Best weapons to specialise in

Heidrek · Post by **Heidrek** » Thu Nov 25, 2004 9:59 pm

Just wondering what people think the best weapons to specialise in are?

Personally I'm thinking MW Axes and SW Shortblades, perhaps MW Hammers too. Axes covers Battleaxes, Greataxes and throwing axes in one type, Shortblades gives you short swords and daggers (the only beneficial offhand weapons) that will always be used in offhands. Also gives you Throwing Dagges like Lamia's Tongue.

Hammers gives you Throwing Hammers (the best range thrown weapon and one handed as well, allowing a shield) and warhammers which is also decent. SW Missile is a decent idea too as it gives you Crossbows, Slinds and Darts. Thrown weapons like Darts, Hammers and Thrown Axes are desireable as they get your strength bbonus to damage where as projectile weapons like Bows and slings dont. For some reason my sling attacks do really good damage though even without spec.

Galuf the Dwarf · Post by **Galuf the Dwarf** » Thu Nov 25, 2004 10:34 pm

It really depends upon which class you're talking about.

For Paladins, it would DEFINITELY be the longsword. For Fighters or Barbarians, it would be the axe, flail (Definitely for a Barbarian, especially if you have one other party member that uses axes.), or halberd. When it comes to ranged weapons for a Fighter, I'd heartily suggest the crossbow, particularly for its damage.

Rogues MUST go with small blades. 'Weapon Focus (Small Blade)' + 'Weapon Finesse' + whatever Rogue feat you find best + sneak attack = CARNAGE! Especially at higher levels! For ranged weapons, go with bows.

Unfortunately, the reliance on some random rewards/treasures may make some magical types of weapons not appear at all. For instance, I didn't find much in the ways of magical warhammers past +2 enchantment throughout most of the (normal) game. Also, not all magic throwing weapons return when used. Many magic throwing hammers, axes, and daggers are disposable 'packages' (What the best term would be in this case, I'd love to know.) rather one returning weapon.

RP80 · Post by **RP80** » Fri Dec 03, 2004 8:46 am

Did a search and this old topic came up, so BUMP

heidrek: was curios about what you say about the only worthy off hand weapon being shortsword and daggers. Is this true for SoA without the exp pack also? I haven't found anything in the manual about a small off hand weapon giving less negative modifications but I have no doubt your are right.
Could anyone explain how this works.

silverdragon72 · Post by **silverdragon72** » Fri Dec 03, 2004 9:49 am

[QUOTE=RP80]Did a search and this old topic came up, so BUMP

heidrek: was curios about what you say about the only worthy off hand weapon being shortsword and daggers. Is this true for SoA without the exp pack also? I haven't found anything in the manual about a small off hand weapon giving less negative modifications but I have no doubt your are right.
Could anyone explain how this works.[/QUOTE]

...hmmm...-...sure that you are in the right forum ?

.

Galuf the Dwarf · Post by **Galuf the Dwarf** » Fri Dec 03, 2004 9:55 am

[QUOTE=RP80]Did a search and this old topic came up, so BUMP

heidrek: was curios about what you say about the only worthy off hand weapon being shortsword and daggers. Is this true for SoA without the exp pack also? I haven't found anything in the manual about a small off hand weapon giving less negative modifications but I have no doubt your are right.
Could anyone explain how this works.[/QUOTE]

No, this isn't the case in the un-modded BG2 game (expansion included). In that, you could wield any one-handed weapon in your off-hand, and if you had 3 ranks in "Two-Weapon Fighting," you would only have a minor penalty to your off-hand attack. That very penalty is equivalent to a character with the 'Ambidexterity' and 'Two-Weapon Fighting' feats equipping a short sword or dagger in their off-hand in IWD2.

Now, since that is answer can we please re-direct this subject to IWD2 rather than Baldur's Gate 2?

silverdragon: It sounded as if he was comparing the two-weapon fighting system in BG2 to IWD2's.

