike is used when you are only getting one attack as a standard action anyway for whatever reason.

[grarrrg]

It's the poor man's version of Pounce.

It has the normal 'combat feat problem': if it auto-scaled it might be good/great, but as a feat chain it's kinda eh/situational.

There are ways to make it better, but except for a few specific builds it will never be (overall) better than not having it.

[Florian]

Yes, but the specific builds actually rock at using it. A Vexing Daredevil with a Butcher Axe is actually pretty great at it.

[Elder_Basilisk]

Regarding 3, don't miss the vigilante vital punishment talent that grants vital strike and lets you use it on an opportunity attack 1/round. Since there are any number of ways to generate reliable AoOs, the ability greatly expands the utility of vital strike--if your character is a vigilante.

[Kurald Galain]

3. Is it worth taking, or should I put those feats elsewhere? (Or is this really dependent on level?)

Theoretical forumgoers will tell you that you should always make a full attack. Practical players will point out that you often cannot make a full attack, and it's good to have a solid option for that situation. Yes, it is the poor man's pounce.

[Florian]

Theoretical forumgoers will tell you that you should always make a full attack. Practical players will point out that you often cannot make a full attack, and it's good to have a solid option for that situation. Yes, it is the poor man's pounce.

Practical players will also point out that the damage potential of a weapon can change with using VS and a great weapon-based build can use it as a stepping stone to gain more out of a standard attack by incorporating "triggers" for additional attacks. (The combination of high crit, VS and Bashing Finish is always lovely, for example, as it can trigger itself and provide a loop)

[Gnaeus]

It's the poor man's version of Pounce.

It has the normal 'combat feat problem': if it auto-scaled it might be good/great, but as a feat chain it's kinda eh/situational.

There are ways to make it better, but except for a few specific builds it will never be (overall) better than not having it.

Agree fully. It’s a specially shaped piece in a build puzzle, which you shouldn’t just cram in anywhere.

That said, I had a soul eater with a channeling greatsword who made 1 vital strike attack per round, but with a 15-20 crit range doing 4 negative levels per crit rolling twice and takeing the best roll on each attack and it was brutal.