Undead Hunter - Weapon Selection

Remove all ads!

I'm going to go through the game next time (SoA first) with an Undead Hunter. My party is going to be a party consisting of the best "good" characters in the game. By "good" I mean in terms of alignment - not effectiveness in battle. So I'm looking at my Undead Hunter, Keldorn, Anomen (taking the good path in his quest obviously), Mazzy, Imoen and Aerie.

Now, as an undead hunter, it seems only appropriate that I select proficiencies in weapons that are specifically designed for killing undead. In SoA, you're looking at Azuredge (sp?), Daystar, and Improved Mace of Disruption. In ToB, you have Runehammer, and to a lesser extent, Purifier.

Now obviously, I'm not going to get two proficiency points in two weapon style, maces, axes, war hammers, long swords, and bastard swords. Maybe it's possible by the end of the game, but not overly practical up to that point.

In your opinion, what do you think are the most undead based weapons? At this point, I'm leaning towards axes and maces at first, because MoD and Azuredge both have the ability to destroy undead. Azeredge also has the nice ability that it can be thrown if you want to, although I don't know if from a role playing perspective if an axe is really a weapon a paladin would chose. If roleplaying, there's no way my paladin would "know" that there's a really good axe he could use once he frees Hendak. There's no roleplaying problem with maces or long swords - those are definitely paladin-type weapons.

As far as other members of the party are concerned (in terms of weapon selection) I would plan on the following:

Keldorn - Carsomyr
Anomen - Flail of the Ages - maybe Maces - so in theory he could get the MoD
Mazzy - Gesen eventually - probably the Trademeet bow throughout much of SoA
Imoen - Whatever bow Mazzy doesn't have
Aerie - probably the Sling of Everard (the one that fires +5 bullets - I don't know if that's the right name though)

So given that, what are the thoughts out there?

 

Mace of Disruption on an Undead Hunter is a waste. The improved MOD gives negative plane protection but the Undead Hunter is already immune to level drain. Let someone else wield it and join you in slaughtering the undead. Daystar and Azuredge are certainly appropriate choices, however.

Most of all, though, you want to wield Carsomyr. Keldorn's own weapon is the best two handed sword in the game apart from Carsomyr, so let him keep it. If he needs to hit something immune to +2 weapons he can use Lilarcor or the Blade of Roses. PC Paladin and no Carsomyr? Seems like a waste.

 

For real! Undead Hunter is part of the Paladin kit, so Carsomyr is yours for the taking.

Angurvadal is also a good choice later on for your party. Once you improve it, it gives the wielder Negative Plane Protection.

Don't forget Hindo's Doom, as that katana has a history of battling undead, and casts Restoration. This weapon could be good if you ever desire Valygar (also a good-aligned character) as a substitute in your party, or generally good to assign profiency points for other characters.

I believe Psion's Blade +5 could help Minsc out vs. undead's Charm-type spells if you ever desire good-aligned Minsc in your party.

Bone Club late in SoA. Don't forget Amulet of Power for Aarie.

 

I completely disagree that Keldorn's sword is the best two-handed sword in the game after Carsomyr. First of all, it's only +2, so it's useless against most of the tougher enemies in the game, which is when you need a weapon the most. Secondly, the ability it has does 5 points of damage to the attacker. Big deal. Five points means very little to most creatures even in SoA, not to mention ToB. Thirdly, the most annoying effect is if you get into a random encounter in town and Keldorn gets hit. He does deal five points of damage, but that causes the Cowled Wizards to show up - evidently the game considers this ability a spell - and that can get really annoying in a hurry.

Now, I will agree that Carsomyr is probably the best weapon in the game, certainly the best a paladin can use at any rate. However, I am building this party from a role-playing perspective. Now, keep in mind I have two paladins. One is an inquisitor, and the other is an undead hunter. Given the fact that inquisitors are mage killing machines, does it not make sense to give Carsomyr, with its additional abilities of magic resistance and additional dispel magics to a wielder that can make best use of its abilities? I'm not saying Carsomyr isn't a good weapon, or any party containing a paladin shouldn't make every effort to acquire it, I'm merely saying that if you have an inquisitor and an undead hunter, and you are role playing, the inquisitor should get Carsomyr.

