Actually, Crom Faeyr is amazing

TraumaDrama

So last time around I didn't make Crom Faeyr because I was told it wasn't worth the loss of the gauntlets and belt and wasn't that powerful. And recently I double-checked that with a peek into the "Is Crom Faeyr worth making" and everyone was like no it sucks and barely kills ants. At best, it was ranked 4th in the one-handed weapon category, and per usual FoA was the GOAT. However, just for fun, I made it and killed my entire party, so easily. It was hitting on average about 25 or 26 with that electrical damage, vs. the 15 I usually get with FoA (+3 version, but still). I'm a paladin with no pips in hammers. While I love the slow effect from the FoA, the CF was a monster in comparison.

Ammar

CF is a very good off-handed, but not quite as good a main hander. As are most weapons with good on equip abilities. In fact FoA main and CF off-hand is the most potent combination in SoA.

lolien

I always make it if possible. One hitting golems and trolls alone worth the price for me.

Ammar

A pity this does not work against Iron and Adamantium Golems, though.

By the way @TraumaDrama, seems like you posted in the wrong forum.

lolien

Ammar said:

By the way @TraumaDrama, seems like you posted in the wrong forum.

Moved to BG2 sub.

Tresset

Amazing? Pff, I could have told you that!

Kurona

Its usefulness depends a lot of your party composition. I find Crom particularly invaluable for solo playthroughs with thieves or bards but I wouldn't forge it with a party containing multiple warrior types (unless they can cast cleric spells).

jsaving

For me as well, it depends mainly on party composition. If all of your melee characters have 18/xx or 19 strength anyway, it won't be a big loss to give up 2 strength-boosting items to create Crom Faeyr. On the other hand if you're using more normal frontline characters whose strengths may be in the 12-17 range, having fewer strength-boosting items can be an issue so you may want to hold off on creating Crom Faeyr for a while (or potentially never make it). Agree completely with @Ammar that you'll generally want it in the off hand rather than main hand.

JLee

For my own style, I always build Crom and use it main hand with Belm with a fighter and GM. It is just such a devastating weapon with 9 APR. Pair that fighter with another wielding FoA and Kundane and that's pretty much my template.

Once I built a dwarven Kensai with GM in WH and was doing almost unbelievable damage with Crom. That was so fun!

ArchGhost

FoA +5 is actually not so great if you can't use WW attacks on the character, as it prevents Hasting. The +4 version is where it caps out most of the time. FoA +3 is outclassed by Crom unless you play solo (where FoA+3 is probably the only source of Slow you'll ever have).

Crom is fine as a mainhander but kind of bland in that regard (strictly blunt + electrical on 25STR, no crazy stuff like Stun or Larloch's on hit or anything) and the killing Trolls/Giants/Golems is pretty niche. It will work extremely well for SoA with Belm/Kundane in the off-hand though. Fighter/Clerics and any fighter that can get 19 or higher STR won't be so far behind it in damage output either, so if you can't get a lot of use out of the hammer (nobody with mastery in it, etc) it's largely a novelty as a weapon.

It works better as an offhander most of the time simply to boost your STR up, and characters that normally can't get exceptional strength naturally really love it (Blades are favorite) since 25 STR goes a long way toward making up ground on the Grandmastery of a real fighter.

TraumaDrama

When I put it in my OH and FoA+3 in my MH, it was doing as much damage, if not less, than when I only was wielding Crom. That makes me very much lean towards Belm/Kundane in my offhand.

TraumaDrama

ArchGhost said:

FoA +5 is actually not so great if you can't use WW attacks on the character, as it prevents Hasting. The +4 version is where it caps out most of the time. FoA +3 is outclassed by Crom unless you play solo (where FoA+3 is probably the only source of Slow you'll ever have).

This is really good to know. I already have the poison head in SoA from starting WK a little bit. Do you have a preference on which head to add?

OlvynChuru

I haven't used Crom Faeyr much. The problem is that in order to get it you have to enter the Planar Sphere to get the Gauntlets of Ogre Power, and in order to enter the Planar Sphere, you have to either add Valygar to your party or kill him and use his body to enter. As far as I can tell, there's no way to "have him point the way" like you can with Nalia's quest. In many of my playthroughs, I did not want to include Valygar in my party, but neither did I want to kill him, so I ended up without Crom Faeyr.

