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are there any good katanas in bg:ee?

i think katanas didn't exist in the original bg but since they have been added in the ee are there any good katanas? i think i saw a katana +1 once but is that it?
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Comments

  • deltagodeltago Member Posts: 7,811
    That's it. +1 till Shadows of Amn.
  • KamigoroshiKamigoroshi Member Posts: 5,870
    edited January 2013
    Morale of the story: don't choose samurai toothpicks as weapon profiency.
  • DeeDee Member Posts: 10,447
    There's a few plain ones, too.

    Katanas are powerful weapons, and they're not affected by the iron crisis, which makes them a valuable item on their own.
  • moopymoopy Member Posts: 938
    Comparing the +1 katana with other +2 weapons.

    Katana +1 - will do 2-11 damage with a +1 to hit.
    Long Sword + 2 - will do 3-10 damage with a +2 to hit.
    Mace + 2 - will do 4-9 damage with a +2 to hit.
    War Hammer + 2 - will do 4-7 damage with a +2 to hit.
    Dagger + 2 - will do 3-6 damage with a + 2 to hit.
    Battle Axe + 2 - will do 3-10 damage with a +2 to hit.

    The damage is either better on the katana +1, or in the case of long swords or battle axes comparably equal. So you are really only losing out here on + 1 to hit with either better or equal damage.

    Comparing the 2 normal katanas you can get.

    Katana - 1-10 damage + 0 to hit is really comparable in damage to the +1 weapons and in some case the +2's. What you are REALLY losing out on with katanas in this game is +1 to hit, and if you dual wield +1 to hit on the main hand and +2 to hit on the off hand.

    +1 to hit really isn't that bad to lose out on for better damage most of the time.

    I think a lot of the people who are upset (not that you were) that they can't find a +2 katana aren't really doing the math.

    A katana is the fastest non breakable metal weapon you can get in BG:EE at the very first if you can get into the chest with the star sapphire(lock picking or high strength) or if you farm 3 plate mail armor off of guards in candle keep.

    If the disadvantages the +1 katana has compared to a few of the nicer named +2 weapons are a deal breaker for someone, then technically speaking every weapon in the game should be a deal breaker to them other than using drizzits scimitars, because you can't beat 4-11 damage with +3 to hit.

    TL;DR

    Katanas are balanced and fine as they are in BG:EE, OR you must think that every other weapon in the game is unacceptable and only ever use drizzits scimitars.

    This was less of a response to the OP who was just asking and more to the people who think katanas are badly under represented in this game.
  • KorlamaqKorlamaq Member Posts: 216
    i have 2 points in katana and scimitar each so im using one of drizzts scimitars until i get the katana +1 :)
    if those 2 options are the only ones in bg:ee then i too think that katanas are very under represented :)
  • KorlamaqKorlamaq Member Posts: 216
    edited January 2013
    deltago said:

    That's it. +1 till Shadows of Amn.

    what katanas are there in soa?
  • moopymoopy Member Posts: 938
    Off the top of my head Celestial Fury is what people tend to take katana skill for, but here is a full list.

    http://mikesrpgcenter.com/bgate2/weapons/katanas.html
  • scriverscriver Member Posts: 2,072
    Scriver is suddenly struck with mod weapon idea!

    Katana +2, "The Battered Blade"
    Once wielded by SAMORAJ DOOD WARRIAH X, this sword had been passed down in his family for generations. Though originally of such masterful quality it was said to be sharp enough to cut through stone, it's long service and many, many battles had seen it sharpened over and over again, until it was so worn down it couldn't be sharpened one single more time. As such it wasn't the sharpest of swords when X had it enchanted.

    Special Properties:
    Damage: 1d6+2
    Damage Type: Blunt (Crushing?)

    Or perhaps:
    Damage: 1d4+2
    Damage Type: Slashing
    Extra Damage: 2 (Blunt/Crushing)
  • the_spyderthe_spyder Member Posts: 5,018
    edited January 2013
    @moopy. just a guess on my part but I don't think people are "Necessarily" complaining about the lack of damage represented by a +2 Katana in the game so much as the infrequency of magic Katana at all. I could be wrong about that.

