Which of these weapons would you suggest?


Advice


I'm planning on making a two-handed weapon user and originally I was going to go earthbreaker just for the visual of swinging a giant hammer and crushing enemies. However, with some research, I found a lot of people singing praises of the falcata. I assume its the 19-20 and being a x3 crit multiplier. I also saw the falchion, two handed, 18-20 and 2d4 is pretty enticing.

So between these:

Earthbreaker (Awesome visual, 2d6 x3 multiplier)
Falcata (Wielded Two-handed, 19-20/x3)
Falchion (18-20, 2d4)

Which would you suggest?

[Note: I can get the keen enhancement, but it'd take about 4/5s of my magic item budget]


I like the visuals of earthbreaker too, and it doesn't take the exotic weapon feat, i don't think. But if you like choppy things, falchions are handy. You get a lot of STR damage bonus as it is, losing ~2 damage per hit won't matter so much if you crit twice as often, especially on a heavy one-hit-wonder build, like the vital strike chain. Of course you could go max cheese, and get a katana instead. Everybody wants to be hattori hanzo. Anyway, that'd take an extra feat, but it allows for the occasional extreme damage burst if you roll 10. Not really worth it if y'ask me.

Another meh-maybe not-so-good 2 hand option, if you're building toward the one-hit-wonder: take an oversized weapon if your gm allows it. Yes, that large greatsword will give you a penalty to hit that kinda seems to outwiegh the 3d6 damage. But for max chesse, you will look like an anime character, wielding your tree-sized sword like Cloud from ff7. And while it may seem like compensation, nobody will so so to your character's face. *snort*

Or earthbreaker, which I like, because, hey, hammer good.


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The DPR difference between the falcata, the earthbreaker and the falchion is relatively small. Unless you absolutely need to milk your damage to the maximum, I'd suggest using whatever weapon you think is coolest and works best with your character concept.

Scarab Sages

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Nodachi is much better than falchion. You have 1d10 instead of 2d4 the same crit profile, and brace as a minor bonus.

Falcata is the best one hand melee weapon in the game, but it's not worth spending a feat to get it.

Have you considered a reach weapon?


in the end it's more about style than numbers, if you really like the earth breaker, swing away with that giant ass hammer. if you wanna take a falcata and butcher some folks with decent odds at getting a times 3 crit, it's totally worth the feat if it fits your style.

Asta
PSY

Grand Lodge

My vote is for the Nodachi as well.


Falcata is like a large kukri, which is awesome. My mindset is this: If it's awesome, do it. Optimization takes a back seat to imagination.
Also, naming things makes them better.
A Cavalier wielding a greatsword? meh. A Cavalier confused as to why a bag checker is checking each party member for the sword he is clearly holding? Yes. (Contraband) Same Cavalier hadn't decided on a name for his horse until after bursting into a bar on horseback shouting out Weebl's song Amazing Horse. Cavalier's horse is Amazing!


Since I'm not playing a normal fighting class, I'll be using a feat to grab whichever weapon I go with unless it's simple. I'm probably going to be going for the "one big swing" sort of build, vital strike and power attack being used often. I've considered reach weapons, but I don't have much experience with them, and don't feel like having to back up every time something gets in my face (if it works like I think I read it works).

Currently I'm leaning towards the earthbreaker, since i'm going vital strike route, that'd be 4d6+STR and other additional damage and it seems pretty good. That's probably what I'll go with actually.

That said, mayhaps I'll get a slashing weapon to use when a zombie or something else with DR comes around.


PSY850 wrote:

in the end it's more about style than numbers, if you really like the earth breaker, swing away with that giant ass hammer. if you wanna take a falcata and butcher some folks with decent odds at getting a times 3 crit, it's totally worth the feat if it fits your style.

Asta
PSY

point, and if you're a numbercrunchkin (its okay, all of us have a little of that) then note that you can't get keen on a bludgeoning weapon - you'll have to wait till improved critical comes along if the big smacks are your thing.

I like the reach idea by the way. Starting to enjoy seeing those str/dex builds more than the str/con. Lunge, combat patrol? Choppity chop chop, MY battlefield. -2 ac is cute if they never reach you, just remember you'll practically never cleave during enemy move rounds, so don't try that. But a lot of reach wpns have subsidiary combat maneuver benefits.


Aemesh wrote:
...then note that you can't get keen on a bludgeoning weapon

That is very true. That said, I don't think I'd even want to spend almost all my budget on any special ability. A +1 Earthbreaker? Sure. But currently, at the wealth available to me, anything past that is a bit too pricey for me.

Thanks everyone, you definitely helped me decide!

Scarab Sages

If you don't have martial weapon proficency then the feat for any martial weapon isn't worth it. A longspear or Morningstar is perfectly adequate as a two handed weapon and you can use your feat for something more useful than 1.5 average damage.


Baring feats or class features there is minimal difference. Improved critical feat makes an 18-20 weapon awesome and better than almost any other weapon. If onthe other hand we have the destruction domains power where crits are auto confirmed it becomes unclear as you may miss a lot without a crit but then you crit is auto confirmed or you might like the X4 auto.

In general I find going raw damage preferable at low levels and then swapping to medium damage with wider crit ranges.

