What do you like for a LongSword?

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I have Namarra and Blade of Roses and Ras (huh?) right now it seems like Blade of the Roses is the best. Next I am shooting for Black Razor or DayStar. After that I figure one of the ToB swords will be best. Just looking for what you like.

 

For ToB I would say the best longsword is Angurvadal +5, as it's a plus +5 weapon that raises your strength to 22. It's an awesome offhand weapon. Combine it with something like the Spectral Brand (+5 Scimitar) in the main hand, which has an armor piercing strike (+10 to hit), and your fighter/mage will be a monster in melee!

 

I like the flametounge since it is one of the few (if not only) longsword that can hit enemies that require a +4 weapon in SOA. Not something to use all the time but really nice to have for certain key fights.

 

Most longswords are mainly useful for the on-use abilities they possess. Namarra, Ras and Daystar are among these. For actual combat, there are others like Adjatha, the Blade of Roses, the Equalizer, Dragonsbane and Flametongue. You can switch to Daystar against undead though.

 

I am confused I thought the FlameTongue was only plus 4 vs Undead? Is this not correct? I already sold it doh thinking I would be using DayStar vs Undead. I love using FoA and I just need an offhand.

Do you agree Blade Of Roses is my best option atm?

Also, I can either go Scmitar or Katana as my last weapon (have 3 two weapon fighting, 2 flail and 2 long sword. Which would you suggest? The Katana that stuns sounds pretty good.

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I did a litte more reading and no one seems to mention Blade of Roses as better then Flametongue.


Last night, I looked at both their stats and Blade of Roses seemed better with better THAC0 and numbers vs everything except Undead. Does Flametongue work as plus 4 vs everything or just Undead?


Using FOA in main hand like I said and looking for good offhand Long Sword at least until I take Katana or Scmitar (long time I think). I just don't get why Flametongue is that good.

 

It's just an odd rule within D&D -- the highest 'plus' is used to determine what you can hit (some creatures require magic weapon above a certain plus to hit them -- flametongue can hit just about anything). The actual pluses to hit and damage are as it is listed.

The equalizer is an excellent off-hand weapon for the immunities you get.

 

So, then it must be a display error that Flametongue only gives plus 4 to Undead. It seems like its plus 1 vs everything except (regeners,Ice and Fire foes).

 

It's not an error.

 

Even though the flametongue only does +4 damage to undead, I believe it is still considered a +4 weapon for determining what it can hit... in all situations. Some enemies can only be hit with +3 weapons, +4 weapons, etc. So this is a weapon that can break through anything except those enemies that require a +5 weapon to hit.

 

Most weapons that are considered +x to hit a specific enemy type have this actually as a general trait. So Flametongue and Daystar are considered +4 when determining what they can hit if the enemy is undead, as it says in the description, but what it doesn't say is that they are actually considered +4 when determining what they can hit for all enemies. I'm not sure if this is an engine limitation or just the way they programmed it.

As such, Daystar is a fairly good weapon if you don't have any other +4 weapons, and is an excellent weapon against undead. What makes it especially good is that there are a few tough undead enemies (greater mummies, demi-liches) who have some form of damage resistance. A demi-lich you will only generally hit for 2-3 hitpoints per hit, for instance - with any +4 weapon. But the bonus damage on the Daystar isn't subject to this damage resistance and will therefore easily triple or quadruple your damage - per hit.

Aside from that, Angurvadal +5 in ToB is a good longsword, the Equalizer is a great off-hand weapon for the charm and confusion immunity it conveys, Blackrazor's chance for haste and heal is great too.

As for overall load-out, if I have a barbarian in my party, (s)he will generally be carrying Angurvadal +5, The Equalizer, Blackrazor, Axe of the Unyielding +5 and Foebane +5 in his or her quickslots. For occasional use he'll typically have Celestial Fury, Hindo's Doom, The Answerer and Spectral Brand +5 in his or her inventory as well (if no-one else is using them, obviously).

