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Untyped energy does not care about any form of DR. If you're using a vicious weapon, you're eating the 1d6 damage per hit. That's the price the weapon exacts: deal +2d6 bonus damage, take 1d6 damage, for each hit.
Yup, untyped damage is the worst kind of damage - nothing reduces it. Not energy resistance, not damage reduction. I'm pretty confident that there's nothing in the game that reduces the damage from a vicious weapon.
Note that even though enervation is used in the creation of the weapon, it's not noted to be negative energy damage either.
Untyped energy is the "better half" of the damage dealt by a flame strike, so I suspect that you've seen it before. ;)
The vicious property is a magical effect, not claw, fang, teeth, blade, boulder or spear. DR only applies against weapon damage (natural, manufactured and unarmed strikes), not against magical damage unless the magic explicitly deals weapon damage (such as is dealt by diamond spray and pellet blast).
Force Damage isn't the catch-all for damage, or at least I've never even seen that concept and I've read the Magic chapter a few times. Untyped damage is a thing though, and that's what vicious is.
The feat Arcane Blast is an example of it.
Where do you see that?
It is Untyped ENERGY damage. DR will not reduce any type of energy damage.
That is good and bad. The good part is that the 2d6 damage is very unlikely to be reduced / resisted. The bad is that the 1d6 to you is the same.
A robot with Hardness 10 could definitely use one without penalty, Hardness 5 wouldn't care much. Give one to a Gearsman or Evaluator robot.
There is no such thing as energy weapon damage.
Vicious: When a vicious weapon strikes an opponent, it creates a flash of disruptive energy that resonates between the opponent and the wielder. This energy deals an extra 2d6 points of damage to the opponent and 1d6 points of damage to the wielder. Only melee weapons can be vicious.
The way I read this is that the 2d6 are untyped energy damage and the 1d6 damage is untyped and unspecified but appears physical. Is this correct? Can vicious weapons be reduced by damage reduction?
I would rule it in the only way that makes sense to me.
I believe the Vicious weapon property is subject to damage reduction on both ends of the stick; as it produces an extra 2d6 of whatever damage type the weapon inflicts. Sword? 2d6 Slashing. Warhammer? 2d6 Bludgeoning.
Untyped damage access seems a little too incredible for a +1 enchantment even if you are eating half of the benefit, and though exploitable to a degree (barbarians reducing the penalty of the damage with DR), you have to keep in mind that if interpreted this way it should be subject to DR from enemies as well. Unless you have a vibrating adamantine lightsaber of course.
Price +1 bonus
Aura moderate necromancy; CL 9th; Weight —DESCRIPTION
This special ability can only be placed on melee weapons.
When a vicious weapon strikes an opponent, it creates a flash of disruptive energy that resonates between the opponent and the wielder. This energy deals an extra 2d6 points of damage to the opponent and 1d6 points of damage to the wielder.
Well, the only thing to say is, you would be wrong. The enchantment states it is untyped damage. Not "extra damage" like sneak attack damage is, which incidentally has been specifically called out to act like you are trying to make the property work. It is pretty much the only time an interaction like that happens and is rare/possibly unique in the game for it. This is no different than flaming, additional damage that has nothing at all to do with the weapon. Untyped energy damage (which is not reduced by DR, energy damage is the umbrella of resistances) instead of fire damage (same point about DR vs resist) above and totally separate from weapon damage.
And it only seems powerful until you do 2 points of damage to the enemy but suffer 6 unmitigated damage for the attack. Or you realize that the full attack action will probably drop you, which leaves you in the rather crappy position of being unable to use your 'main' weapon.
There is no such thing as energy weapon damage.
Not to be that guy, but that's not entirely true. The bladebound magus can, upon using an arcane pool point from their black blade, turn their weapon's damage into energy damage for a short time.
There is no such thing as energy weapon damage.Not to be that guy, but that's not entirely true. The bladebound magus can, upon using an arcane pool point from their black blade, turn their weapon's damage into energy damage for a short time.
Let me rephrase. There is no such thing as damage that is both energy damage and weapon damage.
Energy Attunement (Su): At 5th level, as a free action, a magus can spend a point of his black blade's arcane pool to have it deal one of the following types of damage instead of weapon damage: cold, electricity, or fire. He can spend 2 points from the black blade's arcane pool to deal sonic or force damage instead of weapon damage. This effect lasts until the start of the magus's next turn.
Since the vicious damage is very clearly some form of energy damage, it cannot also be weapon damage as claimed by Chickengun.
The only way I see avoiding Vicious damage is to use it the Merciful enhancement. Then use something that reduces non-lethal damage like a bloodline, spell, or certain archetypes.
There is no way to avoid the damage without homebrew...except if you use throwing melee weapons.
There is no way to avoid the damage without homebrew...except if you use throwing melee weapons.
If the damage is changed to non-lethal there are many ways to avoid it. Non-lethal defenses do not differentiate between physical or energy.