Skip to content

Single Class Fighter Grand Mastery Question

So if you were to take a fighter from level 1 aaaaalll the way to the end of ToB. What weapon type would you GM in. Something thats going to be as useful at low levels as it is at level 30+. What would you suggest. (keeping in mind all the new goodies added to BG1 and 2EE)

Comments

  • EudaemoniumEudaemonium Member Posts: 3,199
    Longsword or 2H sword are probably the most consistent weapons, being good throughout the whole saga. For longsword you have Varscona in BG1 available from Nashkel onwards, and then a string of very nice longswords all through BG2, culminating with Blackrazor+3 (if Evil) or Angurvadal +5 (sets Str to 22). 2H swords are similarly fantastic. You can find a +1 version early in Bg1 with a little cavern searching on the wilderness maps, then upgrade to Spider's Bane in Cloakwood (and maybe The World's Edge +3, but Spider's bane is arguably better for its immunities). In BG2 you get the Sword of Chaos +2 right off the bat, and then a number of excellent 2Handers, culminating with the Silver Sword in late SoA and then things like Gram in ToB.

    You'll get GM by level 9, however, which means you have some scope for switching your focus in the later levels. Flail is obviously amazing in BG2, but is very lacking in BG1. Hammer is similarly alright, with Ashideena available early in BG1 but there are ultimately much-better endgame weapons than Crom Faeyr. I'm actually finding Axes to be relatively good all through BG2, but I think the only +2 axe in BG1 comes rather late in the game (in the city, I think).
  • MungriMungri Member Posts: 1,645
    Scimitars are also great, but a bit harder to find.
  • Lord_TansheronLord_Tansheron Member Posts: 4,212
    Longswords are your best bet. You have a decent selection at every level, from good early BG1 to the very end of ToB. They aren't usually the *best* choice, but they are the most consistent.

    That being said, as a pure fighter there is really no need to limit yourself to a single weapon type. You can achieve a second Grandmastery by level 24, and have two pips to spare still (from your initial 4) for a weapon style. Depending on your mods and party size, level 24 can be achieved relatively early (mid to late SoA), and you can plan your weapon use around that.

    Going by the best weapons available, the top is held by the blunt trifecta: Flail of Ages+5, Crom Faeyr, and Club of Detonation+5. I'm not sure why @Eudaemonium thinks CF is not one of the best endgame weapons, but it might be because its tooltip doesn't properly reflect its damage (it's 2d4+3, +5 electrical; tooltip may be fixed in BG2:EE). Combined with the STR bonus, Crom Faeyr is a very, very good weapon for most characters. The only ones who are better off using something else are those with very high STR already, either through buffs (e.g. Clerics/Paladins with DuHM) or naturally (Half-Orc/tomes/Machine/hell trials). Right below those three, however, is already a longsword: Angurvadal+5. It's available fairly late, of course, but it's a very good weapon.

    As for 2h weapons, they are decent in BG1 and early BG2, but they quickly lose out in terms of raw power to dual-wielding. The reason, of course, are the +APR offhand weapons, which increase damage output far beyond that of 2hs. The exceptions are Carsomyr and Staff of the Ram+6, but they have their obvious caveats (Paladin only/available late).
  • DragonspearDragonspear Member Posts: 1,838
    Quarterstaff first (Blunt weapons get additional chance to hit against most common armor types and never suffer a thac0 penalty).

    Longswords and Two-Handed Swords have great options beginning to end.

    Warhammers are probably next. You have a good Warhammer +2 available early in BGEE and there are some really nice ones in the latter parts of BG2EE. There is a rather "dead" section in BG2 though where all you have are plain warhammers.

