Cleave for single target?

[ciopo]

I've just had a silly thought:

Assume a character that takes the vital strike feat line (improved, greater)

power attack, of course, and cleave.

So... what happens if we combine the weapon trick(two-handed weapon) Cleaving Smash with the feat All-consuming Swing ?

Cleaving smash says, verbatim :
When you use Cleave, you can add the additional damage from Vital Strike to both your initial and your secondary attacks. If you also have the Greater Vital Strike feat, you can instead add the damage from Improved Vital Strike to both your initial and your secondary attacks.

All-consuming swing says, verbatim :
Whenever you use Cleave or Great Cleave, you can apply the additional damage you would gain from Vital Strike, Improved Vital Strike, or Greater Vital Strike to the initial target of your attack. When you do so, the strain on your body causes you to take an amount of damage equal to the extra damage dealt by your Vital Strike feat. This self-inflicted damage is not reduced by damage reduction.


Cleave text doens't actually require for there to be two targets, so what does that leave us at when we use the above two feats?

when we only have improved vital strike, a Cleave on the first target deals additional damage from vital strike and improved vital strike, so 4* weapon damage at the cost of 1* weapon damage to ourselves

when we have greater vital strike, a Cleave on the first target deals additional damage equal to improved vital strike and greater vital strike, so 6* weapon damage at the cost of 1* weapon damage to ourselves


seems fairly straightforward to me?



Now if only we could add furious finish too :D

[Darg]

Benefit: As a standard action, you can make a single attack at your full base attack bonus against a foe within reach. If you hit, you deal damage normally and can make an additional attack (using your full base attack bonus) against a foe that is adjacent to the first and also within reach. You can only make one additional attack per round with this feat. When you use this feat, you take a –2 penalty to your Armor Class until your next turn.

I don't see how there is any room for cleave's second attack to work on your primary target.

Cleave and Vital Strike are separate actions. You do not add both of them together. You use the cleave action and Cleaving Smash allows you to add the extra damage from vital strike. Improved VS = just VS damage. Greater VS = just Improved VS damage. All-Consuming Smash does not add an additional source of extra damage either. Both the trick and the feat add damage from vital strike, so the source is the same. With Greater VS and All-Consuming Smash you'd do 4x weapon damage to the target and 3x damage to an adjacent opponent and yourself.

[ciopo]

I don't see how there is any room for cleave's second attack to work on your primary target.

Cleave and Vital Strike are separate actions. You do not add both of them together. You use the cleave action and Cleaving Smash allows you to add the extra damage from vital strike. Improved VS = just VS damage. Greater VS = just Improved VS damage. All-Consuming Smash does not add an additional source of extra damage either. Both the trick and the feat add damage from vital strike, so the source is the same. With Greater VS and All-Consuming Smash you'd do 4x weapon damage to the target and 3x damage to an adjacent opponent and yourself.

Oh, I'm not doing the second attack on the first target.

step by step:

I declare I use cleave as my standard action

Cleaving smash allows me to add either vital strike or improved vital strike extra die to my first target

all-consuming swing allows me to add vital strike, improved vital strike, greater vital strike extra die to my first target


by their powers combined, it's extra dice equal to either 3 or 5 times the weapon damage dice, no?

[Darg]

Oh, I'm not doing the second attack on the first target.

step by step:

I declare I use cleave as my standard action

Cleaving smash allows me to add either vital strike or improved vital strike extra die to my first target

all-consuming swing allows me to add vital strike, improved vital strike, greater vital strike extra die to my first target


by their powers combined, it's extra dice equal to either 3 or 5 times the weapon damage dice, no?

No. The source of the extra damage is vital strike so the bonus damage doesn't stack with itself.

[ciopo]

but one is vital strike and one is improved vital strike!

or improved and greater, thus not actually the same source, yes?