power attack or arcane strike?

[MiniGM]

Gestalt character Bard/Fighter

So he will get whichever he does not start with at level 2. Is it better to have a +1 to damage instead of +2 (he is using a 1 handed weapon) but not have a minus to hit (he will start out at +4) or vice-versa?

[Alexander Augunas]

Or you could take the Arcane Duelist archetype for your bard. Then you'd get them both at 1st level.

Jeez, that'd be three feats. One from your Fighter class feature, one from your Bard's bonus feat, and one from just being a 1st level character. And if you're human? So ... many ... feats!

[MiniGM]

yep human, but went with court bard instead for flavor of the campaign. Also i have an arcane duelist in another campaign and i dont like doubling up.

Feats are spellsong, prodigy (oratory and sing) and either power attack or arcane duelist.

[Deadmanwalking]

MiniGM wrote:

yep human, but went with court bard instead for flavor of the campaign. Also i have an arcane duelist in another campaign and i dont like doubling up.

Feats are spellsong, prodigy (oratory and sing) and either power attack or arcane duelist.

Power Attack is better. Arcane Strike is good, but I'd wait till 5th level to pick it up (it's probably not worth it for +1 damage...but definitely is at +2). That lets you grab Weapon Focus at 2nd and Weapon Specialization at 4th, plus another Feat of your choice at 3rd...maybe Combat Casting if you expect to cast in melee.

[Matt2VK]

How are you planning on using that 1handed sword?
If, at times, you plan on wielding it with both hands, Power Attack is a lot better. Otherwise, I think grabbing Arcane Strike is better at lower levels as it also makes your weapon count as magic for overcoming DR.

[MiniGM]

I have a buckler so it will prob alway be in one hand mode.

At some point i want to get deadly dealer...because it is fun

[TarkXT]

I'd just two hand the thing honestly.

I'd start with arcane strike since it doesn't hurt your attack bonus at the start. Then when available get power attack.

Ultiamtely it makes little difference which you get first since both are really good. But to me in the early levels that attack bonus is more important than the extra damage since even without power attack if you two hand a weapon you'll likely be one or two shotting enemies anyway.

[Strannik]

I would say it depends on rather or not you have another use for swift actions. If you don't, I would go for Arcane Strike (I'm not a big fan of Power Attack on one hand weapons, but others love it for nearly every build). If you have plans for that swift action, then go for Power Attack as you can use it whenever you want and won't be spending a feat for an ability you rarely use.

[Shain Edge]

A nice touch that people seem to forget about Arcane Strike is your weapon counts as a magic weapon, where as power attack might have a problem in that area.

Of course that may only work out once in a while, but that once in a while would hugely benefit with the use of a magic weapon.