How do I calculate the mythic vital strike / mythic power attack damage for this PC?


Rules Questions


I'm going to be playing in a one-shot on Friday. The GM told us to build level 20 PCs with one mythic tier. All paizo books are fair game, we get standard gold for level 20 PCs (880K). Plus we're supposed to each pick one artifact that we get for free, as long as we can come up with backstory justifying it.

So I came up with this guy.

Stat block for Kveldulf Rognisson:
Kveldulf Rognisson
Male human (Ulfen) fighter 20/Champion 1
N Medium humanoid (human)
Init +9; Senses Perception +26
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Defense
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AC 55, touch 22, flat-footed 49 (+14 armor, +5 deflection, +5 Dex, +1 dodge, +1 insight, +19 natural)
hp 319 (20d10+185)
Fort +21, Ref +25, Will +25 (+5 vs. fear); +1 trait bonus vs. curses and [curse] spells, or +3 trait bonus if from linnorm
Defensive Abilities evasion, fortification 75%, hard to kill; DR 5/—
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Melee +5 vorpal adamantine falchion +42 (8d4+248/15-20/×3)
Ranged +1 adaptive composite longbow +29 (4d8+84/×3)
Special Attacks mythic power (5/day, surge +1d6), weapon mastery (falchion), weapon trainings (armed bravery, fighter's reflexes, heavy blades +4, bows +3)
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Statistics
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Str 32, Dex 20, Con 24, Int 19, Wis 16, Cha 9
Base Atk +20; CMB +31; CMD 53
Feats Cosmopolitan[APG], Devastating Strike[UC], Dodge, Endurance, Fast Learner[ARG], Greater Penetrating Strike, Greater Vital Strike, Greater Weapon Focus (falchion), Greater Weapon Specialization (falchion), Improved Critical (falchion), Improved Initiative, Improved Iron Will, Improved Vital Strike, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Penetrating Strike, Power Attack[M], Toughness, Vital Strike[M], Weapon Focus (falchion), Weapon Specialization (falchion)
Traits king in waiting, spirit guide
Skills Acrobatics +13, Climb +19, Knowledge (arcana) +27, Knowledge (nature) +24, Knowledge (planes) +24, Knowledge (religion) +29, Perception +26, Ride +10, Stealth +40, Swim +19
Languages Celestial, Common, Draconic, Dwarven, Elven, Hallit, Skald, Sylvan
SQ armor mastery, armor training 4, extra mythic feat[MA], fleet charge[MA]
Combat Gear potion of cure light wounds (10), potion of cure serious wounds (3), potion of fly (6), potion of resist acid 30, potion of resist cold 30, potion of resist electricity 30, potion of resist fire 30, scent blocker (2); Other Gear +5 greater shadow mithral full plate of heavy fortification, +1 adaptive composite longbow, +5 vorpal adamantine falchion, amulet of natural armor +5, belt of physical perfection +6, cape of free will +5/+6[MA], clear spindle ioun stone, dusty rose prism ioun stone, headband of mental prowess +6 (Int, Wis), linnorm orb of dragonkin, manual of gainful exercise +4, ring of evasion, ring of protection +5, backpack, bandolier[UE], bedroll, belt pouch, flint and steel, hemp rope (50 ft.), mess kit[UE], pot, soap, torch (10), trail rations (5), waterskin, 1,955 gp, 5 sp
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Special Abilities
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Armed Bravery (+5/+10) (Ex) Add bravery bonus to will save, Intim. DC to demoralize you increases by amount shown.
Armor Mastery (Ex) Gain DR while wearing armor or using a shield.
Armor Training 4 (Ex) Worn armor -4 check penalty, +4 max DEX.
Damage Reduction (5/-) You have Damage Reduction against all attacks.
Devastating Strike Deal extra damage when using Vital Strike bonus
Endurance +4 to a variety of fort saves, skill and ability checks. Sleep in L/M armor with no fatigue.
Evasion (Ex) If succeed on Reflex save for half dam, take none instead.
Fighter's Reflexes (Weapon Training [Blades, Heavy] +4) (Ex) While not denied Dex bonus to AC, add training bonus to Reflex saves.
Fleet Charge (Ex) As a swift action, use 1 power to move speed & attack (+1 bonus, bypass all DR).
Fortification 75% You have a chance to negate critical hits on attacks.
Hard to Kill (Ex) Automatically stabilize when dying, and only die at neg Con x 2.
Improved Iron Will (1/day) Can re-roll a Will save, but must take the second result.
Penetrating Strike (Ignore DR 10/Any or DR 5/-) Ignore up to 5 points of DR/?.
Power Attack [Mythic] Use 1 power to eliminate attack penalties of Power attack for 1 min.
Surge (1d6) (Su) Use 1 power to increase any d20 roll by the listed amount.
Vital Strike [Mythic] Vital Strike multiplies dam bonus by number of extra weapon dice rolled.
Weapon Mastery (Falchion) (Ex) Chosen weapon always confirms critical threats, and cannot be disarmed.
Weapon Training (Blades, Heavy) +4 (Ex) +4 Attack, Damage, CMB, CMD with Heavy Blades
Weapon Training (Bows) +3 (Ex) +3 Attack, Damage, CMB, CMD with Bows