    Plus, aren't there at least one or two creatures that require +2 or better to damage in the game? That could be a bad. I want to say there are, but I am not sure.
  • CamDawgCamDawg Member, Developer Posts: 3,439

    Plus, aren't there at least one or two creatures that require +2 or better to damage in the game? That could be a bad. I want to say there are, but I am not sure.

    There aren't--BG didn't use enchantment levels at all. Some creatures need magical weapons to hit, other (the greater lycans) need cold iron.
  • the_spyderthe_spyder Member Posts: 5,018
    Cool. thanks. I honestly wasn't sure. I might have been thinking of IWD.
  • IkMarcIkMarc Member Posts: 552
    They should implement a Katana +1 + some fun/nice stat
  • Aasimar069Aasimar069 Member Posts: 803
    edited January 2013
    CamDawg said:

    Plus, aren't there at least one or two creatures that require +2 or better to damage in the game? That could be a bad. I want to say there are, but I am not sure.

    There aren't--BG didn't use enchantment levels at all. Some creatures need magical weapons to hit, other (the greater lycans) need cold iron.
    Are you sure both the Young Nabassu (Aec'Letec) and the Death Knight can be hit with +1 weapons ?

    I have never tried myself.

    If someone can confirm...

    Though, +2 Katanas would be overpowered for bg1. (remember that 2Handed swords also deal 1d10 damage.
    Post edited by Aasimar069 on
  • moopymoopy Member Posts: 938
    @Aasimar069

    Yes, I was playing around in vanilla BG1, and there is no difference in a +1 or +2 or +3 magical weapon. It is either magical, or it isn't.
  • PantalionPantalion Member Posts: 2,137
    edited January 2013
    Fun fact. The average damage difference between a katana and the humble dagger is 3 points of damage per hit, 1 point for an Axe, Mace or Long Sword, and 0.5 damage for a Bastard Sword.

    So if you really want to use a terribly underused proficiency type for a completely irrelevant bonus to damage, you may want to try putting points into Bastard Swords, which are at least briefly of worth. If not, consider Daggers, with the Dagger of venom, you'll do more damage in the long run than the +1 Katana.

    Alternatively you can always run through Black Pits for the +2 Katana, which is just about equal to the incredibly rare and extremely hard to acquire "Varscona".
  • CamDawgCamDawg Member, Developer Posts: 3,439
    Yeah, no enchantments on the BG side of the game. It's why you get folks wondering why the +3 World's Edge can't hurt the greater lycans.

    Now, Black Pits does have some creatures that use enchantment levels. I had to go through and set enchantment levels for everything for the next patch.
  • RhaegarRhaegar Member Posts: 25
    No

    /endthread
  • Oxford_GuyOxford_Guy Member Posts: 3,729
    moopy said:

    Comparing the +1 katana with other +2 weapons.

    Katana +1 - will do 2-11 damage with a +1 to hit.
    Long Sword + 2 - will do 3-10 damage with a +2 to hit.

    The Varscona +2 Long Sword also does an additional +1 cold damage
    moopy said:


    Mace + 2 - will do 4-9 damage with a +2 to hit.
    War Hammer + 2 - will do 4-7 damage with a +2 to hit.

    Bassilus' +2 Hammer also does +1 electricity damage
    moopy said:


    Dagger + 2 - will do 3-6 damage with a + 2 to hit.

    The additional poison affect of the +2 Dagger of Venom has already been mentioned...
    moopy said:


    A katana is the fastest non breakable metal weapon you can get in BG:EE

    Actually NearInifinity shows that non-magical Katanas have the "breakable" flag set, so it may not actually be true that they're non-breakable in BGEE!





  • Oxford_GuyOxford_Guy Member Posts: 3,729
    Pantalion said:

    Fun fact. The average damage difference between a katana and the humble dagger is 3 points of damage per hit, 1 point for an Axe, Mace or Long Sword, and 0.5 damage for a Bastard Sword.

    So if you really want to use a terribly underused proficiency type for a completely irrelevant bonus to damage, you may want to try putting points into Bastard Swords, which are at least briefly of worth. If not, consider Daggers, with the Dagger of venom, you'll do more damage in the long run than the +1 Katana.

