Was Lilarcor ever meant to be something more special?

sersafir

Well, it's a fun sword to have around at first but it got pretty annoying to the point at which I don't really bother with his quest in most playthroughs. It's the only talking weapon available which feels like a wasted concept.

When I first picked him up oh so many years ago I thought I had the most powerful weapon in the game-- complete with quests and adventures and useful things to say. But I turned out very wrong here.

The question and answer dialogue he gives is randomly generated from 4 possibilities, and the sword, while genius for a sword, isn't very bright by human standards.

I kinda wish he came with a bigger questline? You find him and then he just annoys you until you replace him and rots in your inventory until you sell him, kinda like it says at the end of his description.

joluv

It's nice for killing Umber Hulks and Yuan-Ti Mages, both of which are tough enemies early in the game. But yeah, I get sick of listening to it too.

In IWD:EE,

there's another talking weapon that has a small quest after you acquire it.

Skie

It's pretty one dimensional in what it wants

Lord_Tansheron

While annoying, it is one of the more useful swords to have for several reasons.

- the quest attached to it gives very good XP very early in the game
- it is a +3 weapon very early in the game
- it makes you immune to confusion, making it a useful tool throughout the game (just equip as needed)

Of course it is not truly an endgame weapon, and being 2h it is sort of gimped to begin with. Think of it as more of a moderately funny gimmick than a mainstay, albeit one that has its uses.

deltago

Someone should make a mod that allows it to become a moonblade again.

semiticgoddess

You should see Lilarcor's brother. He's a +12 Hackmaster.

Tresset

Am I the only one that does not find Lilarcor annoying?

reap_ii

I like it. But, I could imagine Minsc having long deep conversations with it, and Sarevok attempting to destroy it out of pure frustration. Would have been nice to upgrade it in soa or tob.

elminster

Its a talking sword. For a sword you can't get much more special than that.

semiticgoddess

@Tresset: I love the sword. But the banter has been the bane of many an adventurer, hence it's relatively low price (40% cheaper than a normal +3 greatsword). The item description says,

"As a weapon, Lilarcor has its uses, but many a warrior has eventually given it away. Banter such as "Ouch, that musta hurt", "Oh yeah! Got 'im good", and "Beware my bite for it might...might...might really hurt or something" is a constant barrage on a warrior's psyche."

dockaboomski

I definitely wish there was more content for Lilarcor, or even more talking weapons in general. Maybe somebody with the skills will construct a Lilarcor Expansion mod someday.

sersafir

dockaboomski said:

I definitely wish there was more content for Lilarcor, or even more talking weapons in general. Maybe somebody with the skills will construct a Lilarcor Expansion mod someday.

A part of me was kinda hoping for a quest to free him from his imprisonment he doesn't seem to dislike.

And then maybe put someone less annoying and quiet in with some other quests.

Gallowglass

@Tresset - No: I, too, don't find Lilarcor especially annoying. I like intra-party banters ... even when it's just the sword making some comment.

@sersafir - No, I don't get the impression that there was ever meant to be more to this particular story, I think it's complete enough as it stands.

Lilarcor is a darn good weapon for at least the first half of SoA. It's +3, it hits hard, and it gives the wielder immunity to confusion (so it's particularly useful against Umber Hulks and suchlike, of which there are many) ... whenever I have anyone in the party whose preferred weapon is a 2H sword (e.g. Keldorn, Minsc, Dorn), then Lilarcor is the best weapon they can get early in the game, so that's what I give them. Of course it is eventually superceded by better weapons, so Lilarcor gets retired, but it's usually had a fair amount of use before my party acquires a better Greatsword than Lilarcor. Depending upon the sequence in which I choose to do things in any particular run, it might well be Chapter 6 before my Greatsword-wielding companion (whichever one it might be) has any better weapon option than Lilarcor, in which case I'll have been using it for more than half of SoA ... and it's a perfectly viable option until then.