The stat block assumes that he is doing vital strike, and has spent a mythic power point to negate his power attack penalties.

His artifact is the Linnorm Orb of Dragonkin, acquired (along with his mythic tier) for defeating the legendary linnorm Fafnheir in single combat.

Backstory (long) in case anyone is interested:
The man Kveldulf Rognisson grew up in the frozen lands of the Linnorm Kings, in Southmoor. His father Rogni Baldursson was a poor tailor; his mother perished bearing him, and his mourning father refused even to tell Kveldulf her name. They were poor, but generally happy -- until a new king took the throne and instituted heavy new taxes. Rogni tried his best to support them, and Kveldulf took work as a stable boy to assist him.

But even with both working long hours, they could not keep up. In time, the tax collectors took their home, poor though it was, and left them homeless on the streets of Jol. That winter, Rogni contracted a wasting disease, and after a long, grim decline, coughed himself to death in an alley.

Lacking the coin to see his father properly interred, Kveldulf brushed the frozen tears from his cheeks and took his father to the Temple of Pharasma, where he banged on the door and offered to serve them the rest of the winter if they would see his father buried come the spring thaw. The priest there, one Erik Gorlisson, took the boy in and tried to make a priest of Pharasma out of him. Alas, though Kveldulf was a good lad, he lacked any interest in serving the Lady of Graves in that manner. He respectfully acknowledged her power, and paid her honest homage. But it was not in his heart to become her priest.

What he did have was a heart full of anger over his father's untimely demise. Some others might have channeled that into a hatred of the tax collectors, or the King. But not Kveldulf.

Kveldulf set his sights higher. How had the king come to power? He killed a linnorm. That is all. Surely, that is a great and mighty deed, but what kind of test is it for a king? How shall a king rule, when all he knows is might of arms? How shall a king ensure the health and prosperity of his people, when he knows nothing of rule or governance? The whole system was flawed beyond repair.

And so, one day, with these thoughts running dark circles through his head as he swept the shrine of Pharasma, Kveldulf made a decision. In a fit of adolescent passion, he decided to destroy the entire system.

He would kill the linnorms.

ALL of them.

Every. Last. One.

And when the last linnorm died, the system that killed his father would die with it. No more linnorm kings would arise. Nor would Kveldulf claim a throne for himself. That would make mockery of his father's death. Perhaps the lands would be ruled by fools; perhaps by wise men. But either way, strength of arms would no longer be the sole measure of a ruler among the Ulfen. In time, he hoped, better men might rise to take power.

Thus Kveldulf devoted his life's course to a goal that most would consider madness. Killing just one linnorm is a feat beyond all but the hardiest warriors. Killing ALL of them? It was suicide, pure and simple. And so Kveldulf told no one of his plans. In the spring, with his father buried, he set out for distant Kalsgard.

There he joined the guards, earned a place among them, and began his martial training. In the evenings he methodically pursued lore regarding linnorms -- learned their weaknesses, their strengths, the patterns of their thought and how to find their lairs. He made neither friends nor enemies. He earned respect for his abilities, and he was courteous, but his single-minded focus and his disinterest in sharing the common pastimes of his fellow guards won him no love.

After a few years of service, he mustered out of the guards and set out to forge his own way. It was a long, ruinously difficult path, paved with blood and hardship. But in the end he gained the experience and equipment he needed, and began killing linnorms.

First one. Then another. Another. Another. More. One by one he sought and killed linnorms in their lairs. Some he killed as they slept. Others in full combat. Whenever he found eggs or young, he slaughtered them without hesitation. He used the golden treasures he found in their lairs to have his wounds healed, and to get better gear. He told no one, but with each kill he scratched another notch on his bandolier full of potions, though he disdained to count eggs or young.

