Hello,
each time i play Merisiel in my 6-character solo game, it feels wrong, that she only uses crossbows as a weapon. In most other games rogues are dualwielding slicing melee characters using daggers and short swords.
Of course i could give her a dagger+1 or so, but the 1d4+1 is so much worse than even a basic heavy crossbow (1d10), that i don't see any benefit from that. Her special ability (+1d6 oder 2d6) seems to help her boost the damage, but that ability also adds to her ranged crossbow attacks.
So am i missing something, or are crossbows the best way to play her? Shoudn't there be some kind of "dagger boosting" for Merisiel to give her some more combat options?
Btw. i realy love this game and the forum community.
Greetings,
Juergen
IIRC Merisiel isn't proficient with weapons, so using the crossbow means discarding it?
(I don't have the cards here...)
Technically a dagger is also ranged in this game. And yeah, they're pretty weak. You can use them in additional to another weapon, but since Merisiel only gets two discarding one of them for an additional d4 isn't so hot, especially since she could recharge it instead for a d6 (of course, she could recharge another card and get both bonuses).
Crossbows don't require weapon proficiency, bows do. However, by the time most Merisiels reach their role card I imagine they'll have weapon proficiency. It's the choice between that and another +1 to her backstab.
Ah, my bad then.
Not being proficient would (so far at least) only mean she could use the crossbows's second ability to add 1d4 to a combat check at another location or that on some weapons the difficulty of the check is increased by 4. And she can take weapon proficiency as a power feat.
There are some better daggers. Giantbane Dagger +1 or Venomous Dagger+2 for instance. Also, she can use lots of daggers, just like you said. The daggers all have the text that if you can play them to add to a check if you used another weapon. And the daggers can keep stacking. So if she happened to have 3 daggers in her hand, she could use all 3.
For your combat check, reveal this card to roll your Dexterity or Ranged + 1d4; you may additionally recharge this card to add another 1d4.
When playing another weapon, you may discard this card to add 1d4 to the combat check.
So if she played the first dagger on the "Determine the die you are using" step of the check, she could play the other two during the "Play cards and use powers that affect the check" step. Like this:
Determine the die...:
Merisiel: I'll play this Dagger(1), so I'm using dexterity. And I'm going to recharge it.
Play cards and use powers...
Merisiel: I'll play this Dagger(2).
Dagger(2): Did you play another weapon?
Merisiel: Yes, I played Dagger(1)
Dagger(2): Ok.
Merisiel: And I'll play this Dagger(3).
Dagger(3): Did you play another weapon?
Merisiel: Yes, I played Dagger(2).
Dagger(3): Ok.
So that would be 1d12 + 4d4. Not too bad. And she could use the crossbow as the first weapon and daggers as the second.
For your combat check, reveal this card to roll your Dexterity or Ranged + 1d4; you may additionally recharge this card to add another 1d4.
When playing another weapon, you may discard this card to add 1d4 to the combat check.
As i read your post i just noticed, that daggers have the "recharge to add 1d4" ability. Other weapons need to be discarded to get additional damage. That is a benefit i haven't noticed before. A lot of daggers and a big handsize might work.
I tried a venomous dagger for a while. Recharging it was nice when she had two weapons in hand, but it was otherwise crap when she was waiting to pull her real weapon. I dropped it the next time Deathbane Light Crossbow came up. The Giant's Bane seems even more situational. I know there's a ton of giants right, but, not knowing how the tabletop AP flows, I don't know if that'll last forever. Regardless, I don't know if I'd want to keep a situational 3d4 clogging my hand when I could just keep the deck cycling and using my regular d8.
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One strategy you can try is to recharge with reckless abandon. If you have 2 daggers in hand, play them both and her power to recharge a card. That is 3 cards out of her hand to draw new cards. And if she gets into trouble evade or use some strength with the discard version of her sneak attack power.
I employ that strategy with Valeros, I recharge his weapon virtually every time, even when I don't have another weapon in hand. Cycle with abandon.
I tried a venomous dagger for a while. Recharging it was nice when she had two weapons in hand, but it was otherwise crap when she was waiting to pull her real weapon. I dropped it the next time Deathbane Light Crossbow came up. The Giant's Bane seems even more situational. I know there's a ton of giants right, but, not knowing how the tabletop AP flows, I don't know if that'll last forever. Regardless, I don't know if I'd want to keep a situational 3d4 clogging my hand when I could just keep the deck cycling and using my regular d8.
On my Merisiel solo mission she's got 2 Venomous and the Deathbane as her three weapons and that works pretty well. She keeps the Deathbane in her hand and recharges a Venomous on the first moderately difficult non-poison immune monster that comes up after she draws it. I wouldn't trade a Venomous for a Giantbane - as you said, too situational. Now maybe once the AP is over and I can look through all the cards and know exactly how many giants are coming up, I might decide differently if there's more Giants than I expect there will be... but yeah it was a little of a downer when I opened the new pack and saw the Giantbane after already having the Venomous.
This is also a reason why I think it would be a neat idea for the characters to have a sideboard (call it the party safehouse or whatever you want). I'd be much more likely to keep something situational like the Giantbane or the Crown of Charisma and then if my adventurers are going on a mission that involves killing giants or recruiting allies, someone could swap out for one of those cards.
I only use daggers with Merisiel. This thematically makes sense to me. I just can't picture her using axes, spears, huge crossbows, etc...Honestly I hate being forced to use those weapons in order to be effective especially in the end game. I've always played a rogue in D&D and rogues don't use big bulky weapons. So if my choice means I can't finish the adventure path then so be it. Characters have to make thematic sense to me or I just lose interest in playing them.
I only use daggers with Merisiel. This thematically makes sense to me. I just can't picture her using axes, spears, huge crossbows, etc...Honestly I hate being forced to use those weapons in order to be effective especially in the end game. I've always played a rogue in D&D and rogues don't use big bulky weapons. So if my choice means I can't finish the adventure path then so be it. Characters have to make thematic sense to me or I just lose interest in playing them.
sorry. but rouges get to use whatever weapons they want. used correctly a balista can be just as sneaky as a dagger. rouges are just that good. #sneakattackusingthegnome
Well you go ahead and backstab with your siege weapon. I'll stick to the iconic dagger.
As i read your post i just noticed, that daggers have the "recharge to add 1d4" ability. Other weapons need to be discarded to get additional damage. That is a benefit i haven't noticed before. A lot of daggers and a big handsize might work.For your combat check, reveal this card to roll your Dexterity or Ranged + 1d4; you may additionally recharge this card to add another 1d4.
When playing another weapon, you may discard this card to add 1d4 to the combat check.
I noticed that it works great for your deck if you think your hand is too stale. I played the Dagger with Harsk and it works out pretty well. It's good to have that recharge = 2D4+1. I don't think that is too bad and pretty good/fun.