Quick question here... does the bonus from Arcane Strike stack with a magical weapon's bonus? I don't see any sort of bonus "type" in the feat description, but there isn't a reference either way to determine if it would stack. Considering it requires using your swift action for the round and only increases the damage, to me it seems to be pretty similar to Power Attack (trading the swift action for the penalty to attack, with a lesser bonus damage), so it seems like it should stack...
There's no to hit bonus, just extra damage. The weapon is considered magical vs. anything with DR/magic.
It's cool because any weapon you use is considered magical.
The damage from the feat stacks with any other damage bonuses you would get, including bonuses from a magical weapon.
If your character has a non-magical masterwork weapon, you get the +1 to hit from the masterwork quality, and a +1 to damage from the feat, making it effectively equal to a +1 weapon.
A 20th level arcane caster with this feat and a +5 weapon would get +5 to hit, +10 damage just from the weapon, along with any other modifiers. Great for a bard! It would be a good feat for the prestige classes that combine arcane magic with other classes, too.
That's my 2 coppers, anyway.
Yeah, I'm actually looking at it for a character going towards Eldritch Knight. Between that and the Arcane Armor Training feats I can actually create a caster that can wear armor and make use of the caster's shield ;)
Those feats will do a lot for that class! The arcane archer would love that feat, too. +1 or +2 to every arrow he fires is a lot of extra damage over a career.
Sorcerers with draconic bloodline could have magic natural weapons early, and do more damage, not to mention the dragon disciple.
Even Joe the Wizard with a strength of 7 could use this to his advantage. He can't hit much, but if he does, it'll actually hurt a little.
Haha, I always saw this feat as "Hey, Mr. Bard, wanna be decent at melee combat even though you can't focus on your strength score?"