Finally, he hit a dead end. He knew there were more linnorms out there -- his bandolier had only 23 notches, certainly not enough to be the whole breeding population. But he had no more leads. And so he sought out a trio of norns and asked for their wisdom.

They took the form of three maidens of surpassing beauty -- one raven-haired, one blonde, one with hair white as the ash of a cold fire-pit. "Dread sisters," Kveldulf said. "I beg your guidance: I have made it my life's work to exterminate the linnorms, one and all, that the kings of the Ulfen might some day come to value wisdom over might. But I have lost the trail and can find no more of them. How may I continue my work?"

Spake the first: "Seek you out the darkling lair ..."
Spake the second: "... of the linnorm Fafnheir ..."
Spake the third: "... and seize the orb that waits you there."

With a name to research -- Fafnheir -- Kveldulf found his way deep into Grungir forest. There he anointed himself with a vile alchemical grease designed to kill his scent, and snuck into the lair. Luck was with him, and he found Fafnheir sleeping. The vast, ancient linnorm lay curled on his sprawling bed of gold. Without hesitation, Kveldulf crept close -- and struck.

His blade struck true, but failed to kill Fafnheir. The wyrm reared up, jolted out of deep sleep by incredible searing pain, and reflexively breathed a gout of flame and lightning on his attacker. Kveldulf's quick reflexes spared him much of the damage, but the sheer force of the wind pushed him back and the sound of it deafened him so that he could not hear his own war cry as he charged forward at Fafnheir once again.

Once more his blade struck true, and then the massive beast was upon him, biting, clawing, goring at him. Battered and bleeding, he spat blood and lined up his next shot. Once again, he hit, a gout of ichor splashing across his feet, and then the beast savaged him further. Dangerously wounded, the doughty warrior began singing a throaty song of death or victory, raised his sword one final time, and missed. His foot slipped on the gold heaped beneath him, and he fell to one knee.

Just in time! Another gout of fire and lightning passed over him -- his stumble had saved him from a direct hit. Looking up at the linnorm, an icy calm descended upon Kveldulf. This was his purpose. He did not even hate Fafnheir. It was men who had decided that the test of kingship would be the slaying of such a beast. But he could not change the customs of men -- save by killing the linnorm. And so, drawing on reserves of determination he had never before reached, he stood and struck, once, twice, thrice, faster than he had ever lifted his blade before. The first hit, scoring deep into the beast's chest. The second swung wide as Fafnheir recoiled in pain. And with the third, Kveldulf plunged his sword directly into Fafnheir's chest, sinking not just the blade but his entire arm into the linnorm's body.

A moment of stillness passed. And then Fafnheir collapsed sideways, crashing to the floor without making a sound. Kveldulf barely pulled his arm out in time to avoid breaking it, leaving his blade buried in Fafnheir's heart. Dazed and wounded nigh unto death, it took him a moment to realize that he couldn't hear anything at all. Briefly, he felt the wyrm's final breath cling to his face, but he waved it away.

Later, when he pulled his sword from the cooling corpse, ichor gouted out of the wound, and as he watched, a small, golden orb formed out of the puddle. The Orb of Linnorm Dragonkin -- and his key to locate and kill all the remaining linnorms in the world. (Yes, I rolled out the fight with Fafnheir. He got his mythic tier right before the last two hits, which required two mythic power points for an extra standard action and a swift action attack via Fleet Charge.)

Anyway! My question is this:

How much damage does he do on a critical hit with mythic power attack and mythic vital strike? I've spent the last hour reading multiple threads on the topic, and I'm just as confused as I can possibly be about how it works. Plus there are other things to factor in like devastating strike.

I think I've got a good handle on how to run him ordinarily. He's pretty straightforward for a level 20 PC, actually. I'm just not sure how to calculate his crit damage.


1) get furious focus negates penalties for power attack for 1st attack each round so since your using vital strike you will only ever actually be making one attack
2) lose the vorpal

also who is your flanking buddie? cuz if its a person who two weapon fights and if they are duel wielding kukris ask them if they mind taking butterfly sting and then you use a scythe or a tobesu that way once you get farther in mythic your weapon will be a x6 weapon and your butterfly sting buddie will be passing probably 1 crit per turn


Okay, let me take a crack at it: Assuming a x3 weapon.

