Elemental weapon and bastard sword (and similar weapons)

[Sebastian Hirsch]

Short question... can you wield a weapon you have created via the Elemental Weapon feat in two hands to benefit from a higher damage bonus and potentially other advantages?

[Guntermench]

This would only be with the strikes using the weapon right? So basically just melee, Blasts would have theirs normal damage.

[Sebastian Hirsch]

Guntermench wrote:

This would only be with the strikes using the weapon right? So basically just melee, Blasts would have theirs normal damage.

My understanding is that the weapon... simply does not interfere with the elemental blast at all, but the wording is certainly not as clear as one would hope.

[Shinigami02]

Sebastian Hirsch wrote:

Guntermench wrote:

This would only be with the strikes using the weapon right? So basically just melee, Blasts would have theirs normal damage.

My understanding is that the weapon... simply does not interfere with the elemental blast at all, but the wording is certainly not as clear as one would hope.

IDK, the wording seems pretty clear to me.

Elemental Weapon wrote:

The weapon is still the gathered element and can be used for impulses, is expended for overflow impulses, and so on.

It can also be used for Elemental Blasts or standard Strikes (provided they’re melee blasts or Strikes if you choose a melee weapon or ranged blasts or Strikes if you choose a ranged weapon).

So you can Blast with an Elemental Weapon, from what I can tell it still uses normal Blast mechanics, but you can only make Blasts of the same type as Strikes from the Elemental Weapon. So a Tengu Aerokineticist who bought Access could use Elemental Weapon (Tengu Gale Blade) could make 1d6 S (Agile, Disarm, Finesse, Air) Strikes or 1d4 S (Agile, Air, Finesse, Reach, Versatile B) Air Blasts, but could not use the 120-foot Ranged Air Blast. Likewise a Shackles-native Hydrokinetic Pirate could use their Elemental Weapon (Pistol) to make 40-foot 1d4 B (Fatal d8, Water) Strikes or 30-foot 1d8 B (Water) Blasts but can't make a sweeping Water melee strike. Of course, either of them could just Release their weapon and Gather a more standard Elemental Mass if they needed to change range.

I do kinda wonder now if weapons like Daggers and Starknives would allow someone to use both range of Blasts, since they can be used both in melee and be thrown for range. Or for that matter, something like a Javelin, which is inherently a ranged weapon but only usable Thrown.

[Renkosuke]

Shinigami02 wrote:

Elemental Weapon wrote:

The weapon is still the gathered element and can be used for impulses, is expended for overflow impulses, and so on.

It can also be used for Elemental Blasts or standard Strikes (provided they’re melee blasts or Strikes if you choose a melee weapon or ranged blasts or Strikes if you choose a ranged weapon).

So you can Blast with an Elemental Weapon, from what I can tell it still uses normal Blast mechanics, but you can only make Blasts of the same type as Strikes from the Elemental Weapon. So a Tengu Aerokineticist who bought Access could use Elemental Weapon (Tengu Gale Blade) could make 1d6 S (Agile, Disarm, Finesse, Air) Strikes or 1d4 S (Agile, Air, Finesse, Reach, Versatile B) Air Blasts, but could not use the 120-foot Ranged Air Blast. Likewise a Shackles-native Hydrokinetic Pirate could use their Elemental Weapon (Pistol) to make 40-foot 1d4 B (Fatal d8, Water) Strikes or 30-foot 1d8 B (Water) Blasts but can't make a sweeping Water melee strike. Of course, either of them could just Release their weapon and Gather a more standard Elemental Mass if they needed to change range.

I do kinda wonder now if weapons like Daggers and Starknives would allow someone to use both range of Blasts, since they can be used both in melee and be thrown for range. Or for that matter, something like a Javelin, which is inherently a ranged weapon but only usable Thrown.

The thrown weapon is an interesting consideration, since it would be a cheeky way to circumvent the restriction that Elemental Weapon otherwise places (now we just need to get clarification on how to put runes on it). Alternatively combiweapons like the dagger pistol might also work, assuming you have access.

I am also curious on whether 1+ hand weapons are allowed (ie: bows). An elemental bow sounds like it would be pretty cool, but it's in a weird spot on whether or not it counts as a 1H or 2H weapon

[Cordell Kintner]

The two hand trait doesn't mean "I can use this in two hands!" it means if you use it in two hands the die size changes. You can hold any weapon in two hands, even a dagger, but that does nothing for the damage unless it has that trait.

In the case of Elemental Weapon, it can't be a two handed weapon, meaning you can never use it in two hands.

[Thorgron]

Cordell Kintner wrote:

The two hand trait doesn't mean "I can use this in two hands!" it means if you use it in two hands the die size changes. You can hold any weapon in two hands, even a dagger, but that does nothing for the damage unless it has that trait.

In the case of Elemental Weapon, it can't be a two handed weapon, meaning you can never use it in two hands.

I could absolutely be wrong but I don’t think that’s true. If it was, the mauler archetype wouldn’t need to specifically call out that it gives proficiency in two handed weapons and weapons with the two-hand trait.

As I read it, the bastard sword meets the requirements for Elemental Weapon. It’s a one handed, common, martial weapon. The feat doesn’t say anything about how many hands the weapon must be wielded in or exclude you from using any of the traits on the weapon.