Weapons for backstabbing
parrker
Member Posts: 22
I just beat BG and going to start BG2 with the same character, half-orc fighter/thief. I put all my skill points into traps, hide in shadows and moving silently, and really enjoyed backstabbing with my 19-20 point strength.
Being a fighter/thief, I can't add more than 2 points in any weapon proficiency, so I chose short swords and Single-Weapon Style, and it worked well enough. Going into the SoA, I am thinking about specializing in something new, but I have no idea what weapons are going to be there. Also, I've no idea which weapons can and can't be used for backstabbing.
I really don't want to use quarterstaffs, because of my picked fighting style, but also because my charname is a neutral-evil assassin/mercenary who loves to sneak behind his target's back and kill with a quick move of a blade. I just don't see how a quarterstaff fits into this role.
Being a fighter/thief, I can't add more than 2 points in any weapon proficiency, so I chose short swords and Single-Weapon Style, and it worked well enough. Going into the SoA, I am thinking about specializing in something new, but I have no idea what weapons are going to be there. Also, I've no idea which weapons can and can't be used for backstabbing.
I really don't want to use quarterstaffs, because of my picked fighting style, but also because my charname is a neutral-evil assassin/mercenary who loves to sneak behind his target's back and kill with a quick move of a blade. I just don't see how a quarterstaff fits into this role.
3
Comments
There is nothing wrong with short swords, really.. I would go with two-weapon style as you level up and get more points instead, though. Nothing can beat dual wielding damage-wise. You lose out on the extra crit chance from single weapon style, but unless you're going to use an invisibility potion or ring and try to backstab again in the fight, you'll do much better with dual wielding. You could also backstab with a single weapon, then toss another weapon onto your offhand for the remainder of the fight if you don't mind taking the time and effort to do that.
There is a good short sword, Kundane, that is great for the off-hand, which adds an extra attack.
Longswords and scimitars are also good options. Longswords are plentiful in the game and there is a scimitar called Belm that gives an extra attack like Kundane. And of course if you know where to find a certain katana called Celestial Fury that is certainly an option too.
Katanas and longswords would be fairly standard weapon choices for fighter/thieves in BG2, though there are some decent shortswords as well.
Is there any point in choosing daggers at all?
Another not insignificant point about daggers is their speed, making you break stealth and attack very quickly. Sometimes using a slower weapon makes you stand around for a few seconds between you clicking the attack button and the character actually swinging the weapon and backstabbing. Seldom an actual issue though, but faster is always better (and more convinient).
For a fighter/thief though, unless your roleplaying limits it, one of the best parts is your ability to use so many different weapons for different situations. But if you want to roleplay and don't allow yourself to use ie quarterstaffs (there are some EXCELLENT qstaffs available in both BG1 and 2, just FYI), you can imagine that whacking someone from behind with a club is similar to using a baton or a blackjack. There are some decent clubs in BG2 as well, so this could be an option for you to have a blunt weapon dealing that kind of weapon damage.
Shortswords deals piercing damage which is good vs certain enemies, ie leather wearing. Slashing weapons as scimitars, katanas and longswords are good on average vs most enemies, but some enemies it's just plain better to use blunt weapons vs. These enemies can sometimes also be the same kind enemy which you cannot backstab, like certain undead with high resistances vs ie piercing damage.
If you are not against mods, Rogue Rebalancing mod has an extra thief items component which adds some thiefly weapons (including additional not over-powered clubs). It is an excellent mod for thief play-throughs.
If you specialized in short swords and SWF in BG1, what did you do with your other 2 pips, e.g. short bow?
Staves are the only two-handed option for thieves, unless you want to go with mods--Tweaks can make katanas two-handed, for example, or let multiclasses put more than two pips in a weapon...
My last F/T run I finally gave staves a go, and I was impressed with how many good staves are available. You get a +1 staff early from Silke in BG. Two of the very rare +3 weapons in BG are staves, and the Staff of Striking in particular is perfect for backstabs. In BG2 you can get the Staff of Rynn +4 very early (and fairly cheap) and then can transition later to the Staff of the Ram.
All that being said, though, save it for a future run--it sounds like you've got a fun character with 1H weapons. I'd suggest you save one pip for clubs, because while there's not exactly an exciting collection of thief clubs in BG2 you'll still need something blunt for the inevitable clay golems.
I played an assassin early last year using staves as a primary weapon for the first time. I was impressed by the consistently higher damage during backstabs from a mere 1-6 damage weapon. The quarterstaff did make a noticeable difference in damage output, both backstabbing and in general melee (much more than I expected). In subsequent runs I have remained hooked on quarterstaffs for thief variants (and also throwing daggers for my main ranged weapon, but that is another thread!).
Also, as noted already by @Camdawg , you get the +3 and +4 staves early in both games, which both help tremendously your 'to hit' rolls early on.
You could also add on TWF. With 2 pips you are set (the 3rd is nice but not urgent at all). Adding TWF also somewhat compensates for the loss of backstabbable bosses in ToB.
For bg2, if you're into sws and need a bludgeoning high power weapon choice vs enemies immune to backstab anyways, take flail. Fota +5 is huge, and its pretty solid with GWW vs high powered enemies.
Clubs allow backstab, flails allow the use of more a powerful weapon.
the +2 and +3 magical returning throwing daggers do both have a melee mode in which single weapon style works.
they also have TWO basic attacks per round , adding your fighter bonuses you float around 3-4 attacks per round with a single weapon (5 is the maximum unless improved haste is used)
they also both can be used by a single class thief (pre requisition for backstabbing)
if you bring a arcane spellcaster for haste along you even max out on 5 APR
2APR Dagger, 1APR Fighterlvl13, 1 APR bracers and weapon proficiency together and 1 APR normal haste giving you 5 backstabs in your opening round.
make sure to at least throw one pip in clubs so you have a backup for piercing immune enemy's.
and if you meet an enemy that needs more than a +3 weapon you can still get the +5 Dagger of the Star , loses out on the extra APR but has 15% chance to make you invisible and a 5% chance to do 1d8 fire+electrical so it sorta compensates.