Weapons & their properties.
Tigerbalsam
Member Posts: 6
Hello! First I would like to say that I am a novice when it comes to BG and AD&D2.0 (3.5 and Pathfinder however I know and enjoy playing very much.)
I read both the BG:EE manuals, some of the more entertaining manuals I have ever read by the way, however after finishing reading them I am still left with a lot of questions.
I am making a fighter for my first serious playthrough and as a fighter I naturally want to be as knowledgable as possible when it comes to weapons and armor in BG:EE.
So, unto the actual questions (finally); Do bashing(B), piercing(P) and slashing(S) have different effects depending on who you are using them on? Will a skeleton have DR (damage reduction) vs (P) & (S) ?
What about plate armor? Is it better to swing a battle hammer at a opponent clad in plate armor rather than trying to stick him with a sword?
I also wonder about weapons like the morningstar, is it considered both (B) & (P)?
When it comes to weapons with reach, like spears and polearms. Do they behave any differently than others?
Do crossbows have any sort of armor piercing effect?
Well that's it for now, thanks for reading and good luck to you all on your travels through the Sword Coast!
I read both the BG:EE manuals, some of the more entertaining manuals I have ever read by the way, however after finishing reading them I am still left with a lot of questions.
I am making a fighter for my first serious playthrough and as a fighter I naturally want to be as knowledgable as possible when it comes to weapons and armor in BG:EE.
So, unto the actual questions (finally); Do bashing(B), piercing(P) and slashing(S) have different effects depending on who you are using them on? Will a skeleton have DR (damage reduction) vs (P) & (S) ?
What about plate armor? Is it better to swing a battle hammer at a opponent clad in plate armor rather than trying to stick him with a sword?
I also wonder about weapons like the morningstar, is it considered both (B) & (P)?
When it comes to weapons with reach, like spears and polearms. Do they behave any differently than others?
Do crossbows have any sort of armor piercing effect?
Well that's it for now, thanks for reading and good luck to you all on your travels through the Sword Coast!
0
Comments
And further the effects of different enemies are taken in account as well, so you hit a plate wearer with slashing weapons less often than using bludgeoning, cause their AC-bonus of having such an armor is calculated.
Still the best weapon to have is a slashing weapon (or you'd have 1 in your party, who can switch and have the proficiency), which roughly do their full damage against ~90% of the NPC, you'll encounter in BG:EE(1). Piercing weapons are a different example of what is good as support against most enemies, but do suck against some special enemies (helmed horrors, some nifty special enemies per quest etc...)
Morningstar is considered a crushing weapon (or Bashing as per your example) and counts 100% against undead.
As mentioned; Plate armor usually gives you only additional bonus against slashin/piercing [buy yourself a plate armor and check for yourself) but not against crushing. SO having 1 Character with either a Mace/Warhammer/club (still haven't found a decent club for jaheira *mourn*) beats their AC easier than a evil-grinning fighter swinging around his bastard/long-sword. <- THac0-wise
(ninja-edit: the basic-fullplate does also NOT have any additional protection against crushing weaps..but coupled with the belt+some 'evil' prot ring+2 you are good to go)
2-handed weapons have longer reach...so yes (edit: half-a-whatever-boni (am German..so it would be ~50cm), according dnd..but you can hit things even if those npcs are behind your line)
crossbows and as well as bows count only their ammo in...so against piercing immune enemies...a bolt of lightning still kicks in with the 2nd effect
Bashing weapons are the best, always. The enemies who resist crushing damage are few and far between, and it's also the most accurate weapon type. Every armor type has some sort of bonus against something, and it's usually slashing/piercing. Only thing that gives a bonus to dodge crushing weapons is Scale armor.
That said, almost none of this ever really comes into play! Fighters are still going to land just about every hit against whatever opponent, while everyone else should pretty much be slinging rocks or flinging arrows.
When considering weapon type, it's more important to know where to find the best of each kind of weapon rather than the actual weapon type. And that's something so spoiler-laden, I won't tell you unless you want to know!
Full plate is the best if the character can wear it, it has only bonuses no penalties, and the highest base ac of any armor (AC 1)..it's also a touch lighter then regular plate mail (AC 3), but there's only 3 total suits in the game (two normal, one +1) if memory serves, one is buyable, but extremely expensive, and the other two aren't available till much later in the game.
Yeah, damage type matters. Slime type enemies are normally immune to piercing and/or missile damage, skeletons take full damage from blunt. And so does enhancement bonus...while not as prolific as in the sequel there are a fair number of enemies that require weapons of a minimum enhancement to hit (they're literally immune to weapons lower then that level), usually +1, but +2 is required for a few rarer enemies. Though +1 weapons become fairly prevalent, and since non-magical, metal melee weapons (not staves or clubs) have a chance to break on every attack, getting your people outfitted with magical stuff is pretty essential, since the NPCs' carry weight leaves much to be desired and carrying several back-up weapons eats up weight and space. There's also quite a few easily acquired +2 weapons if you know where to look...well..easily being subjective here.
2 handed weapons give you approximately a character's length of extra attack range, so you can attack through party members or if you can get any enemy stuck, usually out range them..but they're universally pretty slow weapon speed-wise (except staves).
Crossbows simply deal more base damage (1d8) then bows (1d6) (but bows have grossly superior ammo choices (biting, detonation, dispelling vs ....lightening...technically polymorphing too, but I've never seen it work on something that could've survived the damage the bolt dealt anyway), so crossbows suck), and usually have a built in damage bonus but with low strength requirements, unlike composite bows which often require 16-18 str. On the other hand, they only have 1 base attack, unless it's a speed weapon.
Anyway..get a couple of mixed weapons for yer frontline (even if ALL'd have a slashing type) and you are good to go...and so am I..good to go and grab me some beer :=)
Thanks to the three of you my fighter now has a fighting chance!