Neverwinter Nights Revolutions

[Kassiopeia]

I agree that it mostly was (we played on the maximum difficulty setting and it was still a breeze pretty much), but the Winds were oddly challenging. Well, save for the Dead one, what with having a cleric onboard.

[Dis]

I never had a henchman for that fight. Even though mine survived up until that point.

[DrSpike]

Odd, I had a henchman both times.

[Space05us]

Ive gotten back into the joy of slaying endless droves of zombies, and I have a question.


What is the advantage of two-handed weapons? Do you recieve extra attacks per round as you do with double-wielding?

[Jamski]

No, but you get 1.5x your STR bonus, and the weapons tend to have better base damage too.

i.e

STR 18 gives +4 (normal) to the right hand and +2 (off hand is limited to +2) to the left hand when dual wielding.

STR 18 gives +6 (+4 x 1.5)to the twohanded weapon when twohandedweaponing.

Also compare a Longsword d8 damage (average 4.5) with a Greatsword 2d6 damage (average 7)

If you really want to deal the death, twohanded is the way to go. BUT. You will have 2 less attacks (maximum) per round ot no sheild.

Options
a.) Upto 5 average attacks +7 or more to your AC (sword and shield)
b.) Upto 5 average attacks and 2 below-average attacks (dual wield with a strength based character)
c.) Upto 7 good attacks (dual wield with a DEX based character)
d.) Upto 5 excellent attacks (twohanded weapon)

Of course to get the maximum attacks you need at least +16 Base Attack Bonus and you need to be Hasted.

-Jam

[Dis]

and 2 handed weapons just look cool. A RP thing.

when I play a barbarian, I wouldn't feel right now using a 2 handed weapon. Imagine a barbarian weilding a dagger. .

Greatswords seem to be the best, but sometimes I use halbards because they look better. I keep meaning to use a scythe. Once of these days I will. That's the coolest look.

[Vlad Antlerkov]

Heck, not only do Scythes look cool, but they're actually a really good weapon. Sure, the critical chance is "only" on a 20, but as a Weapon Master, that gets expanded to 17-20... and the damage to x5.

Actually, just doing some back-of-the-envelope calculations comparing the scythe, greatsword, and greataxe... (assuming STR 26, Devastating Critical, weapon master, Epic Weapon spec, etc. in that weapon. Also assuming that the weapons are completely non-magical, not keen, and that no buffing magics are active on the wielder or weapon, for the sake of simplicity.)

Scythe: 2d4+18 (20-26) damage on regular hit (15/20). On critical (4/20), that increases to 10d4+4d6+90 (104-154) damage. Expected damage, then would be (0)(1/20)+(23)(3/4)+(129)(1/5)=43.05 damage.

Greatsword: 2d6+18 (20-30) damage on regular hit (13/20), 8d6+54 (62-102) on critical (6/20). Expected damage: (25)(13/20)+(82)(6/20)=40.85.

Greataxe: 1d12+18 (19-30) damage on regular hit (15/20). 4d12+3d6+72 (79-138) on crit (4/20). Expected damage: (24.5)(3/4)+(108.5)(1/5)=40.075.

Of course, if the weapon is keen or has an attack or damage bonus, then that makes things even more complex.

From a combat perspective, I can't see why one would take a halberd over a great-axe. They have the same critical threat and damage, yes, but the greataxe has a base damage of 1d12, while the halberd does 1d10.

Doing the same thing, only for one-handed weapons... picking the Bastard Sword/Katana (same attributes), Long Sword, Battleaxe, and Scimitar/Rapier (same, except for some reason Rapiers get the benefits of Weapon Finesse when wielded in the right hand while scimitars don't).

Bastard Sword: 1d10+14 (15-24) on regular hit (13/20), 3d10+2d6+42 (47-84) on critical (6/20). Expected damage: (19.5)(13/20)+(65.5)(6/20)=32.325 damage.

Long Sword: 1d8+14 (15-22) on regular hit (13/20), 3d8+2d6+42 on crit (47-78) (6/20). Expected damage: (18.5)(13/20)+(62.5)(6/20)=30.775 damage.