Normal Hit = 4x (Weapon Dice) + 4x (Static Numbers) + (Extra dice and things that specifically are not multiplied)

Crit: 6x (Weapon Dice) + 6x (Static Numbers) + 3x (Power attack bonus) + (Extra dice and things that specifically are not multiplied)

Assuming all your numbers are right, I would put your crit damage at:
12d4+453 (6/4 th of your normal damage, Plus 3 times your PA damage, which is 6*3*1.5=27)

If any of the stuff in your original number given are things that are not multiplied on a crit, you will have to remove them and put them in the last category. I assumed your numbers did not include any such thing.

On a different note, why that artifact? Even if the DM is nice and says that the ORB keys off Fafnheir's AC and saves, his are still generally lower than what you have. It sets your AC and Saves to:

AC 42, touch 12, flat-footed 32 (+10 Dex, +30 natural, –8 size)
Fort +28, Ref +25, Will +23

and ignores any bonuses you might possess. More likely, it gives you the AC and Saves of a NORMAL LINNORM of a particular type, say, a Taiga
AC 34, touch 9, flat-footed 27 (+7 Dex, +25 natural, -8 size)
Fort +22, Ref +21, Will +18

So, your loosing significant amounts of armor, and some saves, for the benefit of a dominate monster effect that the Taiga's make the save for on a 5 or better? And a DC 16 curse effect at will? This artifact seems very bad for you, unless you succeed at dominating a significant army of Linnorms.

Unless I'm badly misunderstanding it, of course.


Lady-J wrote:

1) get furious focus negates penalties for power attack for 1st attack each round so since your using vital strike you will only ever actually be making one attack

2) lose the vorpal

1. Eh, he already has mythic power attack which gets rid of the penalty for 1 minute as a non action. Silly to get both, and mythic power attack has other useful functions.

2. Absolutely. Vorpal is garbage. +5 Holy Impact Dragon Bane would be an improvement, but I'm sure that could easily be improved upon if someone wants to take the time to dig around.


toastedamphibian wrote:
Lady-J wrote:

1) get furious focus negates penalties for power attack for 1st attack each round so since your using vital strike you will only ever actually be making one attack

2) lose the vorpal

1. Eh, he already has mythic power attack which gets rid of the penalty for 1 minute as a non action. Silly to get both, and mythic power attack has other useful functions.

2. Absolutely. Vorpal is garbage.

yes but he could spend the feat and put those mythic points to use elsewere


I'm not at all familiar with mythic material, so If you say saving 1 mythic point per fight is worth a feat, I have no reason to call you wrong.

Better Suggestion. Use one of the +1 weapon abilities you can get from dropping vorpal to get Training (Furious Focus) on your falchion. It is not ideal, but it is a quick solution that does not require you to redo your feats if you do not wish to.


toastedamphibian wrote:

I'm not at all familiar with mythic material, so If you say saving 1 mythic point per fight is worth a feat, I have no reason to call you wrong.

Better Suggestion. Use one of the +1 weapon abilities you can get from dropping vorpal to get Training (Furious Focus) on your falchion. It is not ideal, but it is a quick solution that does not require you to redo your feats if you do not wish to.

if i'm remembering correctly they allow you to reroll failed saves as well as quite a few other mythic unique abilities so much better spent doing that than negating power attack penalties


Ungarato ?

Sword possessed by the spirit of the chieftain of a tribe of dragon worshiping northern barbarian obsessed with revenge against his tribes cruel magical oppressors?

Dragons hate Linnorms, right? Not unlikely that the sword, hearing of your incredibly similiar plight and deciding that you are a worthy successor.

(Also if you kill fafnheir with it, you get an absurd CR 25 Zombie pet)


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Personally I'd have gone for Always a Chance rather than Extra Mythic Feat as a Tier 1 Path Ability, but if you're going for overkill massive damage, then it makes sense.

I'm going to assume that the VS/PA calcs above are correct (and use the most accepted interpretation rather than the cheese one for VS[M]).


toastedamphibian wrote:

Okay, let me take a crack at it: Assuming a x3 weapon.

Normal Hit = 4x (Weapon Dice) + 4x (Static Numbers) + (Extra dice and things that specifically are not multiplied)

Crit: 6x (Weapon Dice) + 6x (Static Numbers) + 3x (Power attack bonus) + (Extra dice and things that specifically are not multiplied)

Assuming all your numbers are right, I would put your crit damage at:
12d4+453 (6/4 th of your normal damage, Plus 3 times your PA damage, which is 6*3*1.5=27)

If any of the stuff in your original number given are things that are not multiplied on a crit, you will have to remove them and put them in the last category. I assumed your numbers did not include any such thing.

almost right - you forgot that mythic vital strike multiplies the power attack bonus by 2 - also using multipliers don't multiply but increase you'd use +4 instead of 4.5 for 2h MPA, which means you'd get 4*2*3*6=108

so we have 6*(2d4+static bonuses without PA)+108 (as I don't know if you've used 4 or 4.5 for PA I can't say what the difference should be - might help if you itemise your static bonuses)


I'll itemize my static bonuses later -- don't have access to the PC just now.

