Best Enchantments for Weapons? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Best Enchantments for Weapons? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
DwarvenLord77
06-12-07, 11:46 AM I've been reading alot about the different enchantments people can put on weapons. Particularly the elemental damage ones and people would post things saying that if frost/flaming/shocking burst were the best players could come up with then the DM was lucky.

That being said what are some of the really good enchantments that are refered to.
mvincent
06-12-07, 12:32 PM what are some of the really good enchantments Holy, because:
1) Most opponents tend to be evil (+2d6 damage)
2) Energy resistance doesn't reduce the damage (and at higher levels many opponents have energy resistance)
3) It allows you to get through the DR of many likely opponents (especially demons and devils)

I also like spell-storing myself (since most battles tend to be over fairly quickly anyways, this one-shot effect can make a big difference)
jaelis
06-12-07, 12:48 PM Wounding can be quite nice, as can speed.

But for a big strong fighter, a plain enhancement bonus is often best. You do a lot of damage when you hit already, what you want to do is hit more often.
ZiggZagg
06-12-07, 12:55 PM Discipline enhancements from ToB...of course, they are only useful if you are a martial adept. Those things are like gold for Swordsages
Rulebook
06-12-07, 01:05 PM Bane 4 teh w1nz0rZ yo. no seriously. bane weapons rule. Especially Undead, Construct, and Evil Outsider.

a +X Holy, Evil Outsider bane weapon is a nice demon/devil slayer

and Magebane though borderline broken, is pretty sweet too. especially given that almost everything you fight later on in your career is gonna have spells or SLA'a
crizhII
06-12-07, 01:47 PM Bane 4 teh w1nz0rZ yo. no seriously. bane weapons rule. Especially Undead, Construct, and Evil Outsider.

a +X Holy, Evil Outsider bane weapon is a nice demon/devil slayer

and Magebane though borderline broken, is pretty sweet too. especially given that almost everything you fight later on in your career is gonna have spells or SLA'a

I totally agree with Magebane, particularly if you compare it to Psibane in the EPH.

I hear it's been hit with a nerf-stick recently but I don't know the details. It doesn't effect my game (books in use are set and no more will be permitted) but it will certainly affect how much use others will get from it.
mvincent
06-12-07, 01:49 PM Wounding can be quite niceOptimal at level 14 and above.

as can speed.Sub-optimal (boots of speed are typically better).

for a big strong fighter, a plain enhancement bonus is often best.For chronic optimizers: the Greater magic weapon spell can supply the plain enhancement bonus, allowing one to spend their loot on abilities instead.
lint trap
06-12-07, 01:53 PM I totally agree with Magebane, particularly if you compare it to Psibane in the EPH.

I hear it's been hit with a nerf-stick recently but I don't know the details.

Nope; in the MIC, Magebane is as good as ever.

Some other favorites of mine are Sacred and Valorous for melee weapons and Force and Splitting for bows.
jaelis
06-12-07, 02:15 PM Optimal at level 14 and above.

Well, technically, when fighting opponents with 14 or more hit dice. That could easily become common at lower levels. A frost giant is there already at CR 9.

Sub-optimal (boots of speed are typically better).

Fair enough. Although that's just a testament to how good the boots are, I think speed is still a decent ability in and of itself.
DS
06-12-07, 02:51 PM Nope; in the MIC, Magebane is as good as ever.

It is so not! It now only affects creatures with Arcane Spells and Invocations. Cutting out SLAs completely hoses it. I don't even consider it 30% as good as it used to be.
lint trap
06-12-07, 03:05 PM Crap, I glossed over that part. Guess it was too good to be true.
Bauglir
06-12-07, 03:07 PM I like the Enervating one on a Rapier or Scimitar. You're critting 1/4 times, and if you've got Full BAB, that means that by level 16, you'll crit an average of once per round. Tossing around a negative level once per round is most definitely worth a +2 enhancement bonus, in my opinion. Pity it doesn't work on Undead and Constructs, but it's still nice.
tarkin
06-12-07, 03:39 PM Rapier or Scimitar THREATEN to crit (they don't succeed automatically) 18-20 =15% of the time, assuming 18 or better counts as a hit. Yes, you can boost that up to 30% with Improved Critical, but even then, you have to worry about confirming.

If you are playing in a typical game, about 50% of your attacks should hit, which is usually identical to confirming (assuming you are doing a full attack - your highest BAB should hit most of the time, but the iterative attacks lower the percentage back on down to close to 50%).

That means with the feat Improved Critical, normall expection should be critting around 15% of the your attacks, not 25%.

That works out to 1 confirmed crit out of every 7 attacks or so.

