Halberd +2

kavake

I accidently found "The Chesley Crusher +2 Halberd." The Pup that shows up telling you that he wants to eat the female human captured at the fort has it. Just hit him with a damaging spell and finish him off. Then Halberd is all yours. I thought he had to be good for some thing other than motivation to get to the fort a little faster. The thing is I'm not sure that it's magical or not persa. You do Not need to use an identify spell on it to find out what it is. It does Not have a blue film over it that shows it as Magical. I don't think there are many +2 Halberds runing around in BG

Madhax

It's magical, it was just recently added to the game and not properly set as unidentified.

Do note that, while it hits like a truck, it is limited to a single attack per round. This makes it much less useful for warrior classes. Halberd-wielding bards seem to get the most use out of it, since they're limited to a single attack per round anyway.

kavake

Hey thanks for the information. Gives me something to work with now.

Luigirules

There is one other +2 halberd in the game. It's in the hands of one of the mooks on top of the Iron Throne HQ.

Oxford_Guy

Madhax said:

It's magical, it was just recently added to the game and not properly set as unidentified.

Do note that, while it hits like a truck, it is limited to a single attack per round. This makes it much less useful for warrior classes. Halberd-wielding bards seem to get the most use out of it, since they're limited to a single attack per round anyway.

Though because it's slow, it's not ideal for a bard who wants to "song twist" i.e. get in a quick attack and resume singing before the end of the round to keep the party buff (or confusion effect, if a Jester) sustained

Also, I think you can't increase APR with Haste when using it, though in the previous patch you could (it was a bug)

Eudaemonium

My Skald totally needs to move onto 2H weapons so she can swan around with Blackmist in BG2...

Oxford_Guy

Eudaemonium said:

My Skald totally needs to move onto 2H weapons so she can swan around with Blackmist in BG2...

A staff is good for a bard in BGEE - blunt weapons get the least THAC0 penalties for hitting armoured opponents, and there are few enemies with resistance to blunt (unlike Halberds, which do piercing damage - try using one of them on a Mustard Jelly...), also you can acquire a +3 staff as soon as you can raise enough money to buy it (which doesn't take long), and later in the game get the awesome Staff of Striking, both of which can be hasted.

Also, from a Bard's perspective, a staff is relatively fast (i.e. has a low speed value), making it easier to get in an attack first and more chance of being able to resume bard song without it dropping.

Eudaemonium

Also, you get the whole 'wandering bard with their staff' image.

PawnSlayer

Another disadvantage of the Chesley Crusher - 1D10 + 6 damage is huge, but it's piercing - slashing damage is better, and crushing better still. More things are going to be taking less damage from the halberd than other weapons.

[Deleted User]

PawnSlayer said:

Another disadvantage of the Chesley Crusher - 1D10 + 6 damage is huge, but it's piercing - slashing damage is better, and crushing better still. More things are going to be taking less damage from the halberd than other weapons.

This is technically true, but not particularly noticeable apart from skeletons and jellies. Damage resistance is fairly rare, and when it is present it is usually either across the board (i.e. effecting all types evenly) or weighted against missile damage.

Edit: Interestingly enough, piercing might be the most reliable damage type against humanoid enemies, considering the rarity of Full Plate (the only armor that piercing gets a significant penalty against) and the prevalence of leather (bad against piercing) and splint (good against crushing) in the mid-game. That said, the important thing about any weapon is not its damage type but its raw damage and special effects; Chesley really comes out on top in the former for (non-Blade) Bards, considering they're not losing out on any attacks.

Wanderon

Didn't halbreds do both slashing and piercing in one of the IE games? Or was that from PnP and maybe just the description said so but wasn't implemented?

Oxford_Guy

Kaigen said:

PawnSlayer said:

Another disadvantage of the Chesley Crusher - 1D10 + 6 damage is huge, but it's piercing - slashing damage is better, and crushing better still. More things are going to be taking less damage from the halberd than other weapons.

This is technically true, but not particularly noticeable apart from skeletons and jellies. Damage resistance is fairly rare, and when it is present it is usually either across the board (i.e. effecting all types evenly) or weighted against missile damage.

Edit: Interestingly enough, piercing might be the most reliable damage type against humanoid enemies, considering the rarity of Full Plate (the only armor that piercing gets a significant penalty against) and the prevalence of leather (bad against piercing) and splint (good against crushing) in the mid-game. That said, the important thing about any weapon is not its damage type but its raw damage and special effects; Chesley really comes out on top in the former for (non-Blade) Bards, considering they're not losing out on any attacks.

They are losing out on an extra attack when hasted or using the oil of speed

pipinho

So would the other halberd +2 that you get in by be better for a halberd wielding char?

atcDave

pipinho said:

So would the other halberd +2 that you get in by be better for a halberd wielding char?

For a warrior, yes. For a bard, I'd use the Crusher.

Oxford_Guy

atcDave said:

pipinho said:

So would the other halberd +2 that you get in by be better for a halberd wielding char?

For a warrior, yes. For a bard, I'd use the Crusher.

...Except when hasted ;-)

pipinho

Why?

Oxford_Guy

pipinho said:

Why?

Because two attacks is better than one, both for damage and also for bringing down mirror images (and double chance of getting a critical hit) etc.

Assuming all attacks hit, when hasted:

+2/+6 Chesley Crusher does 1d10+6 damage = 7-16
+2 Halberd does 2 x 1d10+ damage = 6-24

[Deleted User]

And it only gets worse when you factor in damage bonuses from Strength (if any). Still, you can get the Chesley Crusher very early (before Haste/Oils of Speed become a regular thing) and it will tide you over until you can get the Halberd +2.

Oxford_Guy

Kaigen said:

And it only gets worse when you factor in damage bonuses from Strength (if any). Still, you can get the Chesley Crusher very early (before Haste/Oils of Speed become a regular thing) and it will tide you over until you can get the Halberd +2.

Sure, was just pointing out it's not always better than than the normal +2 Halberd.

kavake

Hey I think I learned a few things from what's been said about the differant Halbards abilitys and comparing it to some other weapons as well. Thank you.

kavake

Some of the other info posted here is also very useful. Several thumbs Thanks everyone.