Lady-J wrote:
if i'm remembering correctly they allow you to reroll failed saves as well as quite a few other mythic unique abilities

At tier 1, mythic power can be used for the following:

1) roll a 1d6 surge die and add it to any check; this can change the outcome of a save.

2) 1 point gains you 1 extra standard action which cannot be used to cast a spell, once per round. This could allow for a second vital strike in a round.

3) 1 point can activate your path signature ability -- in this case Fleet Strike, which lets you move up to your speed as a swift action and make a single melee attack at any point along your path. I don't think this is compatible with Vital Strike, sadly, because Vital Strike is a specialized standard action rather than just a melee attack.

4) Because I have a Cape of Free Will I can spend 1 point to re-roll a failed Will save.

That's all. Higher level tiers get you lots more stuff you can spend mythic power on.

toastedamphibian wrote:

On a different note, why that artifact? Even if the DM is nice and says that the ORB keys off Fafnheir's AC and saves, his are still generally lower than what you have. [...]

Unless I'm badly misunderstanding it, of course.

I liked the flavor of it. And it's a one-shot, so I'm not too concerned. Also the GM did say something about Ragnarok, so it wouldn't surprise me if we all die by the end of the session.

The item is a little vaguely worded, agreed. I built him in Hero Lab, and have basically assumed that they got it right.

I peeked at the code, and the way they wrote it up, the orb replaces the base saves from class levels and any natural AC modifier. Without the orb, he's got base saves of 12 fort, 6 reflex, 6 will; the orb sets those at 9/9/9, and then he gets his assorted bonuses (resistance, armed bravery, etc) normally, which yields 21/25/25, as above, instead of the 24/22/22 he'd have without it. Yeah, his fort save drops by 3, but reflex and will go up 3.

As for AC, when he doesn't have the orb his AC is 41. When added, it suppresses the +5 bonus from his amulet of natural armor, and then gives him +19 natural AC. That suggests they were looking at a Crag Linnorm when they wrote it -- it has a +19 natural AC modifier. I think it makes sense just to do the natural AC. The PC still has his own DEX score and hasn't changed size.

It's a little odd that the natural armor gets replaced, while the saves continue to benefit from the cape of free will, feats, and class features.

About the sword -- I've gone around and around on which weapon properties to give it. Initially it was a +5 holy impact frost adamantine falchion. Later I tried +5 impact frost growing.

But honestly the extra damage wasn't a lot. Impact got me 8d6 instead of 8d4, which is an increase (on average) of 8 damage for a +2 weapon property. If it were a 2d6 weapon to start with like a greatsword, Impact would bump it to 3d6 base damage dice, which would definitely be worth it because that then increases all the vital strike damage. Similarly holy and frost between them add (on average) another 10.5 damage which is not multiplied on a crit.

So finally I just made it vorpal because I've never had one of those, and a one-shot is as good a time as any.

I wasn't aware of the training property! That's a good trick, I'll think about it.


Okay. So here are my static bonuses to damage with a falchion.

+11 strength
+5 strength bonus for two-handed wielding
+5 enhancement bonus
+4 weapon training (heavy blades)
+2 Weapon Specialization
+2 Greater Weapon Specialization

= 29

Power Attack
BAB 20
Ordinary penalty: -6
Ordinary bonus: 2*6 = 12
Mythic bonus: 1*6 = 6 + 12 = 18
Increase by 50% for two-handed wielding: 27
Doubled on a crit, before multiplying

+6 Devastating Strike (when Vital Striking, is multiplied on crit)

With Power Attack and Devastating Strike, total is: 62

I have 4 sets of damage dice (base 2d4, vital strike, improved vital strike, greater vital strike). So Mythic Vital Strike multiplies all of the static bonuses by 4. That yields: +248 damage on an ordinary hit.

On a crit, Mythic Power Attack adds an additional 27 before multiplication, yielding (8d4+275)*3 as the final damage. On average, that would be 295 * 3 = 885 damage.

Have I got that right? There are so many little fiddly bits in there. @_@

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