Anyone used Dagger of the Star?

malachi151

Has anyone used this with something like a Fighter/Thief or Stalker to get repeated backstabs? Seems like it could be really cool but I'm not sure how well it would work in actual practice.

ThacoBell

Yes, its quite good.

OrlonKronsteen

I've used it and it's good - heck, it's a +4/+5 weapon. But it's secondary effects are random and rare. You could go a whole game without getting the invisibility. Conversely, you could get lucky and hit the 15 percentile regularly. Personally, I don't plan on using it as a 'strategy' or end-game weapon, precisely because such a low-percentage play.

DJKajuru

I've had Imoen use it along with tenser's transformation- it's fun but not necessarily backstab material.

DreadKhan

Never actually, as daggers were imho so poor a choice in SoA, other than throwing ones.

The only annoyance I can foresee is that some bosses can't be backstabbed, but thats not a good reason to ignore what might be a good strategy vs mooks, and there are many, many more mooks than bosses.

malachi151

With a 15% chance, if you use it on a Fighter/Thief or Stalker it should be triggering pretty often during a fight. I mean 1 or out every 6 or so hits. Once it procs, then your next hit will automatically be a backstab, IF you are behind your enemy, and that seems like the hard part.

It can't possibly go a whole game without triggering, it shouldn't even go a whole fight without triggering, unless you only use it on an initial backstab.

OrlonKronsteen

I've often been surprised by how crappy the dice gods can be. I did a halfling fighter/thief game with the Dagger of the Star as my endgame weapon, and I was so looking forward to the invisibility and the extra backstabs, but it seldom happened. It was still sweet to have a +5 dagger, though, don't get me wrong, and there are other cool daggers in the game. I find it's fun to have a collection, and use different ones when I'm in the mood.

recklessheart

I've never been unable to beat the game with my party combinations, so picking up The Dagger of the Star +5 now and again isn't inconceivable for me. For one thing, I find it's a stylish weapon. On my most recent playthrough I gave it to Mazzy to dual wield with an endgame short sword. It's handy for occasionally allowing her to blink out, persuading a large group of melee enemies to keep their attention on the tank. If nothing else it spares you having to pick up Hardiness or giving her your more protective gear.

A Thief could surely make use of it for added backstab opportunities in combat, although I imagine it would just be a bonus method for them. Creating a build/playstyle around this weapon is unrealistic given how late you get it and the fact that it relies on probability. If you've got a Thief-Mage that plays off of contingencies and invisibility spells to achieve mid-combat backstabs, though, then The Dagger of the Star is a more thematically applicable choice then any other late game Roguish weapon (quarterstaves being not at all Roguish, in my opinion).

lunar

I always forge it, say 'okay, cool!' and stuff it in a bag of holding where it stays. I may have never ever used it in actual combat. By the time you get it, daggers are not enough, no matter how heavily enchanted, it is still just a dagger. For thieves, staff of ram +6 serves my backstabbing purposes a lot better. For mages, staff of magi or power are staples. And no self respecting warrior will use a dagger. Maybe a quirky dagger-master kensai kit (for throwing daggers)

Pantalion

lunar said:

I always forge it, say 'okay, cool!' and stuff it in a bag of holding where it stays. I may have never ever used it in actual combat. By the time you get it, daggers are not enough, no matter how heavily enchanted, it is still just a dagger. For thieves, staff of ram +6 serves my backstabbing purposes a lot better. For mages, staff of magi or power are staples. And no self respecting warrior will use a dagger. Maybe a quirky dagger-master kensai kit (for throwing daggers)

Firetooth and Boomerang Dagger are both 2D4 weapons akin to Bastard Swords and currently still add +1 APR when main handed.

With GM and a Fighter that's 5 APR with any two weapon, or 4.5 APR purely on main hand with the gauntlets, the most main hand specific attacks possible and allowing either single weapon's 10% Crit chance or a shield (of reflection for complete missile immunity) while still getting 9 APR with iHaste and Critical Strike - the most possible single wielding attacks with iHaste with a weapon above +2.

Even (mage/)thieves and druids can get 4 APR using Belm offhand, and any Fighter/X multiclasses can hit 5 APR while offhanding Belm with specialisation and the gauntlets.

At +3 Firetooth also has a high enough enchantment to be able to hit most targets all the way through ToB, and with the fire damage bonus it pierces stoneskins and kills trolls.

Daggers aren't that bad a choice in the current version.

As for Dagger of the Star, personally I prefer the Jade Fang +3, since if the 5% lands then you're going to automatically hit for the next ten seconds giving more chances to land another stun, rather than an invisibility random which can easily be lost in the heat of combat without giving anything more interesting than a single +4 to hit.

malachi151

It seems to me like when you get invis, your next attack would always be a backstab, as long as you are behind the target. So, on harder opponents it seems like getting 4X or 5X damage one of 6 hits would be pretty big. If you're a Fighter/Thief and you use GWW with this dagger it would seem devastating.

ThacoBell

Jade Fang just may be one of my favorite weapons in the series.