Silver Crusade

Third Mind wrote:
I've considered reach weapons, but I don't have much experience with them, and don't feel like having to back up every time something gets in my face (if it works like I think I read it works).

Here's a bit about how reach works, for future reference.


I'm fond of the way bastard swords scale up. 1d10 becomes 2d8 with a large bastard sword, 3d8 when you add on Impact, 4d8 with all that and Enlarge Person, you get the idea...

Liberty's Edge

Third Mind wrote:
Since I'm not playing a normal fighting class, I'll be using a feat to grab whichever weapon I go with unless it's simple.

The good news is:

Half-Orcs get prof. with the Falchion through their Race, so you don't have to pay feat taxes there.
And then Shoanti Tattoo exists. That gives you prof. with the Earth Breaker along with some other stuff.

Lantern Lodge

My Dragon Disciple wielded a falcata to devastating effect.

Quick historical note: Falcatas were not meant to be wielded one-handed - they had a return on the hilt which would have made it very difficult to put your other hand somewhere.


Large Falcata -2 (oversized weapon) 2d6 19-20/x3
TONS OF FUN!!


I don't think the math supports crit builds in the long run. For Falchion or scimitar, I think that increased crit range is more of an offset for the fact that they do less damage in the first place as compared with long and great swords.

Falcata likewise I just don't think compares favorably in the long run with Bastard Sword or Dwarven War Axe, and remember if you want to play either a Dwarf or a Tengu, you get to use DWA or BS as martial weapons, no extra feat required.

I'm not 100% sure of my math: one of the things that I find so vexing about crit builds so vexing in the first place is that calculating the damage/round is very difficult since it is so situational. So perhaps it is more a matter of taste than number crunching, which is also a matter of taste.

Reaching, Bracing, tripping, blocking, disarming polearms that do Blunt, Piercing, and/or slashing damage are quite a viable alternative to the big hammer. You trade some damage for some tactical capabilities. You could be a Phalanx Soldier, using a heavy spiked shield in one hand and a Bec de Corbin in the other. You could take Great Cleave and use both weapons to hit everyone within 5' and within 10'. Or you could Bull Rush anyone who comes close enough and just keep tenderizing them with your polearm. Or you could use a light spiked shield in one hand and a halberd in the other using 2weapon and develop a Trip Build.

But if the OP has his heart set on the Earthbreaker, then I suggest Thunder and Fang. It's an expensive feat, but I think it's worth it. The prereqs are weapon focus Klar and Earthbreaker and 2weapon, but then you get to wield an Earthbreaker in one hand and a Klar in the other, keeping your AC bonus for the Klar when you bash with it. I'd make the hammer Alchemal Silver and the Klar Adamantine so you can get around a variety of DR. Maybe get Cold Iron Armor Spikes to complete the set.

In the long run, I think Klar is an even better weapon than the Earthbreaker. There is a +1 equivalent Shield Enchantment called Bashing, which makes your shield bash as if it were 2 sizes bigger. For a Klar that means going from 1d6 to 2d6. Then you can also enchant your Klar as if it were a magic weapon at the same price as you enchant your Earthbreaker. Your base damage will go from 2d6 with the hammer up to 4d6 with the hammer and shield. That's just about as good as it gets.

And since the Klar is a shield, you can take Shield Bashing feats with it. I love the combination of Shield Slam, Greater Bull Rush, and Paired Opportunist. When you Bash somebody, you get a free Bull Rush. When you Bull Rush somebody out of a Threatened Square, all your allies get an Attack of Opportunity, and with Paired Opportunist, so do you. You can make your AoO another Shield Slam, which is followed by another Bull Rush, provoking another round of AoO's. Yours will be another Shield Slam....


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The math actually does support crit builds once you get your static damage high enough.

The tipping point for "high enough" when comparing a 1d8 19-20/x2 to a 1d6 18-20/x2 is 18, if you're curious. More relevant to this thread, the tipping point between Earthbreaker and Falcata is 22 points of bonus damage.

Other stuff can shift this of course-- Improved Critical on both an Earthbreaker and a Falcata drops the tipping point all the way down to 10 points of static damage. For Longsword vs. Scimitar with Improved Critical, they actually become exactly equivalent at eight points of static bonus.

Math aside, go with what you like. They're all fairly solid weapons.


One thing I'll say: it also depends on what your party makeup is like.

In my present Pathfinder game I'm running, the Fighter is running around with a Large sized tetsubo (medium sized tetsubos are 1d10 with a x4 crit). Why? Because he has something like 2 casters in the party armed with sleep, color spray, and hold person. In other words, he just takes a five foot free step and Coup De Graces someone for 2d8+a bunch damage and multiplies it by 4.

If your group is able to disable enemies pretty well, the Earthbreaker would be really solid for that reason. If you're going to be depending on yourself more, my vote is the Falcata, especially since you can wield it with a shield in a pinch. The Falcata also looks really, really cool. It was developed in Spain I think? I may be wrong.

Cool Sword, Right?


Nazrelle wrote:
And then Shoanti Tattoo exists. That gives you prof. with the Earth Breaker along with some other stuff.

That is very interesting. A trait that gives me proficiency seems like it could definitely be worth it. Interesting. Thanks for bringing that to my attention.

Thanks again for the input everyone!

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