    Next would probably be flails/maces where there is a nice +1 variant available early but I don't know of any +2 or higher. There are great ones though in BG2.
  • reedmilfamreedmilfam Member Posts: 2,808
    My biggest BG frustration: choice of weapons is optimized by game knowledge. Anyway, I'm beginning to pick weapons that I want my characters to use based on my idea of the character, and living with the consequences. I chose the halberd in my current play, and (to this point) only have a +1 weapon (I didn't want to be stuck at 1 APR because I'm boosting mastery points). It's been very effective, actually, even if I don't have the damage boost of, for instance, Varscona.

    I also found out that non-proficiency isn't a big deal for fighters. I have some blunt weapons and Spider's Bane in my quick slots, just in case. It's good to be a fighter!
  • SouthpawSouthpaw Member Posts: 2,026
    As most people said - Longswords are best with a huge variety.
    However...each weapon category has got some very nice pieces, that you can use (ending with a +5 weapon in ToB). Maybe the Daggers and Short Swords are a bit worse, but still pretty nice.

    I'd just use whatever you feel like using from RolePlay point-of-view. (eg. an Axe wielding Berserker. A Hammer Warrior, a Katana/Longsword Swordsman...)
  • DragonspearDragonspear Member Posts: 1,838
    if you're going pure fighter my choices would be.

    Starting the game with:

    Two-Handed Sword: +
    Halberd: +
    Quarter Staff: +
    Two Handed Weapon: +

    I'd finish quarter staff first due to the fact that:
    A. Plenty of options in both games
    B. Hits rather hard
    C. Is the fastest of the 3 (therefore quicker mage interrupts)
    D. Hits most often against armor types and
    E. Doesn't break early.

    Minor note: You also don't have to worry about overlapping with any other melee npcs. Also you could sub out one proficiency for a point in Bow or Xbow and have a rather nice all around character as well. By the time you get to the great Two Handed Swords and Halberds (End of SoA) you'll have your next proficiency close to max.
  • the_spyderthe_spyder Member Posts: 5,018

    My biggest BG frustration: choice of weapons is optimized by game knowledge. Anyway, I'm beginning to pick weapons that I want my characters to use based on my idea of the character, and living with the consequences. I chose the halberd in my current play, and (to this point) only have a +1 weapon (I didn't want to be stuck at 1 APR because I'm boosting mastery points). It's been very effective, actually, even if I don't have the damage boost of, for instance, Varscona.

    I also found out that non-proficiency isn't a big deal for fighters. I have some blunt weapons and Spider's Bane in my quick slots, just in case. It's good to be a fighter!

    For what it is worth, Long sword 'Should' be the most common bladed weapon proficiency simply by virtue of the fact that they should be the most common weapon.

    Two handed weapons require more strength to wield than most commoners can manage. Bastard Sword is a Martial weapon and would require more training. Katana/waksashi/scimitar are generally more region specific weapons.

  • Lord_TansheronLord_Tansheron Member Posts: 4,212

    My biggest BG frustration: choice of weapons is optimized by game knowledge.

    That's a consequence of the way proficiency works in BG. Your points are very limited, the rewards for putting a lot of points into one proficiency are very high; naturally you'll want to maximize those gains by going for what you know you'll have.

    A bit counter-intuitive to be sure, compared to many other games where you learn as you actually use the weapon in question. But I guess it's a fair approximation of how things really work: you need training before you can properly use something, and your time isn't infinite. You can only get so much training done (=proficiency point) in a given period. If you don't end up finding the weapon you've trained with, well, sucks to be you. I guess that's just another example of meta-knowledge that you can't really avoid...
  • nanonano Member Posts: 1,632
    I'm a fan of mainhand Crom Faeyr too - it's no slouch when it comes to damage and it deserves an APR offhand rather than being relegated to an offhand itself. On paper it might not look too special but there's something to be said for good old honest-to-goodness permanent undispellable 25 strength. No min-maxing for str required. Definitely up there among the top tier of weapons.
  • Lord_TansheronLord_Tansheron Member Posts: 4,212
    CF is definitely better in the MH than the OH. +1 APR is a huge gain, and having that *and* 25 STR is truly terrifying. CF's damage alone isn't bad either.
  • MungriMungri Member Posts: 1,645
    Anyone tried CF + Belm?
  • nanonano Member Posts: 1,632
    Not Belm but I use Crom Faeyr + Kundane on Mazzy. It kicks as much ass as you'd imagine. It's the perfect combo for her because she really needs a strength item and she already has a point in short swords. Plus CF is made for dwarves so it's already the right size :)
  • the_spyderthe_spyder Member Posts: 5,018

