|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
So my character has an oppourtunity to pick up a new greatsword with the holy enchantment in our game, and always being a fan of paladins in the past I have always had somewhat of a soft spot for the holy enchantment with it being my own personal favorite enchantment. That started me getting curious and wondering what other peoples favorite enchantments for their weapons where and why that was. So whats your favorite sparkly, shiney, magical enchantment to go on your characters weapons and why?
Enhancement bonuses :D
Otherwise, Holy in a campaign with significant evil and Agile for dex builds. For me, not much else trumps enhancement bonuses for most characters. (Note: specific class related enhancments are not included in my opinion.)
- Gauss
Keen.
I suppose I could take Improved Crit instead, but not everyone is a fighter.
In undead-heavy campaigns, I like holy, ghost strike, and disruption, all packaged on a heavy blunt object :) Otherwise, bane weapons are nice if you've got a campaign with lots of the same baddies (also nice on my holy, ghost strike, disruption morningstar); we had fun with an artificer in an Eberron campaign some years ago who put an infusion into my bow for that right before fighting some giants. And from the point of nostalgia, vorpal. Keen's a fun cheap one too.
Keen and Menacing are my two favotites right now.
Keen for me, Menacing to help out my friends.
Bane. Cheap and very effective. A rogue with an assortment of bane daggers/shortswords is well prepared.
Furious!
Dueling-PG (trip) for trip build really a must
Vicious - for the glass canon in us all
Holy - when you can afford it it will come up...
Keen - if you can't afford the feat...
Bane is good if you know what's coming. And i would pick it up and use it, but really buy one.
Enhancement bonuses :D
this.
a question about weapon enhancements, spoilered to not derail thread.
As a side note, does this stack with spells? For instance if I got an amulet of mighty fists with bane, and had the spell greater magic fang on, would they both work?
Kahn:
- Gauss
|
I'm personally a big fan of Speed. The fact that it's the only enhancement that's worth a +3 bonus is a bit intriguing, plus who doesn't love more attacks per round?
The "burst" enhancements are all tied for second. The 1d6 of their lesser equivalents plus they make critting feel so much better. Keen might make crits more frequent, but that just makes them feel less special. Give me a shocking burst scythe any day.
"Dueling" is my favorite.
Where is True Bane?
- Gauss
Straight enhancements are never a bad choice, but any of the energy +1d6 options are also good, although of those flaming is the least useful due to how many fire resistant monsters there are. I typically go with a +1 shock weapon before going to a +2 weapon. If you have a decent build with a good chance to hit that extra d6 of damage will end up with a higher average damage than most other enchantments. If your attack bonus is low for whatever reason, go for the straight +X enhancements.
I'm not a big fan of the situational bonuses like keen or bane since many of those can be duplicated by spells or even feats which sometimes don't stack with the weapon enchantment.
Merciful is critical for certain builds, but I rarely play such specialized characters.
Spell storing is one of the least utilized and most useful enchantments, but it takes some planning and has limited numbers of uses. It generally won't match the sheer average damage increase of other enchantments, but if you get the right spell for the situation it can be devastating.
Throwing is essential for certain builds, but it's really specialized.
Speed is, imho, a trap option. It doesn't stack with haste or boots of speed, and so is a huge cost for an ability that most parties gain as part of their standard tactics anyway.
i told my GM that my inquisitors dream sword had Keen, Cunning, and a burst power (my preference is Corrosive since fire and ice resistance are so common).
Double the threat range, +2 on the confirm role if you have the knowledge skills, then bursty goodness once confirmed.
Put that on a Falchion and your hit is a threat 30% of the time, with a 10% higher likelihood to confirm and get the burst damage.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Cunning is a trap--you get +2 to confirm if you have the knowledge, sure, but if you just took a +1, you'd have +1 to confirm, +1 to damage, and +1 to hit if you don't crit. There's no way Crit is worth all that.
You could maybe make an argument for taking it if you already have a +5 weapon, but definitely not before, and I still think it's junky even after that.
I know it isn't one...but a +5 Furious Courageous weapon an a barbarian = yummy.
I have never been a fan of crit-fishing. I suppose it can be flashy in combat to crit more often, but the reality is that you don't gain any of the benefits when you don't crit.
My martial builds focus on two things in combat. The highest possible hit probability and the highest possible damage modifiers. I want to hit often and make each hit count.
Also I've played with crit fishers and while the awesome damage of an optimized crit fisher is a wonder to behold, there is a relatively high probability that the 45 damage the crit does occurs to an opponent who has 12 hit points left. So all that awesome damage is just overkill.
To me crit fishers are all flash and limited substance. I want solid, steady, dependable damage output, not a flash in the pan so I can go "ooohhh awesomeness! Too bad 90% of it was wasted, but wasn't that awesome!?"
There are other ways to gain awesomeness on individual attacks anyway.
For less-than-mechanical reasons, I have to say that a sword wreathed in fire is pretty damn awesome.
