[FA 033] Weapon Choice , Doriath / Holy Avenger

[darkdrone]

Question: Should i stick with a short sword of Doriath(low damage dice , sus charisma, rBase, FA, SI) or Holy Avenger Trident (slays , sus DEX, wisdom increase) ?


DETAILS:
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right now im at AR25 , and after slaying Othrod, got a Short Sword of Doriath.

a) a Small Sword of Doriath (1d6) (+8,+10) [+3] (+4 to stealth)

yeah i know , Ranger = no melee , but previous to the above find/drop , i was still getting maximum damage out of swapping around

r) a Long Sword of Poisoning (2d5) (+10,+14)
s) a Trident (Holy Avenger) (1d7) (+14,+10) [4,+1] (+1)

and the rings i have are :

c) a Quartz Ring of Free Action
d) a Corundum Ring of Deadliness (+10)

i've noticed , even though the Trident (HA) should do more damage against evil 'o's , the poisoning Long Sword (being a higher dice weapon, IMO?) offs them faster.

i do have Ammo :

0) 33 Arrows (1d8) (+1,+0)
1) 76 Arrows (1d6) (+2,+3)
2) 38 Arrows (1d6) (+3,+1)
3) 82 Arrows (1d6) (+1,+0)

but they get expended too fast!

best,
dD.

[Atarlost]

Take this with a large grain of salt since I don't play FA, but I'd say to go with Doriath. HA doesn't give you anything except against poison resisting evil or undead and because of its poor dice not much against them. Tridents are also, IIRC, rather heavy, probably the heaviest of the weapons you're considering. If you get more blows with one of the others its advantages practically dissapear. On the other hand Doriath gives SI and rBase and the LSoP has better dice and a good brand and possibly rPois. If combat in FA is V-like I'd sell the HA and keep the LSoP as a swap. If there's some mechanic to favor heavier weapons the only difference would be how frequently I would swap in the LSoP. The only real advantage the HA has is that it gives more armor. If your armor is low enough that 2 armor (as compared to Doriath) is a big deal you can invest the money from selling it off in enchant armor scrolls. If you can't enchant your armor any further 2 armor probably isn't earth shattering.

[Nick]

Originally Posted by Atarlost

If combat in FA is V-like I'd sell the HA and keep the LSoP as a swap. If there's some mechanic to favor heavier weapons the only difference would be how frequently I would swap in the LSoP.

FA uses O-combat; I think the advice is still right, though. I'd walk around with the Doriath weapon, and swap in the LSoP to whack stuff. Note that the 'I' command (that's capital i...) will show you the average damage you would do with a weapon. Early to mid-game, a high damage dice branded weapon is very hard to beat for damage dealing.

[darkdrone]

Originally Posted by Nick

FA uses O-combat; I think the advice is still right, though. I'd walk around with the Doriath weapon, and swap in the LSoP to whack stuff. Note that the 'I' command (that's capital i...) will show you the average damage you would do with a weapon. Early to mid-game, a high damage dice branded weapon is very hard to beat for damage dealing.

Doriath = 2 blows , 12 average dam, + to skill = 10

HA = 2 blows , 27 dam against evil, 40 against undead, 40 against demons, 15 against others, + to skill 16, Wis +1, Sus DEX

LongSword of Poison = 2 blows , 36 against non rPois monsters, 17 against others, + to skill 12 (extra dam from pois, rPois 10%)

think ill leave the HA at home and try out for a few rounds.

best,
dD.

[darkdrone]

Originally Posted by Atarlost

Take this with a large grain of salt since I don't play FA, but I'd say to go with Doriath. HA doesn't give you anything except against poison resisting evil or undead and because of its poor dice not much against them. Tridents are also, IIRC, rather heavy, probably the heaviest of the weapons you're considering. If you get more blows with one of the others its advantages practically dissapear. On the other hand Doriath gives SI and rBase and the LSoP has better dice and a good brand and possibly rPois. If combat in FA is V-like I'd sell the HA and keep the LSoP as a swap. If there's some mechanic to favor heavier weapons the only difference would be how frequently I would swap in the LSoP. The only real advantage the HA has is that it gives more armor. If your armor is low enough that 2 armor (as compared to Doriath) is a big deal you can invest the money from selling it off in enchant armor scrolls. If you can't enchant your armor any further 2 armor probably isn't earth shattering.

hmm, havent seen Vanilla in a bit, but FAA (and i suppose NPP) Tridents weigh only 7lbs , Quarterstaffs are 10 lbs, two handed swords are 17lbs

best,
dD.

[Atriel]

Hm i could swear i answered this thread a while ago ő_O

Anyway

I think the HA is a better choice, as it will deal more damage from more
blows soon, less weight penalty to hit, better criticals, WIS (ranger
spell stat),... and 15 vs 17 base damage... i bet just on the criticals
the trident beats the sword base-damage-wise.

> HA doesn't give you anything except against poison resisting evil
or undead > and because of its poor dice not much against them.

in [O] combat Brands deal straight damage PLUS the deadlyness % bonuses... and the trident is a single high dice, good for crits,
making the trident a much better weapon than first looks,
Darkdrone, i just saw that you already know this

The weapons are really on par... I´d go with the HA because it´s
lighter and r@pes demons, undeads and orcs (most immune to
poison) and because i have nruling trauma... and the res
poison from poison brand is only 10% i think.