Besides, in ToB, the combination of Angurvadal and Purifier gives you almost the same stat bonuses as Carsomyr. Granted, that's much later than when you acquire Carsomyr, but if you're looking at the end game, the two characters are pretty even.

Geez - you try and role-play a character and look what happens - you commit the ultimate unthinkable sin of not putting Carsomyr on your paladin PC. Sheesh. I was still using it - it's just a different strategy than most would employ, but it's role-playing based, and is also taking into account that most parties don't have two paladins.

 

From a role playing perspective, an undead hunter would not bother with the Improved Mace of Disruption -- he'd give it to someone else so they would have protection as well. When I played an Undead Hunter, I had him use the Blade of Roses (early on, that is) and a shield -- he already has planty of bonuses to hit Undead, so I just gave him a good weapon and let him fly. I gave him the Flail of Ages later on.

 

While it is true that the sword is the traditional weapon of the Paladin, if you look to the original stories of the Paladins there are instances where a Paladin is said to have wielded a battle-axe. For example, in the duel between Rinaldo (one of the Paladins) and Rogero, Rinaldo has the choice of weapons and selects battle-axes.

 

They can't use it in the vanilla, unpatched SoA.

 

Undead hunter:
shield of balduran (vs beholders)
mace of disruption\daystar (vs undead obvious)
carsomyr (standard weapon)
shield of harmony (protection against charm like spells which vampires tend to cast alot of).

 

When I said that Keldorn's sword, Hallowed Redeemer, was one of the best two handed swords in the game, I meant SOA (where you'll spend most of your adventuring time), not TOB.

Of course, you can play a paladin and give the Holy Sword to an NPC. I played a paladin character a while ago and never used it myself (I used Celestial Fury; however, seeing the brutal effectiveness of Carsomyr again in my last time through I wish I had used it). But look at Keldorn's proficiencies: he can use longswords and bastard swords with equal facility. I guess that the designers intended for you to let him use something else if you played a PC paladin.

 

good reply chris

sometimes i skip carsomyr and use bastard swords for keldorn instead (purifier and foebane comes in mind as well as jhor the bleeder).

this game is stacked to the brink of destruction with good weapons

and the bonus merchants only makes things worse

though scarlet ninja-2 +3 is a nice and welcome weapon

 

Want to do something really perverse with Carsomyr? Take Haer'Dalis, let him get one point in two handed swords and Use Any Item and then give it to him! Better still, Jan Jansen! The +5 to hit bonus should just about overcome his no proficiency penalty.

 

hehe, nice suggestio chris.

never thought of jan using it

though i had a assasin use it when she didnt do backstab ops.

 

Having a rogue use Carsomyr is just too funny -- I love it! You can really equip Jan or Haer'Dalis with some nifty stuff in ToB!

 

@ Chris

Sorry, I didn't mean to jump down your throat, and I didn't know you meant only SoA. Still, I would contend that I'd take Lilacor over the Hallowed Redeemer.

@ dmc

No, I don't have the Item Upgrade Mod. The only thing I currently have installed is the latest patch. Given that, I have no idea what the upgraded Hallowed Redeemer does. Still, I think that Keldorn may be willing to put away the Hallowed Redeemer for Carsomyr. I mean - it's a Holy Avenger sword - the very epitome of power in paladinhood. Yes, he obviously has a deeply vested emotional attachment to Hallowed Redeemer, but he is also intelligent enough to know when he has a better tool to use...

 

"Azeredge also has the nice ability that it can be thrown if you want to, although I don't know if from a role playing perspective if an axe is really a weapon a paladin would chose."

You know, swords weren't the only weapons (or even the most common) warriors used in the middle ages, etc.

 

For some anecdotal evidence: Bevier, Berit and Ulath in the Elenium were definitely paladins (magic-casting knights of the church) and they all used axes.

I wouldn't see any problem with it.

 

Oh, I'm definitely sure that swords weren't the only weapons of the Middle Ages. I'm a member of the Adrian Empire (specifically the Dutchie of the Chesapeake) and axes are certainly used. However, when I envision a "knight in shining armor" I always envision him armed with a sword. Yes, many people used weapons apart from swords. Foot soldiers usually used some form of spear, pike, or poleaxe. Alternatively, they used a war hammer and shield. For the more barbaric tribes of central Europe, the axe (more like a hatchet) was the weapon of choice.