That also requires the victims be critable. Many creatures are not. That depends a lot on your game, but I would expect at LEAST 5% or targets to be immune. 10% is a more likely number, and honestly 50% or higher is not unlikely in certain games (undead focus can be common)
Bauglir
06-12-07, 03:59 PM Eh, that's true I suppose. Still, in most of the campaigns I've played, while a lot of encounters do in fact have un-crittable enemies, the important/most difficult battles have usually had at least one living opponent. Plus, if you're building a character designed to critical, it's easy to almost auto-confirm critical hits (CW has a feat that adds +4 to confirm criticals, and it stacks with itself as I recall). True, most characters won't be built to do this, but is still pretty effective (yay, Dervish, though). And the 15-20 is just an assumption that any melee character using a rapier or scimitar will have it keened or have improved critical, as half the point of even having one of those weapons is to have a lot of critical hits. And a tactic useful against 90% of your opponents is not a bad thing to have. Well, until they start putting up Death Ward, but that's just annoying.
AAB
06-12-07, 05:41 PM it's hard to go wrong with keen or impact.
mvincent
06-12-07, 05:54 PM it's hard to go wrong with keen or impact.Most fighter types will eventually get the improved crit feat, so Keen is frequently wasted.

Even without the feat, it appears that the keen ability doesn't become more useful than an elemental enhancement (3.5 average damage) until you start doing extremely large amounts of damage: i.e. having +19 points of damage adders (with a falchion or scythe) or +28 extra damage (with a greatsword or axe). Math available here (http://boards1.wizards.com/wotc_archive/index.php/t-626929).
Twylyght
06-12-07, 06:14 PM depends on your setting and build aswell.

In most worlds human bane can be a huge enchantment.

I can say though, the best weapon(well maybe just most enjoyable) was when I had a half-ogre master thrower with a large +2 distance, returning, orcish shotput. It was a "Seas and sails" swashbuckling game and he was the ships "main gun". Not really an overpowering weapon or even great, but it was a LOT of fun.
Optimator
06-12-07, 07:51 PM This is the best resource for weapon enchantmens I know of. (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=642656)

