Backstab question

cbarchuk

I'm rolling with a half-orc fighter/thief and I've been switching back and forth between the dagger of venom and the short sword +2. What's overall a better choice for backstabs? Lastly, I believe my fighter/thief will only get a 3x multiplier. How much less backstab damage will he do compared to a level 10 thief or assassin?

MurrayConfederacy

Dagger of venom is good for back stab/in general as it does lots of poison damage, shortsword +2 does more damage in the initial hit however, so it does the most backstab damage of the two. TOTAL OVERALL best weapon to use in terms of damage is the Staff of Striking (although it is a charge weapon).

cbarchuk

Yea I'm enjoying using both. Just trying to figure out if I should definitely use one over the other. They both seem pretty even damage wise.

claudius

Dagger does 1-4 damage plus other (+2 for venom dagger). That's an average of 4.5 x modifier
Shortsword does 1-6 plus (+2).. Average of 5.5 x modifier

I'd go shortsword if your going to try and chunk somebody on one hit. Dagger of Venom definitely if you are using boots of speed to kite/stalk somebody.

At level 9 you get a x4 backstab modifier. At 8 you have x3.. So +33% damage for getting to the greater modifier.

Riolathel

i would use the shortsword on weaker enemies and the poison dagger on tougher ones even though they will live after the backstab the poison does a lot of damage

cbarchuk

Thanks for the response. The only reason I'm even asking is I want to get the most out of my backstabs since 3x is as good as its going to get.

elminster

Dagger of venom to use on unprotected spellcasters, short sword for everyone else. Or you could be half-orc like and use a club (limited magical weapon options for this one though)

sarevok57

you could always backstab with the katana+1

bigdogchris

I have Coran with a Longsword +2 and he's backstabbing just fine with that. Shouldn't BS be with piercing weapons only

CaptRory

"Backstab" is just a sneak attack. You can sneak up behind someone and club them over the head.

badbromance

Or give them a love tap with a staff

lunar

bigdogchris said:

I have Coran with a Longsword +2 and he's backstabbing just fine with that. Shouldn't BS be with piercing weapons only

You can bacsktab with any weapon usable by a single class thief. So, even clubs and quarterstaves are suitable for back'smack'ing purposes. (and in BG2 one can argue some staves are the best weapons for this purpose)

cbarchuk said:

I'm rolling with a half-orc fighter/thief and I've been switching back and forth between the dagger of venom and the short sword +2. What's overall a better choice for backstabs? Lastly, I believe my fighter/thief will only get a 3x multiplier. How much less backstab damage will he do compared to a level 10 thief or assassin?

Your backstab multiplier will be lower than a pure thief, BUT you will have warrior weapon specialisation (+1 to hit, +2 damage, +½ attack/round) and half-orc strength bonus (which is huge if you rolled 19 STR,+3 to hit and +7 to damage!) not to mention excellent fighter THAC0 and extra attacks per round so you will actually be able to hit your opponents very reliably. One might argue this is even better.

On which weapon is better to backstab, shortsword will deal greater damage on impact, but the poison damage of the dagger is very lethal. Locks up spell casting of clerics and mages. Go for the dagger against clerics/mages. BTW, are you specialised (2 proficiency points) in dagger or shortsword? Generally speaking, using the weapon you are most skilled with is better.

cbarchuk

Yea I do have a 19 strength and I'm specialized in daggers and crossbows but I was going to use SK to change my proficiencies if I needed to. I appreciate all the feedback.

cbarchuk

Out of curiosity is it possible to calculate average backstab damage between a 10 level elven assassin with a 19 str and 4x backstab and a 7/8 half-orc fighter/thief with 20 str and 3x backstab using say the short sword of backstabbing?

elminster

short sword of backstabbing is a +3 weapon that does 1d6+3 damage (so 4-9 damage averages out to 6.5 damage)

Elf Assassin

6.5 damage +1 (assassin bonus to damage) = 7.5 damage x4 (backstab multiplier) = 30 damage + 7 (strength bonus) = 37 damage (on average)

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Half-Orc Fighter/Thief

6.5 damage +2 (specialised proficiency bonus to damage) = 8.5 damage x3 (backstab multiplier) = 25.5 damage + 8 (strength bonus) = 33.5 damage.

Not entirely sure when numbers are rounded. I'm assuming its at the end of the process.

cbarchuk

Thanks Elminster. Wow, I thought the assassin would be substantially ahead.

elminster

I did not factor in poison damage of course. But it would be added in after the modifier.