Post/Author/DateTime	Post
awroe 07-14-07, 01:12 PM	I'm trying to decide what weapons I need for my soon-to-be 6th level Dex rogue-fighter character. He wields a Spiked Chain, and will eventually be dual-wielding this with Armour Spikes. No Power Attack at the moment, and I probably won't fit it into the build, so getting weapons to bypass DR becomes important. I've been quite lucky with materials / enhancements, having access to three lots of Star Metal, an additional Adamantine, and a wooden piercing-based weapon, and most of the enhancements I'm likely to want. What I'm not sure about is what materials to make what weapons out of. I currently have a MW Cold Iron Spiked Chain and a MW Silver Hand Axe. For maximum effect I'm considering saving for a Starmetal Spiked Chain and making it my primary magic weapon (for the extra damage against outsiders without taking an enhancement bonus point), but since it'll be a piercing weapon, it's no good for door/wall bashing or Clay Golems. So three questions: a) Should I buy two adamantine / star metal weapons - one spiked chain to use as a primary and one light mace to use as a door opener / for DR x/bludgeoning / for Clay Golems, or should I buy only one and use the spare 3000gp on a better primary/secondary weapon? b) What two weapons should I put Ghost Touch / Ghost Strike, and Bane (Outsider, Evil) on for best effect (I'd say starmetal for the bane, except that the higher Devils and Demons require Good + Silver/Cold Iron)? c) What material should I make my Armour Spikes from?
jstorrie 07-14-07, 09:04 PM	Starmetal is good for the chain; for the adamantine, I'd go with a two-handed bludgeoning weapon, especially if you'll take Power Attack later. Since you'll rarely face fey, bane would be good for a cold iron backup weapon–cold iron spiked gauntlets, maybe? Silversheen is probably a better idea than a silver weapon (though silvered arrows are good bang for your buck.) I like silver for my armor spikes, and bane/cold iron for my gauntlets. Those are always on, so you don't even really have to 'golfbag' them.
clannagh 07-15-07, 08:35 PM	Once you have EWM flurry and a chain of speed you will be set. :) Brutal Surge on a chain is nice if you have access. Question: A correct sized chain is a two handed weapon. How do you intend to TWF with chain and armor spikes ? You could TWF with a chain that was too small for you but it would lose reach.
Sieylianna 07-15-07, 09:18 PM	Question: A correct sized chain is a two handed weapon. How do you intend to TWF with chain and armor spikes ? I wondered this myself. Ed
Vanadium 07-15-07, 09:52 PM	Question: A correct sized chain is a two handed weapon. How do you intend to TWF with chain and armor spikes ? You could TWF with a chain that was too small for you but it would lose reach. You don't need to do anything fancy: armor spikes can be used as an offhand weapon by default.
bitznarf 07-15-07, 10:01 PM	Yeah, the FAQ covers exactly this situation.
KarmaInferno 07-16-07, 07:48 AM	Starmetal is good for the chain; for the adamantine, I'd go with a two-handed bludgeoning weapon, especially if you'll take Power Attack later. Starmetal IS adamantine, essentially, has all of the same abilities, just with an extra 1d6 vs extraplanar creatures. I'd get one of each in Starmetal. And yah, the FAQ specifically allows you to use a 2-hander with Armor Spikes dual-wield. -karma
jstorrie 07-16-07, 11:51 AM	Spiked chains aren't the best for sundering objects... the adamantine/bludgeoning option is for bashing constructs and objects. No need to throw the extra 3000 or whatever it is to make it starmetal.
awroe 07-16-07, 01:27 PM	Spiked chains aren't the best for sundering objects... the adamantine/bludgeoning option is for bashing constructs and objects. No need to throw the extra 3000 or whatever it is to make it starmetal. 2000 extra for the Starmetal. I agree - the bludgeoning is for the random DR/bludgeoning and for Clay Golems none of which are generally outsiders. I'm also considering making the bludgeoning a 1-H non-finessable weapon designed for loaning out when necessary to the BDF for PA sundering.
Frumpkis 07-16-07, 04:23 PM	I play a spiked-chain guy as well. So far at 5th level, he has a +1 silver spiked chain, MW cold iron spiked chain, an adamantine heavy flail, a guisarme, and a composite longbow. That covers all my bases for special materials and damage types. I've never found starmetal access with this guy, but if I had, I probably would've used it on the heavy flail. IMHO, it's a waste of money to have both a starmetal AND a adamantine weapon; better to spend that cash on something else.
Ralis 07-20-07, 12:14 AM	This is my suggestion for anyone that needs to deal with DR, regardless of character class. MORNING STAR!!! They are a simple weapon so most classes can use them, They do bludgoning and piercing damage, so they make an excelant backup weapon. (my character has a cold iron morning star to go with his adamantium longsword, and silver greatsword)
clannagh 07-20-07, 12:16 AM	make sure you also pack a heavy pick for that occasional time you need to coup de grace the deep slumbering bulette for x4 damage
awroe 07-20-07, 05:23 PM	This is my suggestion for anyone that needs to deal with DR, regardless of character class. MORNING STAR!!! They are a simple weapon so most classes can use them, They do bludgoning and piercing damage, so they make an excelant backup weapon. (my character has a cold iron morning star to go with his adamantium longsword, and silver greatsword) While they're good in general, in this case they have problems because they're not finessable, so that's a -3 or -4 to hit vs the Light Mace. They're also really bad weapons to use against oozes - sure they do damage, but twice as many oozes attack you in return (speaking from experience there :D)
mowaca 07-23-07, 07:23 PM	This is my suggestion for anyone that needs to deal with DR, regardless of character class. MORNING STAR!!! They are a simple weapon so most classes can use them, They do bludgoning and piercing damage, so they make an excelant backup weapon. (my character has a cold iron morning star to go with his adamantium longsword, and silver greatsword) In LG, I've always thought club or quarterstaff + potion of shillelagh + potion of bless weapon is a better backup choice than a mw cold iron morningstar. Should be a little cheaper, and you'll have armor spikes for piercing damage.
MatteBlack 07-24-07, 01:25 PM	Green Starmetal Armor spikes could be a very pick-up. -------------------------- Definitely look over the math and see if it would just make more sense to focus your resources and feats on spiked chain and take power attack. Especially if you have a bunch of wepon specific feats, Exotic Weapon Flurry, an extra +1 on your weapons bonus and a character who may not be able to easily tell when to draw the right weapon. The extra attacks, lack of lost actions drawing new weapons, and additional bonuses to hit and damage can make "just swinging harder" with power attack the better play. I found with my chain-wielder, If I moved the additional to-hit I had over the "right" weapon over to power attack with my chain I was built to use I would be ahead in damage versus most DRs. Not to mention the gold you can better spend on one main weapon or defensive/utility items. I get it if you just don't want Power Attack but, definitely explore what you are walking away from. Lee