Does anyone use short sword of mask +5?
canivalbella
Member Posts: 9
Basically the above question. Is the level drain worth it?
0
Comments
Besides, the entangle proc that nobody talks about could totally come in handy in a pinch.
I heard Wizard Slayers could actually interrupt without getting through magical protections which is making a WS>T somewhat interesting...
main hand stars and off hand mask. Back stab --> every 5th or 6th hit rendering him invisible for another backstab or enemy getting entangled so can retreat, re-stealth and backstab again
btw for level drain Gram does seem better when the numbers are crunched as every hit has at minimum a 5% chance of level drain (a natural 1 on the save), but for most enemies the chance is likely more like 25%+ (e.g. a low saving throw score of 1, +4 for Gram's penalty).
I wonder how much hp loss level drain causes beasties in addition to spell loss
Because making the two-handed sword Abazigal carries better wasn't in my to do list, I had Keldorn with Carsomyr, Anomen with the Flail of Ages, Haer'Dalis with the Axe of the Unyielding and Crom Faeyr, Jan Jansen with the Staff of the Magi and Firetooth, Mazzy with Sword of the Mask and charname with Agurvandal and Gesen's Short Bow.
I don't want to change its mechanics too much. I was thinking of making the -1 level on striking part of the standard version and adding at least a couple points of poison damage. Given that the upgrade comes so far into the expansion it should be decent enough to carry that far. After its upgraded I'd probably up it to -3 level on striking and more poison damage. Any thoughts?
Short swords (and daggers) really got the short end of the stick. Basically no reason to use them over much, much better alternatives. Well, RP, but that's not a reason, just an excuse :P Level drain is a bit of a weird thing. Very often it's either a) useless; or b) overpowered. I'm not a fan of the mechanic. If I was a designer, I'd find some other way to make the sword interesting, possibly involving something fittingly Mask-themed. Improved Invis on hit? Mislead when you take damage? Not sure.
I agree that both Angurvadal and Spectral Brand are much better mechanically than the Mask sword with their useful passive benefits. But then again the +4 SSoMask is available very early if one has the gold and can be used for most of the game. On my thieves I usually take proficiency points in both short swords and scimitars.
As I am sure most reading this are aware, the Rogue Rebalancing mod adds 2 new short swords, one +4 one with poison on hit (also with a chance to silence the target and a chance to do added damage like an arrow of biting basically) and then an upgradeable SSoBackstabbing (+5 THACO, +1 BS modifier in SoA, Cespenar increases damage to +5 also and increases the crit range by 2 so with SWS 17-20 is a crit). The Song and Silence mod also adds a short sword which is +2 (with +1 AC and +1 poison save). Note that the RR mod also adds 1 new wakizashi, 1 new ninja-to and 2 new clubs.
Doesn't help that short swords are also piercing damage, which is the most common resisted-against weapon damage type.
Btw, the enchantment level shouldn't really matter early game (barring cheese vs. Kangaxx or such).
Namarra is available early and easy to get (and free), and its average damage is 8.5
Varscona can be obtained in Chateau Irenicus
Daystar is a little harder to get with SCS but still available early
And there are certainly many more
A fighter with good equipment might do 20 damage per hit. If your THAC0 is good enough to hit the enemy 90% of the time, +1 THAC0 is better than +1 damage on average (0.95*20>0.90*21). If your fighter deals more damage than this or hits less often than this, an extra point of THAC0 is even more useful.
THAC0 bonuses make a big difference. It's just easier to overlook THAC0, since you pay lots of attention to the damage you do when you hit the target... but very little attention to the damage you're not doing when you miss your target.
If you're buying something at WK, surely it must be Firetooth! :P
Not to mention that for backstabs, you could just as well use a 2h weapon like a quarterstaff - say, Staff of Rynn+4, which is also easily available and deals the same damage with the same THAC0, while being cheaper (I think?) and having a better damage type.
For the record, I've seen that entangle effect proc on highly resistant monsters, I think the effect ignores saves/MR but not immunity. Dragons ignore it.