 

There are so many good longswords I often have 2 people proficient in them to make use of all their cool effects.

The Answerer is awesome against certain foes, and Blackrazor is epic when you get it. In combination with a strength item it often set my strength to 25 which is the max and healed me fully at the end of most fights. You can even get it without turning evil.

My vote would be for scimitars. Celestial fury is awesome but in the later game some tough opponents will be immune to it. Spectral Brand is great for an offhand weapon and before that Belm is very good.

 

Daystar doesn't hit as a +4 weapon, which is one of the reasons why Flametongue is unique. It does seem to be an engine limitation.

A kind of guideline is to check the weapon's name (the title in the description) and see if it contains the line "+x against...". If this is the case, it will usually hit as a +x weapon against that creature type.

 

It doesn't? Then probably the G3fixpack (or was that tweakpack) fixes this in my game. Because in my game it certainly does hit like a +4 weapon.

The Answerer is ok against some enemies, I guess, but generally I find these "-something per hit" weapons not really worth it. That's because generally you'll kill the enemies before it really starts to have an effect. The best use I've found for these type of weapons is in using the Soul Reaver +4 on the demon on the second level of the Watcher's Keep. He's resistant to most forms of damage so doesn't take a lot of damage per hit, which means that you get to hit him a lot before he goes down. And the Soul Reaver gives a cumulative -2 THAC0 per hit.

So a greater whirlwind with the Soul Reaver will give him a lot of negative THAC0 (technically positive THAC0, I guess), so after a bit of hitting him, he wont be able to hit anyone anymore, which makes him a walk in the park.

 

It is fixed in one of the fixpacks or tweakpacks. The warhammer +1, +4 vs giants also acts as a +4 weapon against Kangaxx. All weapons except daystar (I think) hit creatures using the greater number. IIRC, only Daystar was different, so they fixed it for consistency.

It's not in the engine, it's in the .itm file. It is an engine limitation that you can only have one "plus level" for a weapon, unlike P&P.

Is it a rule in D&D? I thought that in P&P if a weapon is say +2, +4 vs undead, then you can only hit creatures that are affected by +2 weapons unless they are undead, in which case you can hit +4.
Maybe that was a house rule, it's been 15 years since my D&D group broke up, half my lifetime ago. What was a house rule and what was a core rule is blurring together if I don't have something like a CRPG to remind me.

 

I think this is the best answer given so far. In SoA, you're never going to use one longsword all the time. You have multiple weapon slots, and the characters I have that made specialized in longswords usually had at least two (sometimes three) equipped in their quick slots. The different longsowrds with different bonuses against different enemies should be used when they are most effective.

I agree that in ToB, Angruvadal is probably your best bet (although the Answerer isn't bad either), but until then you want to mix it up and use whatever makes the most sense for a given battle.

 

By the time I get to ToB, I like to have characters with the following weapon skills:

Halberd and 2-handed sword (Sarevok starts with these so it's taken care of)
Axe and either hammer or long sword with 2 weapon fighting
Flail and either hammer or long sword with 2 weapon fighting
Staff
Spear

There are three "insta-kill" weapons in the game -- a two-handed sword (you can get in Chapter Six of SoA but is only +3), an axe (+5), and an halberd (+6). I just love that little ghost.

 

Vorrrrrpal hit! I love it. The two-handed sword is by far the best for that, though. 25% to vorpal hit is just great.

 

Yea this is true in my unmodded game. Flametongue is useful for tat very reason though if you have a mod that changes daystar that is the superior choice.

Even so Daystar should be kept around at all times on one character just in case, even if you lack proficiency. 1/day sunray for undead emergencies is a vital survival strategy.

Vampire surprise attack in town? Activate daystar and watch as a bunch fall dead letting you mop up with ease.

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I agree with you as it seems that longswords are a great "tool" weapon proficiency where you change types to suit specific battles. Most other weapons have obvious best weapons that you would rarely change ( staff, flail, etc).

By the by I too love the answerer and I wish I used it more often. If it was +6 it would be perfect...oh well.