Overrated/Underrated weapons

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He Drew - you're right.

 

I've never had it happen either and I don't think it would work in this way, this is mainly because it is a weapon effect, it would be akin bonus fire damage rebounding (which has also never happened to me).

I guess with Carsomyr, just about every Paladin in his right mind would use it for a significant portion of the game, above any other weapon. It's also available fairly early and doesn't require any upgrade process for the +5 version.

 

I have always liked ilbratha for warriors that have four weapon slots. It is only +1, but that does not matter. The ability for a fighter to cast mirror-image on themselves when this weapon is not even in-hand, makes it very useful.

 

True. I try to look at it as him finishing up his final job and some loose ends and then based on the rediculous ammount of gold he makes for a few more months with the party he is retiring as well as looking after his daughters future in a fashion that lets him make up for lost time and make sure that His Daughter doesn't have to do the same.

 

The problem with BG2 and ToB is that at higher levels players expect stronger weapons; this translate into more powerful weapons.

A table top player of the AD&D games know how hard it was to acquire a +2 or +3 weapon without any other enhancements. That is why when I play the game I make sure each character has a specific weapon they prefer; the characters use that weapon 80-90% of the time. When needed a stronger weapon is used but return to the back pack after the battle.

For instance, the last time I played my Ranger dual wield two long swords and one of them was one that is acquired very early on in the game that provide a unique bonus. I belive it provides a +3 Cha?

 

Did I read this right?? Picking a character because he wields the most powerful dispel magic ability in the game as a regular ability, and because he can use one of the most spectacularly powerful melee weapons in the game, are two really bad reasons?? What the...?

Also, if you have TOB, try using a kensai dualled to a thief as CHARNAME sometime. With the UAI ability, the character can use every item, including the Avenger.

If you don't want Keldorn, paladins are among the most powerful standalone CHARNAME characters you can choose (aside from finger wagglers). They get great abilities, have an awesome selection of weapons and armor, and if you have TOB, they don't even have to use Carsomyr to wield heavy-duty weapons thanks to Watcher's Keep having the two bastard swords (Foebane, Purifier).

 

Guess why me and my brother love the first BG, getting even a +2 dagger there makes you feel like you've been granted with something extremely powerful and appreciate it.
Unlike in BG II where they just fall out of the sky, in ToB, for example, every merchant seems to have tons of +3 weapons, which makes my eyes bleed blood. Is there a in-game company that somehow manufactures them with minimum wage wizards?

The charisma boosting weapon you're thinking of is Blade of Roses +3 and it gives +2 to CHA. Great weapon in the beginning.

 

powergaming is never good in my book.

That goes for the rest of your post as well.

Carsomyr is not powerful. It's only useful abilities are 50% magic resistance and +5, (+6 at the very end of ToB). As it were, what's the point of having 2 dispels on the same character? Keldorn is more likely to completely de-buff your party than just remove harmful effects a third level mage spell can cover.

 

Seeing as there's only a handful of +6 weapons in ToB (and this is one of them), I'd say that makes it pretty powerful. Also, 50% magic resistance is 50% magic resistance. How does that not make one powerful? I don't believe you made a good argument there for why it isn't powerful. I'm not convinced.

 

But what has the ver good dispel ability with powergaming or not to do? It's really a good dispel Keldorn has, and debuffing your party is - I guess - only needed when things go bad, otherwise it can be used at a distance. I tend to use his abilities a lot when having him in my party, and IMO Carsomyr is a great weapon, even in this game, wich is loaded with uberitems.

Edit: Hehe

 

I think Drizzts weapons are way overrated. Scimitar +3: Frostbrand is just a +3 scimitar with 50% fire resistance. Scimitar +5efender is a +5 scimitar with +2 ac which is better. But I'd rather have my beserker dual weilding Crom Faeyr in the main hand for 25 STR, +5 electrical damage, ability to kil trolls and clay golems which drizzts weapons can't even do and a fantastic blue glow! And in the off hand The equalizer +3 for extra damage for both weapons and immunity to charm, confusion and again that great blue glow.

 

50% resistance gets removed by everysingle NPC mage in the first round when they cast lower resistance, whether or not you actually have any.

+5 and +6 weapons mean nothing against protection from magical weapons or stoneskin, which is the majority of spells cast by casters. Everything else gets hit anyway, except for demi-liches. Yes, Carsomyr is awesome against demi-liches.

Not saying it's not an AWESOME weapon, just saying it's overrated. There are more useful weapons in the BG game than Carsomyr.

 

Every single one, huh? I remember maybe two of them and the dragons. And those guys are probably evil, meaning when you do extra damage to them.

...which are dispelled every time Carsomyr hits the opponent. Trust me, it is THE weapon, or sword atleast .

 

I guess ya got me . But by every single mage - I do mean every mage that isn't a bandit mage . They are all evil, but you get more damage out of a fighter with grandmastery on the same target with a lesser sword.


EDIT: and to test this, I did use carsomyr with Keldorn and a berserker with Soul Reaver.

Keldorn hits the target sooner, berserker kills it faster. Together, well... I guess Carsomyr is good for something .

 

But not if they have Prot from Magic Weapons or Stoneskin... you said so yourself.

 

I also said I have a mage breach the protections, so the Carsomyr's Dispel doesn't really help in melee - that would've been a better argument against myself earlier .


Edit: At this point I am admitting Carsomyr is more solid than I previously mentioned . But for all the praise it gets, I still don't like the paladin requirement.

 

Now I understand. The Carsomyr isn't the best weapon to you due to the tactics you use. Thanks for clearing it up.

 

My second (and latest) time through ToB I dualed Sarevock to a thief just to be able to use Carsomyr once he got the HLA. Too bad it didn't work out... when I finished he was merely three levels from that ability

Oh yeah, my other time through ToB my bard PC used it when he went melee... so it was pretty much more for the novelty than anything.

 

Another consideration with all of the +6 weapons is that they can cut straight through mantle and Absolute Immunity; these seem to be employed more often by higher level, more challenging magic users, even moreso than Prot. Magic weapons (that can be gotten around by using normal weapons). Using this can allow you to take out a normally very difficult spell caster long before they are able to let out any of their nastier spells.
Note this is changed in IA, all +6 weapons are considered +5 in determining what they can hit (they still get the THAC0 and damage bonuses though), and as Absolute Immunity becomes more powerful (it's a 9th lvl spell after all ).

Edit: Cheers Sikret, yeah I did mean Absolute Immunity (changed it just then)

[ August 29, 2007, 13:26: Message edited by: Stu ]

 

Very true. (Though I'm sure you meant to write "Absolute Immunity" rather than "Improved Mantle")