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So I can't understand the purpose of this item. I'm sure I missed a lot of things.
Reading the item description I understood that I can put an alchemical bomb in the dragon's mouth and use the shield to make an attack (Shield Bash?). However by doing this I would be taking a -1 attack penalty, I would be affected by the effects of my own bomb and my shield would take full damage from the alchemical bomb.
With all these cons I can't see the usefulness of this item. Could someone enlighten me?
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Well... it allows you to make an attack with a bomb without actually having to hold or draw the bomb, since it's stuck to your shield.
It detonates when you Strike with the shield and doesn't appear to override the normal functions of striking with the shield, so you effectively get to make two attacks for a single action and one iteration of MAP.
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In addition to Squiggit's points: You only take the splash damage, which is usually pretty small. And while the shield takes full damage, it would be reduced by hardness as normal (nothing says otherwise) and a shield is expected to need repairs regularly.
I guess it makes for an interesting kamikaze strategy.
Well... it allows you to make an attack with a bomb without actually having to hold or draw the bomb, since it's stuck to your shield.
It detonates when you Strike with the shield and doesn't appear to override the normal functions of striking with the shield, so you effectively get to make two attacks for a single action and one iteration of MAP.
You don't get shield boss or shield spikes, so the non-bomb parts of the attack are going to be pretty anemic.
That said, it's a 10gp bit of weirdness, and if you dont' usually shield block it's not like you're usign your shield durability for anything else.
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I guess it makes for an interesting kamikaze strategy.
??
What bombs are you using that would kill you with the splash damage?
I suppose that one thing it does is it allows for a way to attack with bombs based on strength. I'm not sure there are any others. Also, yeah, it seems like the general usage plan is that you attach a bomb to the front of your shield prebattle and then it's a single-use thing.
Ah! It also allows for runes. So the base weapon damage of "smack with shield" is pretty pathetic, but you're still getting whatever damage you can eke out of the runes, plus the full bomb.
Oh, and prep is a thing. If you have resistance to that damage type that's greater than the splash damage...
You don't get shield boss or shield spikes, so the non-bomb parts of the attack are going to be pretty anemic.
I mean it's not ideal, but it's literally just an average of one damage per tier of striking rune less than a shield boss, so it's not exactly the end of the world.
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This item makes it to where you don't suffer the splash damage from the bomb's explosion.
It's not amazing by any means, and tedious that you need another unrelated item to take full advantage of this, but it's certainly neat to give as loot drops for PCs after having them face NPCs that use this same tactic.
I guess it makes for an interesting kamikaze strategy.??
What bombs are you using that would kill you with the splash damage?
I guess I didn't mean literally kill you, but you are strapping an explosive to yourself and shoving it into the enemy.
If you were low level and somehow using a higher level bomb, it could be fatal.
Ultimately though, I was just trying to make a funny remark.
This item makes it to where you don't suffer the splash damage from the bomb's explosion.
It's not amazing by any means, and tedious that you need another unrelated item to take full advantage of this, but it's certainly neat to give as loot drops for PCs after having them face NPCs that use this same tactic.
I could totally imagine an NPC squadron using this kind of tact
If you have an Alchemist in the party and a character with a shield who doesn't Strike with their shield, it can be a funny way to get around resistances or to activate weaknesses every once in a while. Alchemist's Fire, with its persistent damage, is very interesting to use on an enemy with a Fire Weakness.
You even can use it to start a combo, like using a Dread Ampoule on a character who benefits from having an enemy Frightened (there are a few feats out there for Fighter and Hobgoblin).
I find that funny to use. And the damage is actually quite high. Shields deal 1d4 points of damage per Striking rune, Alchemist's Fire (the most classical pure damage bomb) 1d8 damage +1 persistent damage per quality (equivalent to Striking rune enhancements). For example at level 4 you deal 2d4+2d8 damage +2 persistent damage at the price of a -1 to attack. That's actually quite higher than the 2d12 you could get from a Greatsword and far higher than the 2d8 you could get from your one-handed weapon.
An alchemist could technically "reload" it for their friend during a fight, too, right?
If the friend was resistant or immune to the splash damage type, and the alchemist was interested in never missing with a bomb (because it only triggers with a successful strike), I could see this being an okay combo in certain situations.
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Also, if the bomb deals damage of a type that objects aren't normally subject to, like Mental, then I guess it's safe from that too right?
Brew up some Truth Bombs so that whenever the dwarf fighter shield bashes a mook in the face it just hears "you're only here to pad out the action economy for your boss".
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Also, if the bomb deals damage of a type that objects aren't normally subject to, like Mental, then I guess it's safe from that too right?
Yes, clearly a good idea.
Anyway, bombs don't deal that much damage. If you have an at level Sturdy Shield, you should most of the time avoid any damage on the shield.