Single Class Fighter Grand Mastery Question
Felspawn
Member Posts: 161
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)
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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).
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).
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.
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!
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...)
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.
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.
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'd much rather prefer if your skill grew based on your in game actions and not ex-game choices. But that's just me.
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.
As for the Dwarven Thrower, it's a pretty good hammer indeed!
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!