POLL: How would you handle +x/+y weapons?

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I noticed this while cruising through Near Infinity the other day: the Hammer +1/+4 vs Giantkin is coded as a +4 weapon, meaning it should hit demi-liches. At first I thought this was clearly a bug, since Daystar is only considered a +2 weapon (despite being +4 vs evil) when determining what it can hit. After going through some other item files I discovered the enchantment level--what actually determines what a weapon can hit--is applied inconsistently by Bioware (this is with ToB installed and Baldurdashed).

Hammer +1/+4 vs Giantkin is +4
Daystar +2/+4 vs Evil is +2
Bone Club +2/+3 vs Undead is +3
Root of the Problem +1/+3 vs unnatural is +3
Bastard Sword +1/+3 vs shapeshifters is +1
Equalizer (+0 to +3 depending on alignment of target) is +3

Due to limitations in the Infinity Engine, you can alter effects, damage, THAC0, etc. based on the target, but the enchantment level is fixed and applies to every target. For example, against Kangaxx's demi-lich form, Daystar may add +4 THAC0 since he's evil but it will never hit him as he requires a +4 weapon to be hit.

As a PnP DM, this is easy to address. However, given the limitations of IE, what, if anything, would you change?

Poll Information
This poll contains 1 question(s). 20 user(s) have voted.
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Poll Results: How would you handle +x/+y weapons? (20 votes.)

In general, how would you treat +x/+y weapons in BG2? (Choose 1)
* Use the maximum (+1/+4 Hammer is +4) - 45% (9)
* Use the minimum (+1/+4 Hammer is +1) - 40% (8)
* Leave unchanged - 5% (1)
* Other (please explain in a post) - 10% (2)

 

I would think it should be the maximum, since an otherwise small improvement in the weapon hardly seems worthwhile, given that it only applies in limited circumstances.

 

I would go for using the maximum because although the weapon could hit other creatures than the one(s) it advertises, it would still not have the THAC0 bonus or the Damage bonus.

If it used the minimum, then all these weapons would be useless.

 

Good post - I never realized that statistic was true, although I did know from experience that Daystar didn't hit the Demi-Lich.

I suppose that for the weapon to be useful, it has to go with the maximum - although clearly that isn't the case with Daystar. It's too bad that it can't change based on the creature you're attacking - clearly the Giantkin hammer isn't supposed to be able to hit Kaaganx, but that's what we have now...

 

I voted minimum.
Because of the obvious reason that, take the Giantkin hammer for example, is made as it is. +1, +4 VS GIANT KIN. Therefor it will hit as +1 as long as it isn´t any Giantkin you´re hitting.

Say you made a "Knife of Fire, + Ice vs Giants". Do you think it would do icedamage all the time? No, cuz then it would be called "Knife of Fire and Ice".

 

Other.

Being misled by the item's descriptions (albiet accidently through engine limitations) and finding out their true abilities by experimentation and accident is all part of the game. Think about what happened to poor Edwin.

A patch for the game would need to remove the current engine limitations and fix the problem properly, any other type of fix would not be worth while.