RP80 · Post by **RP80** » Fri Dec 03, 2004 11:15 am

sorry, damn, I didn't see that I was in the iswind dale forum when I posted my question *blush*

Heidrek · Post by **Heidrek** » Sun Dec 05, 2004 10:02 pm

I think I'll take Shortblades and Simple Weapon: Missile. There are some very ggod Shortswords out there, and Slings seem to be very good missile weapons - I think they get your strength bonus to damage. I'm using a +1 sling with normal bullets and do 5-8 damage although the stats screen only says 2-5. I have +3 Str bonus, so I think this is getting added on!

silverdragon72 · Post by **silverdragon72** » Mon Dec 06, 2004 2:35 am

[QUOTE=Heidrek]I think I'll take Shortblades and Simple Weapon: Missile. There are some very ggod Shortswords out there, and Slings seem to be very good missile weapons - I think they get your strength bonus to damage. I'm using a +1 sling with normal bullets and do 5-8 damage although the stats screen only says 2-5. I have +3 Str bonus, so I think this is getting added on![/QUOTE]

AFAIK you get always the STR-bonus when using slings (at least in all other D&D CRPGs so far AFAIR)

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Heidrek · Post by **Heidrek** » Mon Dec 06, 2004 8:36 pm

Well, that's handy. Seems to make Slings a little overpowered compared to other missile weapons though for a couple of reasons:

1. 1 handed so you can have a shield too.
2. Availabe to basically everyone unlike Bows, hammers and axes.

Not sure why Bows don't get a Str bonus if Slings do.

I think I'll specialise in simple missile weapons and also Greatswords too. Some very nice greatswords out there like Cleaver.

Brynn · Post by **Brynn** » Tue Dec 07, 2004 5:39 am

I had my Fighter use doubleaxe throughout the game. Executioner's Wife can be bought at the very beginning the game (1d12), and it's improved versions are also available later (the best I found was 1d12+5, gave you some kind of magical abilities as well, iirc).

winter sorrow · Post by **winter sorrow** » Tue Dec 07, 2004 6:58 am

Slings are nice. They can do decent damage. But I don't think that the ability to use a shield at the same time is all that overpowering for a long range attacker. If the enemy closes up on you, your attack penalty is -4 at best if you have precise shot. If you are attacking enemy archers they tend to focus their attacks on your melee tanks instead, so the extra AC from using a shield is not so beneficial.

I think crossbows are among the best ranged weapons - better than slings anyway. I think a basic bolt does 1d8 damage. For comparison purposes, that's already +4 extra damage potential than a sling bullet, for which you'd need 20 or more strength to better. Plus, you can get a basic heavy crossbow near the start of the game for free which adds +2 attack and +2 damage on top of that. You can get a heavy crossbow+1 quite early in the game to bring the bonuses to +3: it's pretty late before you get a sling+3. Only the rate of fire can be a problem if you have difficulty getting the better crossbows later on.

I'm a bit torn between the greatsword and 2 handed axe. I definitely get more crit hits with my greatsword than with the 2 handed axe. Specialising in axes though is a good, versatile choice as you can go shield+(1 handed axe) in tank mode then when your clerics / magi have stunned / held the enemy, you can switch to 2 handed axe and butcher everyone.

Out of the crushing weapons, I really like hammers. The major problem though is getting the good ones in the game. You get your first decent hammer outside the ice palace, +2 with lightning damage. Then it's pot luck for the most part.

Maces are a good choice. Quite a lot of nice maces with good effects in the game.

lompo · Post by **lompo** » Thu Dec 09, 2004 3:03 am

Axes are very good options because cover high damage weapons (2handed), ranged and sigle handed, so they offer a wide choice, plus you get some good one for sure (no random drops) from the beginning.
I wouldn't forget Halaberds as high damage weapons, you can buy (no random drop) the halaberd of Hate, which is one of the most damaging weapon in the game and you can get Lucern (but forgot if is a random drop) which is the the equivalent of mace of disruption (great vs. undead and demons).
As for blunt mace are good choice, you are sure to put your hands on some good ones (plus MoD).