Does Fire of Vengeance only affect a single attack?

[TomParker]

Fire of Vengeance wrote:

After casting this spell, the next creature you attack using your smite evil class ability is engulfed in holy flames that flare up when the target attacks someone other than you. If at any time during the duration of your smite evil effect the target makes an attack that does not include you, it takes 3d8 points of fire damage. Once triggered in this manner, or when your smite evil ability expires, the spell ends.

Is "triggered" referring to the attack the paladin makes to activate the holy flames, or the attack by the enemy that causes it to incur fire damage? And does this mean that Fire of Vengeance would only cause damage once?

[avr]

FoV will deal damage a maximum of once. If the enemy never attacks someone other than the paladin then it will end when the smite evil ability expires. Otherwise it does damage when the enemy attacks another person, then ends.

[TomParker]

That's what it sounded like. Which isn't great.

[Lady Asharah]

It is great, it's a tank ability which are rare in Pathfinder. Forces the enemy to attack the tank or suffer consequences.

[TomParker]

I really don't see how it forces the enemy to attack the paladin at all.

The enemy isn't going to know what the effect is, unless they can spellcraft it. So they're just as likely to strike someone else, at which point they take a small amount of damage, the effect ends, and they're free to attack whoever they want.

[vhok]

more than 80% of the spells in pathfinder are terrible for combat even the ones ment to be be used in combat.