+5 ghost touch with flaming for an always-available torch that you hit people with. Need light? Got it. Need to set the entire village on fire? Check! Need to CDG those annoying trolls? Done! Wizard just slathered the floor with vegetable-based lamp oil? LIGHT 'EM UP!!
|
. . .
To me crit fishers are all flash and limited substance. I want solid, steady, dependable damage output, not a flash in the pan so I can go "ooohhh awesomeness! Too bad 90% of it was wasted, but wasn't that awesome!?"
There are other ways to gain awesomeness on individual attacks anyway.
Oh Adamantine Dragon, always so pragmatic. :)
Personally, I'm a huge fan of things like Vampiric just because gaining health while slaying things is just how I like to roll.
Then I check and realize that pathfinder doesn't have vampiric in the pfsrd. That sucks. I currently use a similar psionic ability that activates on a crit.
Running Rappan Athuk lately has made me realize how good Bane can be... since there are a lot of undead throughout as far as I can tell so far.
Called is a personal favorite of mine.
Being able to instantly summon your weapon to your hand from up to 100 feet away as a swift action that doesn't provoke attacks of opportunity, even if the weapon is being held by someone else?
Sign me up!
i am a fan of spell storing, you can put various useful spells (dispel magic comes to mind) for just a +1 bonus. and with all the level 1-3 spells out there you can find some neat tricks (burning disarm in your weapon so you dont have to try and disarm them)
ever since warduke and the flametounge, flaming has been my favorite enhancement, not saying its the most useful or powerful, just my favorite.
Menacing is awesome.
Spell storing is must for a Magus
keen is brilliant on a Kukri or Scimitar
I consider Guardian to be essential for Fighters.
'Oh I see a very squishy Uber Caster Before me! Better bang +5 onto my saves since his AC sucks and he'll no doubt try to dominate me.
|
|
I've had a special fondness for returning as well. A returning weapon pretty much makes you a switch hitter without the need for Quick Draw, enhancements on multiple weapons, or lost action economy. Plus, back in 3.5 I had a pretty fierce halfling barbarian with a returning spear.
Sure, it doesn't work so well once you get iteratives, but most throwing weapons are also melee weapons anyway (spear, starknife, dagger, trident, etc.) so you can always just close the distance and melee.
ever since warduke and the flametounge, flaming has been my favorite enhancement, not saying its the most useful or powerful, just my favorite.
Yay, old D&D! For those who don't know: WARDUKE!
So.... the question is.
What is Warduke's PF Build?
At least we know he seems to be a TWF Sword/Shield wielder.
Holy and Keen are solid choices. Seeking for a rogue archer (not that I'll ever play one in PF). Bane on arrows/bolts is nice, if your DM doesn't requie you to buy them in stacks of 50. My current goblin alchemist wouldn't be playable if not for the Agile enhancement. Guided certainly seems nice...like overpowered nice...too.
In 3E, I liked Brutal Surge, Sizing, Stunning Surge, and Hideaway from MIC. Prismatic wasn't practical for the price until higher levels (flat +30,000 gp cost, so it becomes "more affordable looking" as your weapon's enhancement bonus goes up) at which point the lowly save DC made it kind of meh. But still, having every hit force a save vs. random prismatic effect was awesome.
my favorites
1st list. for mechanical reasons
straight enhancement bonuses
keen
agile
speed
holy
2nd list, for flavor if i have a bunch of excess funds an no cap on enhancement bonuses
bane, depending on the concept and campaign
aligned, i love holy swords, but i love thier unholy counterparts too
elemental, if there was a sonic option, i would take it, i love the idea of a blade that vibrates to make cutting easier
agile; well balanced blades are always cool
3rd list, suboptimal weapons i would take if i didn't have to waste a feat
meteor hammer or 3.5 spiked chain
dagger
bastard sword
whip
hanbo
pistol
concealed glove crossbow
katana/wakazashi
scimitar
4th list, suboptimal armors i would use if they were more competitive with thier more frequently used counterparts
mesh suit
armored kilt
scale mail
leather
hide
half plate
concepts i would play if gear dependancy or other system issues didn't cripple them so badly.
*clueless airheaded unarmed dexterity based loli fencing paladin with a sabre
*shirtless, shoeless berserker man in a skirt who fights with a pair of shoddy neko tae and has inhuman talents reminiscent of a tiger
*anemic asthmatic noble blooded loli with tuberculosis who magically manipulates sentient minds like the strings of a marionette and can't fight her way out of a hypothetical paper bag unless she is accurately planting a dagger in your back, and takes advantage of various arcane spells to set up combat advantage. doesn't sneak attack with rays, uses spells to set up melee sneak attacks
*a wakazashi wielding warrior philosopher who wears a mesh suit beneath her heavy clothes for armor, moves with the grace of a dancer, has a mean spin kick, has decent intellect and awareness, but the arrogance of a douchebag.