Worthwhile Weapon Proficiencies

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I'm playing through on normal mode. I was wondering what weapon types it was worth getting proficiencies in for my fighter-y characters. Obviously I have large sword for my Paladin, but what other good weapons appear later in the game that I can 'prepare' for?

 

There are loads of different magic weapons in this game, unlike BG2, where there are definite mega-weapons to aim for.

In a normal party, you'll usually want someone using a two handed weapon so choose one of those (Greatsword have the highest damage potential) for that high strength character.

There are also some cool bows and crossbows to take advantage of and some great axes which are good if you have a dwarf.

The only thing there aren't really that many of are Bastard Swords, unless you have the Ease of Use mod, in which case there are loads of them.

 

Thanks for the heads-up. I was actually considering trying Bastard Sword so I'll probably rethink that now. I don't usually use two-handed melee weapons in IWD2 because you lose the shield AC bonus. Is there some way to compensate? What kind of AC should you have as a melee fighter by the end of the game to be able to get by? I can't remember, as I haven't played for a while.

 

It's good to have at least one two handed melee fighter purely as a way of getting past enemies with damage reduction. The higher damage output of a two handed weapon means you are more likely to actually have an impact on someone who ignores, say, the first 10hp of any hit.

Sure, this can mean an AC sacrifice, but you can make this up by using buffing spells or by positioning the character behind a high AC one and using the extra reach provided by a two handed weapon.

 

In terms of average damage, the best two weapons you are guaranteed to get are both Halberds (Halberd of the North & Pudu's Blight). Massive Halberd of Hate +4 is also good, but you rarely meet good aligned monsters to fight. They all appear late in the game though...
However, in terms of random drops, Greataxes are the best. Unlike swords, that have four different proficiencies (Simple (short sword), Martial (longsword, greatsword) and Exotic (bastard sword)), ALL axes are grouped into one proficiency.
I personally think this is rather unfair.

Also note: if you are lucky enough to get the Club of Freezing Flames +5 - use it! It is THE best 1-handed weapon in the game (believe it or not)!

 

I've never encountered any of those cool weapons! I love random treasure like that.

 

2 handed weapons are a must for melee characters. The reach and the 1.5 strength multiplier more than make up for the lost of ac. Axes IMO are the best choice. They offer the combination of being able to deal the most possible damage (d12) and having the highest critical hit multiplier (x3). And you can find some decent axes reletively early in the game. Also, if you plan to get the maximized attack feat, you need to specialize in 2 weapons. I would choose a blunt weapon (mace, hammer, flail). This is for dealing with golems. Maces are the most plentiful and offer the most variety in the game so I would go along with picking that over the other blunt weapons.

[ August 07, 2006, 19:16: Message edited by: KL ]

 

I agree with KL, 2-handed weapons are great. Raise strength as high as possible for your warriors.

Large sword specialisation is nearly wasted for paladins, you won't find a decent one before near the end of the game and shortly thereafter you will get some "greatswords of the soulless +5".
I regretted my fighter4/paladin's specialization in longswords.

You can win a club of disruption +5 in the battle square battles, this is probably the best 1-handed weapon you will find, you can also win a spear+4, a shortsword+5 and a throwing axe there if you are patient and skilled enough.

You can buy a +4 weapons of any kind later in the game, so any weapon choice is playable.

Greatswords, axes and halberds are the best weapons, have each of your warriors use one of them.

A second point in a weapon just gives +1 attack bonus with this weapon, not very much. There are far better feats like rapid shot for example.
The +2 extra damage for the third point is more useful.

I wouldn't specialize in crossbows, you won't get extra attacks when you level up.

There are nice bows in the game, but you get the same number of attacks/round with darts, slings or throwing weapons (axes !!!, hammers, daggers) and get an additional strength bonus.
With spells like champion's strength you'll do far more damage that way unless you use expensive magical arrows.

If you have fighters I'd consider getting +++ in greatswords, axes or halberds, else I wouldn't spend feats for weapon specialisation early.

 

Two handed weapons are essential for getting past damage reduction. Nothing more frustrating than whacking some monster and constantly getting the message that they are immune to your damage because you're not doing enough and only hurt them on critical hits. Give your warrior a Greatsword and suddenly you're carving them up all over the place.

 

Hmm... This may sound a bit odd, but how useful is Weapon Proficiency, Focus or Specialisation? There is a number of better feats that you take later just so you could start off with Focus because Focus is best taken early, as is Specialisation. But... why actually take it all, in that case? If you don't take these in the beginning, you may find yourself hardly interested in them later in the game unless you're a fighter with more feats than you can think of ways of spending. But even then you may find more interesting choices.

 

I don't think there are necessarily all that many great feats to choose from. A lot of them are just better saving throws, which I don't see the point in really when they're usually for spells that attack anyone in the vicinity so if it doesn't screw that character, it usually will someone else.

By the by, is Cleave actually any use? By my understanding all it does is, if you kill an enemy, it lets you attack a nearby enemy immediately. I can't remember any times when I've played the game that I remember seeing in the dialogue box any of my characters actually using it.

 

Cleave comes up all the time for me. It can be a lifesaver in long battles.

Great Cleave, on the other hand, is rubbish and will almost never do anything (although it would look pretty spectacular if it did).

 

OMG cleave NEVER works for me ... eva. For example, my fighter will kill a monster and then perhaps there would be 20 around the one i just killed and then NOTHING would happen whats's goin on!!!

 

Well, as you cannot move before getting the free attack, there could be any number of opponents near the monster you killed, but they may be just out of your weapon range. I'm pretty sure this means Cleave is best used with a character wielding a two-handed weapon as you have a longer reach with which to attack.

This is additional proof that two-handed weapons are just all-round great.

I never really got much use out of it in my game, though it has been so long I struggle to remember now. As Harbourboy said, Great Cleave isn't really all that great and should probably be skipped.