Also, having a weapon at least with a +3 bonus allows the best weapon augment crystals.
Radijs
06-12-07, 08:00 PM I'm partial to the bloodstone enhancement. Its like spell storing but only for a vampiric touch BUT that vampiric touch gets empowered in the weapon itself.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
DwarvenLord77 06-12-07, 11:46 AM	I've been reading alot about the different enchantments people can put on weapons. Particularly the elemental damage ones and people would post things saying that if frost/flaming/shocking burst were the best players could come up with then the DM was lucky. That being said what are some of the really good enchantments that are refered to.
mvincent 06-12-07, 12:32 PM	what are some of the really good enchantments Holy, because: 1) Most opponents tend to be evil (+2d6 damage) 2) Energy resistance doesn't reduce the damage (and at higher levels many opponents have energy resistance) 3) It allows you to get through the DR of many likely opponents (especially demons and devils) I also like spell-storing myself (since most battles tend to be over fairly quickly anyways, this one-shot effect can make a big difference)
jaelis 06-12-07, 12:48 PM	Wounding can be quite nice, as can speed. But for a big strong fighter, a plain enhancement bonus is often best. You do a lot of damage when you hit already, what you want to do is hit more often.
ZiggZagg 06-12-07, 12:55 PM	Discipline enhancements from ToB...of course, they are only useful if you are a martial adept. Those things are like gold for Swordsages
Rulebook 06-12-07, 01:05 PM	Bane 4 teh w1nz0rZ yo. no seriously. bane weapons rule. Especially Undead, Construct, and Evil Outsider. a +X Holy, Evil Outsider bane weapon is a nice demon/devil slayer and Magebane though borderline broken, is pretty sweet too. especially given that almost everything you fight later on in your career is gonna have spells or SLA'a
crizhII 06-12-07, 01:47 PM	Bane 4 teh w1nz0rZ yo. no seriously. bane weapons rule. Especially Undead, Construct, and Evil Outsider. a +X Holy, Evil Outsider bane weapon is a nice demon/devil slayer and Magebane though borderline broken, is pretty sweet too. especially given that almost everything you fight later on in your career is gonna have spells or SLA'a I totally agree with Magebane, particularly if you compare it to Psibane in the EPH. I hear it's been hit with a nerf-stick recently but I don't know the details. It doesn't effect my game (books in use are set and no more will be permitted) but it will certainly affect how much use others will get from it.
mvincent 06-12-07, 01:49 PM	Wounding can be quite niceOptimal at level 14 and above. as can speed.Sub-optimal (boots of speed are typically better). for a big strong fighter, a plain enhancement bonus is often best.For chronic optimizers: the Greater magic weapon spell can supply the plain enhancement bonus, allowing one to spend their loot on abilities instead.
lint trap 06-12-07, 01:53 PM	I totally agree with Magebane, particularly if you compare it to Psibane in the EPH. I hear it's been hit with a nerf-stick recently but I don't know the details. Nope; in the MIC, Magebane is as good as ever. Some other favorites of mine are Sacred and Valorous for melee weapons and Force and Splitting for bows.
jaelis 06-12-07, 02:15 PM	Optimal at level 14 and above. Well, technically, when fighting opponents with 14 or more hit dice. That could easily become common at lower levels. A frost giant is there already at CR 9. Sub-optimal (boots of speed are typically better). Fair enough. Although that's just a testament to how good the boots are, I think speed is still a decent ability in and of itself.
DS 06-12-07, 02:51 PM	Nope; in the MIC, Magebane is as good as ever. It is so not! It now only affects creatures with Arcane Spells and Invocations. Cutting out SLAs completely hoses it. I don't even consider it 30% as good as it used to be.
lint trap 06-12-07, 03:05 PM	Crap, I glossed over that part. Guess it was too good to be true.
Bauglir 06-12-07, 03:07 PM	I like the Enervating one on a Rapier or Scimitar. You're critting 1/4 times, and if you've got Full BAB, that means that by level 16, you'll crit an average of once per round. Tossing around a negative level once per round is most definitely worth a +2 enhancement bonus, in my opinion. Pity it doesn't work on Undead and Constructs, but it's still nice.
tarkin 06-12-07, 03:39 PM	Rapier or Scimitar THREATEN to crit (they don't succeed automatically) 18-20 =15% of the time, assuming 18 or better counts as a hit. Yes, you can boost that up to 30% with Improved Critical, but even then, you have to worry about confirming. If you are playing in a typical game, about 50% of your attacks should hit, which is usually identical to confirming (assuming you are doing a full attack - your highest BAB should hit most of the time, but the iterative attacks lower the percentage back on down to close to 50%). That means with the feat Improved Critical, normall expection should be critting around 15% of the your attacks, not 25%. That works out to 1 confirmed crit out of every 7 attacks or so. That also requires the victims be critable. Many creatures are not. That depends a lot on your game, but I would expect at LEAST 5% or targets to be immune. 10% is a more likely number, and honestly 50% or higher is not unlikely in certain games (undead focus can be common)
Bauglir 06-12-07, 03:59 PM	Eh, that's true I suppose. Still, in most of the campaigns I've played, while a lot of encounters do in fact have un-crittable enemies, the important/most difficult battles have usually had at least one living opponent. Plus, if you're building a character designed to critical, it's easy to almost auto-confirm critical hits (CW has a feat that adds +4 to confirm criticals, and it stacks with itself as I recall). True, most characters won't be built to do this, but is still pretty effective (yay, Dervish, though). And the 15-20 is just an assumption that any melee character using a rapier or scimitar will have it keened or have improved critical, as half the point of even having one of those weapons is to have a lot of critical hits. And a tactic useful against 90% of your opponents is not a bad thing to have. Well, until they start putting up Death Ward, but that's just annoying.
AAB 06-12-07, 05:41 PM	it's hard to go wrong with keen or impact.
mvincent 06-12-07, 05:54 PM	it's hard to go wrong with keen or impact.Most fighter types will eventually get the improved crit feat, so Keen is frequently wasted. Even without the feat, it appears that the keen ability doesn't become more useful than an elemental enhancement (3.5 average damage) until you start doing extremely large amounts of damage: i.e. having +19 points of damage adders (with a falchion or scythe) or +28 extra damage (with a greatsword or axe). Math available here (http://boards1.wizards.com/wotc_archive/index.php/t-626929).
Twylyght 06-12-07, 06:14 PM	depends on your setting and build aswell. In most worlds human bane can be a huge enchantment. I can say though, the best weapon(well maybe just most enjoyable) was when I had a half-ogre master thrower with a large +2 distance, returning, orcish shotput. It was a "Seas and sails" swashbuckling game and he was the ships "main gun". Not really an overpowering weapon or even great, but it was a LOT of fun.
Optimator 06-12-07, 07:51 PM	This is the best resource for weapon enchantmens I know of. (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=642656) Also, having a weapon at least with a +3 bonus allows the best weapon augment crystals.
Radijs 06-12-07, 08:00 PM	I'm partial to the bloodstone enhancement. Its like spell storing but only for a vampiric touch BUT that vampiric touch gets empowered in the weapon itself.