Question on Long swords vs bastard swords.

superluccix

Ok so Im looking at these 2 weapons here.

Long Sword +1 THACO +1 1d8+1 (Slashing) Speed 4
Bastard Sword +1 THACO +1 2d4+1 (Slashing) Speed 7

So basically 1 question.

For the bastard sword, does the +1 slashing damage get accounted for twice? I mean the 2d4 means 2 dice rolls between 1-4 right? So does that +1 get added onto each of the 2 rolls of the dice? Or does it happen only once.

Reason I ask, is because if it applied twice, wouldnt that make the bastard sword better than the long sword?

1d8 is basically 2d4 right? Since both have the same chance of doing damage between 1-8. But the +1 damage for the Long sword would only apply once, but it would apply twice for the bastard sword, thereby making it better?

Just trying to understand the stats a little bit better.

(This is for Shar-Teel btw)

SionIV

Long Sword = 1-8
Bastard Sword = 2-8

On the long sword you're throwing one dice that got 8 sides, bastard sword you're throwing two dice that got 4 sides.

[Edited] : The reason for the difference in damage is because the attack speed on the weapons, sadly in Baldur's Gate the attack speed isn't that important unless it's on a two handed weapon and even then it's not that special. So bastard swords are actually better than long swords, but the thing that balances it out is that you'll find more magical long swords in the game and they are usually better than the magical bastard swords you find, with a few exceptions.

Metalloman

As @SionIV said. ^

About the magical enhancement (+1) it applies just once a hit:

Long Sword +1 = 1d8+1

Bastard Sword +1 = 1d4 + 1d4 +1

Wowo

For the average damage of the weapon add up all of the possible outcomes of the dice and then divide by the number of rolls.

1d8 is average 4.5
2d4 is average 5

Bastard sword is better but slightly slower when determining what point in the round it attacks but attack speed has no impact on the amount of times you can attack in a round.

DreadKhan

Iirc, all Longswords are of proper birth, Bastard swords cannot legally prove their parentage.

Eadwyn_G8keeper

Wonder what would emerge from extensive testing with early-game Non-magical Long Swords vs. Bastard Swords. Do they have the same likelihood of breakage because of the Iron Crisis??

Jarrakul

Probably? Of course, if your bastard sword breaks, all you have to do is go kill a hobgoblin.

DreadKhan

Jarrakul said:

Probably? Of course, if your bastard sword breaks, all you have to do is go kill a hobgoblin.

Bandits drop longswords, for the record.

You're ****ed for battleaxes though.

SmilingSword

DreadKhan said:

Jarrakul said:

Probably? Of course, if your bastard sword breaks, all you have to do is go kill a hobgoblin.

Bandits drop longswords, for the record.

You're ****ed for battleaxes though.

You can a get a battle axe +1 in the beregost smithy for 37GP or something close to that depending on rep.
It's a throwing axe, so no duel wielding.
Also it's 1D6 as opposed to the normal 1D8.

Jarrakul

It's 1d6+2, though, if I recall correctly, while an actual battleaxe +1 would be 1d8+1. Both of those have the same average, so if you're not dual-wielding, it's just as good.

Eadwyn_G8keeper

The Battleaxe+1, which in Vanilla BG1 is in Feldepost Inn, costs 1950 GP with Rep12 and 18Charisma. But it is possible to score free non-magical axes by 'flipping' Kagain.

Chnapy

Yeah, the horn of beruel or whatever is its name in English is great. 1d6+2, +1 to thac0, 10 gold each (but you'll have to buy a stack of 5). And if you're really desperate, you can even throw it!