    Also, there are at least three +2 daggers in the game, two +2 Heart of Golum, one +2 Dagger of Venom., and these can all be obtained quite early on. Dual-wield anyone? :-)

    For most (all?) other melee weapons there are only single +2 examples until late in the game (where there are actually a few +3 weapons)

    Also, throwing daggers are the only ranged weapon with 2 APR (slings and throwing axes only have 1 APR) that get strength bonus damage in BGEE, in the hands of someone with high 18/xx or 19 Str, they're nasty! Only downside is that there are no magic throwing daggers in BGEE and they're quite heavy. Also currently BG2 only gives ranged strength bonus damage to throwing axes and one magic sling, so unless BG2EE harmonises BGEE and BG2EE, it may be unwise the take dagger proficiencies solely based on expecting throwing daggers to get the strength bonus in BG2...



  • DeeDee Member Posts: 10,447
    BG2EE will be using the same engine as BG1EE, so mechanics between the two will probably remain the same.
  • Oxford_GuyOxford_Guy Member Posts: 3,729
    Aosaw said:

    BG2EE will be using the same engine as BG1EE, so mechanics between the two will probably remain the same.

    if true, that would make slings and throwing daggers considerably better in BG2EE...
  • DeeDee Member Posts: 10,447
    Indeed.

    It also would make the Sling of Seeking rather redundant. But that's another matter. ;)
  • scriverscriver Member Posts: 2,072
    Sling of Seeking. Make it double strength bonus damage? Or at least half double.
  • DeeDee Member Posts: 10,447
    I think it would make more sense to just give it a greater bonus to THAC0. Sleeking doesn't really say "Strength" to me.
  • KaltzorKaltzor Member Posts: 1,050
    The proficiency does rightfully state that katanas are rare in Baldur's Gate... Any Katana you find in-game was added in the Enhanced Edition, and adding lots of good ones would be actual work.
  • AHFAHF Member Posts: 1,376
    Kaltzor said:

    The proficiency does rightfully state that katanas are rare in Baldur's Gate... Any Katana you find in-game was added in the Enhanced Edition, and adding lots of good ones would be actual work.

    More than actual work, adding lots of good ones would be a poor design choice.

  • TressetTresset Member, Moderator Posts: 8,268
    If you really want some more magical katanas there is data in the game for katana +2 which can be created with the console.
  • Oxford_GuyOxford_Guy Member Posts: 3,729
    I think the way it is now with availability of Katanas in BGEE is about right, if there were +2 ones easily available no one would use anything else, pretty much. I think that non--magic Katanas (and wakazashis and ninja-tos) should be made non-breakable, though - they're rare imports.
  • TressetTresset Member, Moderator Posts: 8,268

    if there were +2 ones easily available no one would use anything else, pretty much.

    Really? I actually created two of the +2 katanas for my kensai. I later decided they were not as good as having blunt damage so I used SK to switch to flails. I am beginning to think that katanas are quite a bit overrated. They don't really do that much more damage than some of the alternatives (they do 2-3 more maximum damage than mourning stars/flails with equal enhancement and have 1 less minimum damage as well). Yes, yes, I know. Celestial Fury blah, blah, blah. I can't deny that thing's power and I will test its ability once BG2:EE comes out but I wonder if it is really worth it to have nothing better than +3 until ToB.

    P.S.@Oxford_Guy:
    Aosaw said:

    There's a few plain ones, too.

    Katanas are powerful weapons, and they're not affected by the iron crisis, which makes them a valuable item on their own.

  • moopymoopy Member Posts: 938
    @Tresset

    Katana +2 - 1d10+2 - 3-12 damage - average damage 7.5
    Flail +2 - 1d6+3 - 4-7 damage - average damage 5.5

    Katanas are basically two handed swords that you wield in one hand so you can dual wield. If you had a katana in equal enchantment and special abilities to any other weapon you basically are asking the question, "Do I want to dual wield two handed swords?"

    Take Minsc for example, a lot of people use him and equip him with Worlds End 1d10+3. If I had 2 +3 katanas I could dual wield I'd have a Worlds End in each hand. Would you rather have Minsc with 2 pips in two handed swords with 1 1d10+3 or with 2 pips in katanas dual wielding 1d10+3? Which is why they made the game so that no katana matches in enchantment level of other weapons.
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