| Swallowed Pride |
I know the last post was like three years ago but I feel like sticking up for Vital Strike. Vital Strike is good for all the above reasons already mentioned. Yes it has a huge feat tax and it will do considerably less damage than full attack although usually a more accurate way of dealing decent damage. Two things to point out though with the first being that Vital Strike also works with "Splash Weapons". I know they do very little in general and few abilities buff splash weapons at all but any ranged character with any amount of dexterity can use this weapon to an even greater extent. Hitting against touch ac is pretty easy and instead of thinking about DR you get to think about energy resistance. Or should I say any energy weaknesses and capitalize on a foe who is weak to fire, acid or ice. You might say "but alchemist does that a lot better". I agree which brings me to my second point. Vital Strike feats seem to be tailored to a fighter specifically. A class that gains almost no access to elemental damage without spending tons on flaming and frost weapons that also happens to be one of the few classes that get to the highest attack bonuses required for the highest VS feats. On top of that the fighter is a bucket of feats. Its not the best way of dealing damage but VS is a good way to give the character options. Just to point out getting a splash weapon, like alchemist fire, ready to use is likely a move action unless you have it strapped somewhere on your person. So it works great with VS mechanically as well.