Curiosity

[Celeres]

What is the appeal of the feat "two weapon rend"?

by the time you can take it, that extra 1d6+1 1/2 str. mod seems not worth using a feat on it.

can anyone show me how it is?

[Malacode]

Not just +1d6, it deals additional damage equal to the base damage of the smaller weapon + 1.5xStr. I agree though, I don't see much point in it. I see it as a "Get through D(Whatever) DR". Not really extra damage, just preventing your normal damage from going down. But then again, by the time you get this feat, you'll have a pretty impressive set of weapons that'll allow ignore most DR anyway, soo...

[Celeres]

the description in the PHBII says "deals extra damage equal to 1d6 + 1-1/2 times your strength bonus. this extra damage is treated as the same type that your offhand weapon deals normally for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction and other effects related to damage type."

[Malacode]

I'm going from the SRD, which I assume is correct (I'm away from my books, so I can't check them). Here's what I see on my screen:

Two-Weapon Rend [Epic]
Prerequisites: Dex 15, base attack bonus +9, Improved Two-Weapon Fighting, Two-Weapon Fighting.

Benefit: If the character hits an opponent with a weapon in each hand in the same round, he or she may automatically rend the opponent. This deals additional damage equal to the base damage of the smaller weapon plus 1 1/2 times the character’s Strength modifier. Base weapon damage includes an enhancement bonus on damage, if any. The character can only rend once per round, regardless of how many successful attacks he or she makes.

[Celeres]

i was going straight out of the book.

i'm not sure which is more accurate, but either way, i think we can agree the feat could easily be better spent.

[Malacode]

Definitely. Two Weapon Pounce, the very next feat, iirc, is better. It's harder to get pounce than rend.

[Celeres]

huh, according to the PHBII, you can get two weapon pounce at level 6, whereas rend you get level 11.

how odd, the less useful feat is harder to get.

[Malacode]

I think I'm going to have to create a character with every single Two Weapon X feat now... This discussion has set the Building Bug upon me, and it's biting away.

[Celeres]

hahaha, glad i can be of service.

i only ask because the campaign i'm joining soon i'll be using my first two weapon fighter, and that feat caught my eye and looked useless.

[Epinephrine]

On the contrary, I think it's a really solid feat. 1.5 times strength is nice, and it doesn't need a roll to hit, provided you connect with an attack with each weapon.

The PHII doesn't limit it to once per round, either - it limits it to once per round per opponent - so quite possibly one is adding 1d6+1-1/2 Str on two or more opponents. For a tiger claw-type warrior, this could easily be many extra rends on opponents, with the help of dancing mongoose/raging mongoose.

With the Dual Strike feat (from C.Adv?) you can make a single attack with both weapons as a standard action - and I believe this would thus bump up your expected damage on rounds in which you can't deliver a full attack.