Oswald81

Must admit I tend to just kill Valygar and enter the place. I would basically have to wait until like TOB for him to shine, and thats too long for me. He would likely be the best tank in the game due to him having having 2 more points in dexterity than Minsc and Dorn with that strategy. Perhaps Runehammer of CF in the mainhand and DOE in the offhand is good, but I don't really know.

One thing I dislike about CF is that I must wade into melee in order to use that strength. I like to pelt my opponents with whatever is at my hand.

CamDawg

TraumaDrama said:

ArchGhost said:

FoA +5 is actually not so great if you can't use WW attacks on the character, as it prevents Hasting. The +4 version is where it caps out most of the time. FoA +3 is outclassed by Crom unless you play solo (where FoA+3 is probably the only source of Slow you'll ever have).

This is really good to know. I already have the poison head in SoA from starting WK a little bit. Do you have a preference on which head to add?

It would be very good to know... if it was true. Free Action does not block (Greater) Whirlwind.

Grond0

CamDawg said:

TraumaDrama said:

ArchGhost said:

FoA +5 is actually not so great if you can't use WW attacks on the character, as it prevents Hasting. The +4 version is where it caps out most of the time. FoA +3 is outclassed by Crom unless you play solo (where FoA+3 is probably the only source of Slow you'll ever have).

This is really good to know. I already have the poison head in SoA from starting WK a little bit. Do you have a preference on which head to add?

It would be very good to know... if it was true. Free Action does not block (Greater) Whirlwind.

I think you have to add the poison head first - the electric one only becomes an option after that. In relation to the number of attacks, also note that free action does not remove existing extra attacks from haste. Hence just unequip the FoA, haste your character and then re-equip it - now you have the extra attacks and the protection from free action .

ThacoBell

OlvynChuru said:

I haven't used Crom Faeyr much. The problem is that in order to get it you have to enter the Planar Sphere to get the Gauntlets of Ogre Power, and in order to enter the Planar Sphere, you have to either add Valygar to your party or kill him and use his body to enter. As far as I can tell, there's no way to "have him point the way" like you can with Nalia's quest. In many of my playthroughs, I did not want to include Valygar in my party, but neither did I want to kill him, so I ended up without Crom Faeyr.

I take him as a temp for the quest.

DreadKhan

I've always loved FotA +5 used with sws and GWW for an endgame weapon. Tbh, it always annoyed me that the str boosting item is weapon type primarily used by clerics, who can already max out str easily.

Khyron

I love the CF as a main hand weapon for several reasons.

1. Instakilling golems and trolls is NOT just a novelty, it's a huge bonus to the flow of the game as it eliminates the need to swap weapons, buff etc.. just carry on.
2. 25 Strength removes the need to pre-buff etc, just carry on
3. +5 is delicious, especially in SoA
4. It hits with enough oomph that the minimal amount of damage more i can get with a different weapon means nothing to me.

dunbar

OlvynChuru said:

I haven't used Crom Faeyr much. The problem is that in order to get it you have to enter the Planar Sphere to get the Gauntlets of Ogre Power, and in order to enter the Planar Sphere, you have to either add Valygar to your party or kill him and use his body to enter. As far as I can tell, there's no way to "have him point the way" like you can with Nalia's quest. In many of my playthroughs, I did not want to include Valygar in my party, but neither did I want to kill him, so I ended up without Crom Faeyr.

After Valygar's unlocked the Sphere for you (and before you enter it) there's a dialogue option that basically says "Thanks, we'll take it from here, you can go back to your cabin now". So even if you've had to drop a party member to make room for Valygar you can easily pick them up again from the CC before entering the Sphere.

BelgarathMTH

I've never gotten Crom Faeyr because it's necessary to summon a demon on an evil altar to get the belt, and I won't summon the demon.

ThacoBell

BelgarathMTH said:

I've never gotten Crom Faeyr because it's necessary to summon a demon on an evil altar to get the belt, and I won't summon the demon.

Actually its more like 6 demons.

jsaving

I generally forge Crom but wouldn't consider giving it to a warrior who is wielding an on-hit weapon, like FotA or Celestial Fury, in their other hand. Their THAC0 will be solid already and I want to be put an extra-attack weapon like Belm in their offhand to maximize the number of times slow/stun will proc. Anomen's a great choice for off-handing Crom, though, because his THAC0 eventually falls pretty far behind the party's warriors and he needs the 25 strength to keep pace.