Hey, quick question on Riving Strike: if I understand correctly, effects that last one round resolve before the character's following initiative. So Riving Strike wouldn't be useful for a single character (barring a quickened spell cast on the same turn or something), and would really only come up as something of a teamwork effect (one character uses Riving Strike, another character capitalizes on it before the first character's next turn). Am I interpreting that correctly?
Hey, quick question on Riving Strike: if I understand correctly, effects that last one round resolve before the character's following initiative. So Riving Strike wouldn't be useful for a single character (barring a quickened spell cast on the same turn or something), and would really only come up as something of a teamwork effect (one character uses Riving Strike, another character capitalizes on it before the first character's next turn). Am I interpreting that correctly?
This works with combat reflexes though. Arcane Strike is activated on your turn and lasts until your next turn begins, which includes all other opponent's turns before yours starts again.
Riving Strike is activated on a hit, which can be provoked on the opponent's turn. This would then start the riving strike's penalties which do not end until the provoking creature's next turn.
Of course this will all depend on the GM's tactical usage, but sometimes getting the GM to abandon an action that they would have otherwise done is the real win here. Synergies with all the other AoO effects (Longarm, enlarge person etc.) and can even set up a familiar that can use wands (if you invest in high level spell wands which most people do not.
Also with quickened spells of course.