Exotic weapons frequently aren't worth the feat.
A Bastard Sword vs. a Long Sword is only 1.5 flat additional damage for a feat.
A Sawtooth Sword is a Long Sword that is a light weapon, but also needs another feat (Two Weapon Fighting) to use it to full effect.
I was wondering if I am understanding this weapon correctly. It is pretty much a longsword that for the exotic weapon feat you can use your dex with. But only if you have yet another feat , weapon finesse.
Why is this an exotic weapon? It is not worth a feat . It should also crit on a 18-20 . Granted the eleven curve blade is two handed but it is a (exotic)finesse weapon that crits on a 18-20 and does a d10 , worth the feat. You don't get a shield but then again the whole purpose the of the Aldori dueling blade is not to use a shield either.
The Aldori dueling blade is designed for the archetype or the prestige class. Three or four feats down the tree, you get a bonus on initiative and a shield bonus with the Aldori sword. Whether that whole tree is worth the investment depends on your character.
Sawtooth sabres, on the other hand, are my favorite choice for two-weapon fighter builds. With 1d8 in each hand, Enlarge Person or Lead Blades kicks it up to 2d6, and all weapon focus/specialization/training features apply to both attacks at the same time.
Without the sawtooth sabre, a dual-wielding fighter either needs to double on weapon focus/specialization feats or use two light weapons. It just isn't as effective.
If you're not making a TWF build, though, just stick to the long sword.
A Bastard Sword vs. a Long Sword is only 1.5 flat additional damage for a feat.
It's actually just 1 damage more.
1d8 = 4.5
1d10 = 5.5
A Sawtooth Sword is a Long Sword that is a light weapon, but also needs another feat (Two Weapon Fighting) to use it to full effect.
Exactly, another +1 average damage for a feat.
Most exotic weapons are just +1 average damage for a feat. There are very few worth taking. Double Weapons are pretty nice for TWF, since you get to use them in two-hands for single attacks. The Fauchard and Falcata are worth it for their crit ranges. The Sling Staff is versatile. The net has a good status effect. A couple are one-handed reach weapons. Not much else is worth using.
A Sawtooth Sword is a Long Sword that is a light weapon, but also needs another feat (Two Weapon Fighting) to use it to full effect.Exactly, another +1 average damage for a feat.
If you compare it to light weapons you could TWF with it's already +2 (+1 for each weapon)
And when compared to using two different weapons (onehanded + light) you save feats you could spend for weapon focus and the like.So the sawtooth is really worth it for TWFers, more so if they are fighters.
It also has the Disarm quality too if I remember correctly.
So the Aldori Dueling swords benefits:
1) Disarm quality
2) Weapon finessible
3) Qualifies for Aldori Dueling feats
Is that worth an exotic weapon proficiency? Depends what you are building.
The first level of the Aldori Swordlord PrC gives you a "free" Aldori Dueling Master feat ("free" as in you already have to all but one of the prerequisite feats except Quick Draw just to get into the PrC) and lets you add Dex to damage as well. The Dueling Master feat give yous +1 or +2 shield bonus to AC if you use it in 2 hands/1 hand respectively and I think a +2 bonus to initiative if you already have the blade in hand. I think it also lets you use the ADS instead of a piercing weapon for the Duelist PrC as well. The Swordlord PrC eventually lets you negate some of the to hit penalty when using Combat Expertise as well, which equals more stackable AC.
Scimitar > all for magus. for all of you dervish dancer haters, it is a rly good way of playing magus, get over it.
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Scimitar > all for magus. for all of you dervish dancer haters, it is a rly good way of playing magus, get over it.
Was this flame-bait posting really worth it to necro a long dead threat?
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well, I will say that with Slashing Grace, now it's possible to make a Dex Magus that has something other than a Scimitar. And with the ADS you don't need a Level in Swashbuckler to do it. I still think that a whip Magus would still be really fun
I have actually made a Dex Build Magus (Kensai) that this weapon or the Elven Curve sword. Now I did have to spend some money to turn the weapon to a Agile weapon. But hey it works great. I just dont want to tell you what his strength is to make the build work. The best thing about the Kensai is that you get to pick a weapon that is exotic to pick for you chosen weapon. These two swords work great for that build. Now to commit about the whip magus is also really cool. :)
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I was wondering if I am understanding this weapon correctly. It is pretty much a longsword that for the exotic weapon feat you can use your dex with. But only if you have yet another feat , weapon finesse.
Why is this an exotic weapon? It is not worth a feat . It should also crit on a 18-20 . Granted the eleven curve blade is two handed but it is a (exotic)finesse weapon that crits on a 18-20 and does a d10 , worth the feat. You don't get a shield but then again the whole purpose the of the Aldori dueling blade is not to use a shield either.
Exotic weapons are rarely seen weapons, not more effective weapons. The Dueling sword is basically a long sword, but some characters actually trained in it's use can get more out of it.
There are a handful of Dueling sword specific feats, a fighter archetype, and a prestige class. And Damage wise, it isn't terrible for a 1-handed weapon that can be subject to weapon finesse. But yeah, in the hands of most characters, the longsword is just as good.
I will note that it does weigh 1lb less than the longsword. A minor detail, but it could matter if you had a low strength build.
As for being worth a feat, that is up to your build. Not every character is using feats to gain exotic weapon proficencies, and those that are, aren't always given lots of choice in their feat selection. There are a handful of races and classes that can start with Exotic weapon training and don't have a ton of other feat options.
You don't necessarily need to spend a feat that could otherwise be put to much better use in order to use an exotic weapon either.
Half-Elves can trade their free skill focus for a free EWP feat.
Tengus are automatically proficient with all swords, including exotic ones.
For 1500 GP you can buy a cracked opalescent white pyramid ioun stone to get weapon familiarity (i.e. you're proficient with it if you're proficient with martial weapons) with any exotic weapon you like (this is probably dangerous to rely on without a wayfinder).
A lot of exotic weapons are that way because they're literally intended to be exotic, as in "most are not familiar with their use", they're not necessarily supposed to be "better."
I have just recently been thinking on this.
I have come up with this idea: In addition to being 'Finesse Compatible', an EWP with the sword also changes its damage type to P/S (instead of just S).
This way, it opens up the dueling sword to being used with all the class features of swashbucklers and duelists.
I dunno, it just seems like this weapon, thematically perfect for those classes, should be relatively easy to use with their abilities.
...definitely more so than the heavy pick.
Just my thoughts
Edit:
As to Exotic Weapons, there are generally 3 types.
Those that are from 'far away' or unusual from a cultural/geographical standpoint. These also cover ones that are just 'weird'.
Those that are normally identical to a simple or martial weapon except an EWP 'unlocks' a feature or benefit.
Those that are just more powerful than anything from the other categories.
A Bastard Sword vs. a Long Sword is only 1.5 flat additional damage for a feat.It's actually just 1 damage more.
1d8 = 4.5
1d10 = 5.5A Sawtooth Sword is a Long Sword that is a light weapon, but also needs another feat (Two Weapon Fighting) to use it to full effect.Exactly, another +1 average damage for a feat.
Most exotic weapons are just +1 average damage for a feat. There are very few worth taking. Double Weapons are pretty nice for TWF, since you get to use them in two-hands for single attacks. The Fauchard and Falcata are worth it for their crit ranges. The Sling Staff is versatile. The net has a good status effect. A couple are one-handed reach weapons. Not much else is worth using.
The benefit of the Sawtooth Saber is not 1d8 vs 1d6.
The Sawtooth Saber allows the fighter to apply all weapon specific feats and abilities to both weapons.