Of course it's not impressive by the time you're getting to the end of SoA and thinking about ToB, but it was never intended to be a ToB weapon ... but even in ToB, it's not daft to keep it in your pack for when you run into (and you will!) Umber Hulks, against which it remains particularly useful.

DreadKhan

Obvious Idea for Lilarcor:

Great Razor of Occamus the Arcane, a +5 two-handed sword. Upgrade requires a Potion of Clarity, Potion of Genius, Potion of Mind Focusing, Potion of Insight, Ring of Human Influence, Requires 20 000 gold.

Hmm... what abilities? Well, +5 is handy, probably throw in something like the Greenstone Amulet's ability, useable once per day, and have him quote various geniuses... geniui? Geni? Genii? Erm, This is embarrassing. And ironic.

Gallowglass

@DreadKhan - geniuses, or genii as an acceptable alternative if you wish to be particularly latinate. Not geniui or geni.

Yes, a +5 upgrade for Lilarcor with some abilities akin to the Greenstone Amulet could make sense ... but actually, that's pretty much a description of the Psion's Blade +5 which already exists in the game, so it'd be rather redundant.

DreadKhan

Except you get the Psion's Blade so late it's not worth using anymore, and Greenstone gives more immunities iirc than Psion's Blade. Could be wrong though. The plan being to have pretty much perfect Mind Shield useable once per day by a warrior, probably for a turn or 2. Also, you could make great use of it in Watcher's Keep if you did most of it late. Well, SOME use anyways.

I was pretty sure those two were the correct two, but I felt it was a good jest to write out the brain fart I had.

Jaheiras_Witness

Lilarcor is an awesome weapon. When you consider ease to acquire vs utility, it's one of the best weapons in the game.

You can already upgrade Lilarcor with the Item Upgrade mod to +5 with additional immunity to INT modification, ie perfect vs illithids.

Yannir

Jaheiras_Witness said:

You can already upgrade Lilarcor with the Item Upgrade mod to +5 with additional immunity to INT modification, ie perfect vs illithids.

That's kinda cheesy, actually.. Makes me think about Shield of Balduran.

Lord_Tansheron

It might be worth noting that the upgraded Lilarcor from Item Upgrade does not in fact talk anymore. In fact, the very dialog option you choose to upgrade it is "Is there a way to shut up Lilarcor?"... :P

kiwidoc

I actually like Lilacor. If I'm making a particularly mouthy but funny party (one with Minsc, Edwin, Jan and Viconia in it for example) adding Lilacor to the general inane bickering and banter gives me loads of laughs. Besides, he does hit things really hard in the fist part of the game. I find myslef imagining what Boo and Lilacor would say to each other.

I wish the upgraded Lilacor did talk. If you have Sarevok in your party, and you're feeling guilty about inflicting a highly dangerous psychopathic killer loose on the world once more, giving him a naggingly irritating sword could be a very apt punishment indeed. So - anyone out there prepared to make a soundset for Lilacor +5?

reap_ii

How about a novel...."To Kill a Mockingsword"

Jaheiras_Witness

Yannir said:

Jaheiras_Witness said:

You can already upgrade Lilarcor with the Item Upgrade mod to +5 with additional immunity to INT modification, ie perfect vs illithids.

That's kinda cheesy, actually.. Makes me think about Shield of Balduran.

It's not that bad...it only protects you from INT drain, then can still beat you up nicely with their psionic attacks.

You can only do it after the Underdark (you need a Control Circlet, Brine Potions and a lot of gold I believe) so it's effectively a ToB weapon as you won't be facing any more illithids in SoA.

joluv

Jaheiras_Witness said:

it's effectively a ToB weapon as you won't be facing any more illithids in SoA.

I often do the Sewer Key quest in Chapter 6, and there are Illithids in Watchers Keep. (I know WK is part of ToB, but you can do it during SoA and it doesn't have any +5 weapons.) It still doesn't seem egregiously overpowered, but I would definitely find it useful sometime in SoA.

Lord_Tansheron

It's not overpowered, from what I remember. Actually, it's one of the fairest weapons of that mod, it has some SERIOUSLY op stuff in it...