History Main / HerdHittingAttack

* ''TabletopGames/LEGOGames'': In ''Heroica'', Barbarian's special ability hits all enemies around, if he happens to fight more than one at once.
* In ''TabletopGame/RocketAge'' weapons with the cleaving trait are typically slow to strike with, but a successful strike can be carried on into a neighbouring combatant. Unsurprisingly weapons like the Sun-Axe are usually found in the hands of aggressive front line fighters and are used to break up tight formations.

* ''TabletopGame/HeroClix'' features this trope in the form of the power Energy Explosion, which in exchange for reducing a characters damage value to 1, it can cause damage to both the target of the attack and every character standing next to them. This can be real fun for characters who can shoot two or three targets at a time, since while the damage is reduced to 1, it also stacks.

->''The Hurricane has quickly gotten a reputation for being a very crowd-pleasing weapon - unless we're talking about the crowd it is being aimed at.''

* This is Tempest's specialty in ''TabletopGame/SentinelsOfTheMultiverse''. While many characters have cards that let them hit multiple targets, Tempest has a "hit every non-hero target" attack as his default power. This can have some drawbacks, though, because his multi-target attacks tend to be indiscriminate - and there are a number of occasions (such as when facing the Dreamer) where you don't want to hit ''everything''.

* ''VideoGame/{{Arknights}}'': Operator archetypes that hit more than one enemy at a time are split into two categories of "true" [=AoE=] and "false" [=AoE=]. "False" [=AoE=] operators - Artilleryman Snipers, Flinger Snipers, Splash Casters, Chain Casters, Fortress Defenders vs. unblocked enemies in range - attack one enemy and do damage to other enemies surrounding their original target within a certain range, while "true" [=AoE=] operators - Spreadshooter Snipers, Blast Casters, Phalanx Casters, Reaper Guards, Ambusher Specialists - do damage to all enemies within their attack range. Some single-target operators also have skills that let them attack multiple enemies.

*** A warlock's Seed of Corruption also deserves special mention - it's a debuff that functions as a bomb. When the target takes a sufficient level of damage (from any source), or dies, the bomb explodes and damages everything around the target (except the target itself, originally. This was later patched). Because group damage would cause the bombs to detonate nearly instantly, and the spell had no cooldown, this was - for a time - the most damaging AreaOfEffect spell in the game.

[[caption-width-right:350:Just try not to [[CollateralDamage catch any allies]] in it as well.[[note]]A handy visualisation of ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragonsFifthEdition'' area of effect spells courtesy ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'''s 'Handbooker Helper' videos/[[/note]]]]

[[quoteright:320:[[VideoGame/RuneScape https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/320px-SolusIceBarrages_1995.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:320:Forget HarmlessFreezing.]]

* ''VideoGame/IcewindDale'' had Cloak Of Flame. The spell sets the target on fire, causing damage to both them and any nearby creatures and has a chance to spread to anything in the radius. If cast on something in the middle of a dense crowd, [[IncrediblyLamePun it spreads like wildfire]].

* This crops up occasionally in ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreed'', and was even enforced in two sequences of ''Assassin's Creed III'' where, to achieve full synchronization, entire formations of enemy soldiers need to be taken out: first by timing musket volleys from allied soldiers and then by aiming a cannon to destroy formations in one shot.

* ''VideoGame/{{Arknights}}'': Operator archetypes that hit more than one enemy at a time are split into two categories of "true" [=AoE=] and "false" [=AoE=]. "False" [=AoE=] operators - Artilleryman Snipers, Splash Casters, Chain Casters - attack one enemy and do damage to other enemies surrounding their original target within a certain range, while "true" [=AoE=] operators - Spreadshooter Snipers, Blast Casters, Phalanx Casters, Reaper Guards - do damage to all enemies within their attack range. Some single-target operators also have skills that let them attack multiple enemies.

** [=BigBomb=] throws a bomb that hits a panel ''and all 8 panels around it''. Throwing it in the middle effectively makes it an unavoidable attack on all enemies. It's used in the Program Advance [=UltraBomb=], which hits a similar area but deals way more damage, cracks enemy panels, ''and'' [[ArmorPiercingAttack pierces armor]].

* ''VideoGame/Warhammer40000Darktide'' has the Scab Bombers, who function like ''[[VideoGame/TheEndTimesVermintide Vermintide's]]'' Poison Wind Globadiers and ''VideoGame/Left4Dead's'' Spitters, this time by throwing firebombs that temporarily blanket an area in constant-damage flames and forcing the players to scatter. These flames also instantly deplete [[RegeneratingShieldStaticHealth Toughness]] to 0, giving even more incentive to keep far away.

* ''VideoGame/Warhammer40000Darktide'' has the Scab Bombers, who function like ''[[VideoGame/TheEndTimesVermintide Vermintide's'' Poison Wind Globadiers and ''VideoGame/Left4Dead's'' Spitters, this time by throwing firebombs that temporarily blanket an area in constant-damage flames and forcing the players to scatter. These flames also instantly deplete [[RegeneratingShieldStaticHealth Toughness]] to 0, giving even more incentive to keep far away.

** And then there's Fiddlesticks and his Crowstor-CAWCAWCAWCAWCAWCAWCAWCAW...

** ''VideoGame/ShadowHeartsCovenant''
** ''VideoGame/{{Wild ARMs 4}}'', ''VideoGame/{{Wild ARMs 5}}'', and ''VideoGame/{{Wild ARMs XF}}''.

*** Dragons have two cleaves: a frontal BreathWeapon and a TailSlap to prevent stacking behind them. Onyxia does it [[UpToEleven one better]] in Blackwing Descent, where she has a sideways ShockAndAwe attack, letting her cleave in ''every direction''.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Warframe}}'', this is Hydroid's specialty. ''[[UpToEleven ALL]]'' of his abilities can hit multiple enemies, with two of them having the ability to immobilize several opponents at once.

** Sven has an ability which grants him passive cleave damage, so he doesn't need to buy a Battlefury to achieve the same result many of his peers do. However, cleave damage is ''stackable''. In fact, he can achieve over 100% cleave damage with a Battlefury. On a weak, barely-farmed Sven this barely changes anything, as it would take several seconds for him to do enough damage to matter... [[OhCrap Several seconds with multiple enemy heroes around him.]] But on a farmed Sven with [[SuperMode God's Strength]] active? [[OneHitPolykill It's entirely possible to Cleave the entire enemy team to death in one swing of]] [[BiggusDickus the biggest sword in Dota.]]