    A bit counter-intuitive to be sure, compared to many other games where you learn as you actually use the weapon in question. But I guess it's a fair approximation of how things really work: you need training before you can properly use something, and your time isn't infinite. You can only get so much training done (=proficiency point) in a given period. If you don't end up finding the weapon you've trained with, well, sucks to be you. I guess that's just another example of meta-knowledge that you can't really avoid...

    I'm a huge fan of D&D system as a whole, but this is one thing that really bugs me. Proficiency (and skills) are chosen at level up, instead of actually through usage. What this means is that a fighter can be Grand Master proficient in Long sword without ever having raised one against an enemy (and a thief can be grand master lock picker without ever having picked a lock). It's always frustrated me (though if that is the only frustration in my life, I am pretty lucky, huh?).

    I'd much rather prefer if your skill grew based on your in game actions and not ex-game choices. But that's just me.
  • I'd much rather prefer if your skill grew based on your in game actions and not ex-game choices. But that's just me.

    The only PnP system I know of that does this is Burning Wheel (and Mouse Guard, which is a streamlined version of BW), probably because of the issues it creates with meta-gaming and the urge to "grind out" abilities. BW relies on the GM tightly controlling when the players are allowed to make a skill roll in order to keep advancement in check. The game runs on the assumption that the players succeed unless there's dramatic potential in failure to make it all function.

    On topic: Everyone's covered the big categories, and I'll echo the sentiment that long swords and war hammers are excellent choices for a single classed fighter. If you're a Dwarf then war hammers have the extra bonus of the Dwarven Thrower in BG2 for a ranged option off the same proficiency. On a different tack, bastard swords might also be a good option. There are a couple good ones in BG1 (though the best one requires you to do Dorn's quest), and a few good options in BG2, though they aren't quite as ubiquitous or easily acquired as some other options.
  • Lord_TansheronLord_Tansheron Member Posts: 4,212
    Kaigen said:

    a few good options in BG2, though they aren't quite as ubiquitous or easily acquired as some other options.

    That's an understatement :P They are pretty much all terrible except for Foebane, which is a ToB item. You're not going to have a good time with Bastard Swords. Well, the EE might have changed things, I don't know.

    As for the Dwarven Thrower, it's a pretty good hammer indeed!
  • EudaemoniumEudaemonium Member Posts: 3,199
    There are a couple of decent Bastard Swords in the vanilla game pre-Foebane, but they're both in the Underdark (Jhor the Bleeder +2 and the Blade of Searing +3). Dorn's files in NI reveal a rather excellent +5 BS called The Brass Blade, but nobody has worked out how to get it yet. Its possible it isn't even in the game XP
  • Lord_TansheronLord_Tansheron Member Posts: 4,212
    I've seen The Brass Blade, and it is indeed extremely powerful. Easily one of the top weapons. I suppose it may be added in the future somewhere?

    There sure are Bastard Swords around, but not only are they fairly deep into the game, they're not even that good compared to other weapons you have access to at that point. Jhor the Bleeder is basically the same as Valygar's starting weapon!
  • GamingFreakGamingFreak Member Posts: 639
    Bastard Swords are underrated, but Longswords are common and good friends to a pure fighter, if you aren't going 2h Swords or Halberds. If you want to be the classy heroic fighter, just go Longsword + Shield throughout the majority of the game, as there's plenty of options for you.
Sign In or Register to comment.