Least popular/useful weapon categories?
Xei_Win_Toh
Member Posts: 43
The idea to ask this question came to me after reading threads on the Short Sword of Mask, and on how much people powergame.
So I simply want to know - what weapon types do you rarely if ever use? Are there any you think are just plain weaker than others? And why?
So I simply want to know - what weapon types do you rarely if ever use? Are there any you think are just plain weaker than others? And why?
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Halcyon --> unicorn one --> impaler --> and so on
But i rarely have anyone use them
Unless i edit jaheira to be a 2hd specialist from the start (drop scimitar and sword +shield)
Also never really use Maces apart from the Mace of Disruption against liches.
The club selection in BG2 is pretty wanting as well, no neat/unique enchantments except the Club of Detonation which is a total novelty.
Axes
Bastard Swords
Clubs
Crossbows
Daggers
Darts (unless a pure Mage)
Halberds
Katanas
Longbows
Maces
Short Swords
Spears
Axes work better for Korgan, and in the end are largely unremarkable.
Bastard Swords have a single great weapon and a series of largely situational ones.
Clubs are just maces without style.
Crossbows are vastly inferior to Slings, and vastly more expensive to boot.
Daggers - Are pretty terrible except for Firetooth, especially since dagger strength is bugged now. The best dagger is +5 with 5% chances of damage procs and 15% chance for invisible? This is compared to 25 Strength, +5 Electrical and instant death against an array of enemies, always, or even +1 attack? Daggers cannot compare to most other bladed weapons.
Darts are for mages.
Halberds are generally mediocre, asides from the Dragon's Breath, which is late game.
Katanas have the Celestial Fury and Hindo's Doom. I don't care for the former, because I consider it overpowered and useless against the nastier creatures, and you don't need proficiency to offhand Hindo's for some MR.
Longbows are utterly terrible compared to Shortbows.
Maces are just clubs with style. If it weren't for the Stupefier I'd never even have Mace proficiency in BG1.
Short Swords - You don't have to be proficient with Kundane to get an attack from it, and the rest are pretty worthless.
Spears have two +4 or better weapons. Ixil's Spike prevents Improved Haste, the Spear of Withering is wholly unremarkable. Ixil's Nail is even worse than unremarkable.
Generally there are a vast range of weapons with viable and great secondary abilities, the above don't really have
I also liked the idea of being a club grandmaster --> break off a tree branch a own most idiot challengers with it
It does great damage too and the flame effect looks cool. Shame that so many things resist fire.
Of course it seems like every other category gets screwed compared to Carsomyr. Especially with how early you can get it.
I gotta admit, this is one of the things NWN2 really had over the BG series. Implementing a crafting system insured no matter what funky weapon you specialized in, you could get a sweet one by making it yourself.
I think the issue with spears is that two-handed swords and halberds give a lot of competition, even though there are some very good spears. Also the smaller damage die probably plays into it, even if the difference isn't that big in the grand scheme.
Darts get the hardest shaft though. Best one is +3, doesn't do anything either if I remember.
Or even better, if you get Ixil's Spike, Impaler and the Spear of Withering you can combine them into a trident >:D
Once I handed Carsomyr from Keldorn to Mazzy she never put that down, apart from the occasional shot from Gesen's bow. Jaheira was mostly wielding various clubs in combination with an appropriate shield until I got Spectral Brand. Minsc wielded the Silver Blade almost exclusively, apart from the occasional halberd as the situation called for it. Neera used staves and darts, and was eventually pretty badass with the Staff of the Ram. Short swords and shortbows on Imoen.
This is a pretty accurate description of a lot of my playthroughs. Apart from the Flail of Ages I never use flails much, clubs aren't really that viable for late-game imho though I do like @canivalbella 's RP idea. The only great mace I can think of is the mace of disruption. The Runehammer is nice, but I haven't gotten around to use a hammer-wielder yet, and the Crom Faeyr gets less interesting when you've found a few strength belts. Daggers I feel are just a mage's last resort...*braces for comments* My next character (a druid) will be wielding mainly spears, which is a first for me. Any ideas on making this viable/interesting?
http://www.sorcerers.net/Games/BG2/SpellsReference/ImmunityItems.htm
Arbane+2 is a decent shortsword you can get very early in BG2. It's grants all the abilities of Free Action except Slow and Haste despite the weapon description of protection against Hold Person only. This ability alone gives short sword a good contender in a solo no-reload game.
You can get the short sword of mask (+4) for a decent price from the shop at watchers keep, you'll be able to upgrade it later to get it to +5 and grant you immune to level drain. Short swords aren't bad, they are just few and far between.
I don't think any weapon is useless, but i would go for spear or club. The Impaler spear is really nice and so is the blackblood (?) club that you can get in trademeet, but one weapon does not save an entire category.
The disadvantage with Short Swords isn't a lack of good ones (because there are various good short swords), but rather the fact that they do piercing damage, which generally isn't as good as the slashing damage and crushing damage most other melee weapons inflict.
My vote would go to Bastard Swords. There are hardly any really good ones until TOB. I think they really pale when compared to other large swords, such as longswords, 2h-swords, scimitars, and also compared to blunt weapons such as warhammers, flails, and even maces.
It's actually much easier and faster to get the Purifier than Carsomyr. And you'll also get the head for FoA +4 on the way to getting the purifier, so i'll pick dual wielding FoA (+3/+4) and Purifier (+4) over using carsomyr.
Maybe I'm too much of a chicken to do Watcher's Keep early on but I've always considered the Purifier a late SoA weapon, the usefulness of which is severely limited by the class-restriction (most people will only use it if they have more than one paladin in their party; otherwise Carsomy is likely to prevail).
In BG1 there are are only two 'special' bastard swords, both of which have only situational uses.
Ohh and for the record what I said (about what it does extra damage to) applies to both version of Foebane.
People say put them on mages, but my mages are there to cast spells, not try to shoot things with lousy damage, 1APR and a terrible thac0.
Also quarterstaves are a bit underrated. People usually just stick them on mages, but they're actually decent for fighters too. You can get the Staff of Rynn super early in BG2 which is +4, and the staff of striking does wicked damage.
The only weapon I haven't utilised is the spear. Maybe it's how they look. Halberds look deadly, staves are unprepossessing but in a cool way, but the spear just looks dorky to me.