Battleaxe: 1d8+14 (15-22) on regular hit (15/20), 4d8+3d6+56 on crit (63-106) (4/20). Expected damage: 30.775 damage.

Scimitar/Rapier: 1d6+14 (15-20) on regular hit (11/20), 5d6+42 (47-72) on crit (8/20). Expected damage: 33.425 damage. (Better than the bastard sword, and doesn't require Exotic Proficiency!)

...someone who's actually completed a course on probability and statistics (I'm in the middle of one) check my math.

(edit: WM-enhanced battleaxe is x4, not x3)

[Dis]

I'll take your word on it for the math

but that's not factoring in creatures who are immune to critical hits.

[duke o' york]

Or the fact that there are hatloads more magic longswords and shortswords than other types of magic sword lying about.

I'm afraid that I didn't even load NWN last night (the night the duchess works away, and usually a NWN marathon for at least 3 hours). I turned the computer on, played a couple of games of freecell, and then thought I'd try something out in Civ 2. Two and a half hours later....

I'll have to try to squeeze in a little more play this week with my dual-wield dex-based character (), just so that I have something to post about in this thread.

[Jamski]

From a combat perspective, I can't see why one would take a halberd over a great-axe. They have the same critical threat and damage, yes, but the greataxe has a base damage of 1d12, while the halberd does 1d10.

Halberd does slashing and piercing damage. Greataxe just slashing damage.

Rapiers are EXCELLENT especially for DEX based weaponmasters, but against undead/constructs/etc all crit-based or sneak-based builds have a hard time. Even a damage resistance of 5/- or 10/- can make that skeleton lord invunerable to your rapier master You did pack a holy mace, right?

Ah... the temptation of the scythe. But how often do you find good scythes? Often enough that every server has a good handful of scytheweaponmasters, sadly. Its a cliché

Now an original character design would be some kind of heavy flail using Weaponmaster/Monk/Cleric Imagine some medieval Abbot freaking out in combat.

-Jam

[DrSpike]

Yeah, the best in reality depends on what items there are on the server (or in the module).

Vlad, did you look at comparing the two-handed weapons with two kukris or something similar?

[Vlad Antlerkov]

No, so I'll try that now. Assuming, again, 26 STR, Devastating Critical, all that jazz.

RH kukri: 1d4+14 damage (15-18, average 16.5) on regular hit (11/20), 3d4+2d6+42 on critical (47-66, average 56.5) (8/20). Expected damage: 31.675 (yes, the expanded threat range IS that powerful)

LH kukri: Expected damage of 24.675.

And for the hell of it, Unarmed Strike maxed out (20 monk levels, plus all the other stuff, so base damage of 1d20): 1d20+14 (15-34, avg 24.5) on regular (17/20), 2d20+1d6+28 (31-74, avg 52.5) on critical (2/20). Expected damage of 26.075... but seven attacks (assuming four fighter levels pre-epic).

Now, let's assume all the attacks (five or seven, as the case may be) actually land.

Scythe: 5*43.05=215.25 damage.
Greatsword: 5*40.85=204.25
Greataxe: 5*40.075=200.375
Two kukris: 5*31.675+2*24.675=207.725 (though you get two extra chances at Devastating Critical... Of course, two scimitars would be even better than this.)
Unarmed strike: 7*26.075=182.525. Again, doesn't stack up very well, but you have seven chances at Devastating Critical, plus all those other Monkish abilities.

Now I feel the urge to make an Excel spreadsheet or MATLAB program that can automatically calculate expected damage based on enhancements, keenness, etc. but not now, gotta work through midterms first...

[DrSpike]

Nicely done, though when I looked at this (briefly) before I decided relative effectiveness varied by level. Chance to hit might play a role as well (you assume all attacks land in your example) which can make the greatsword better for foes with a certain range of ACs and dual kukris better for a different range.

Nice to see they are quite balanced in your scenario though.

[Tuberski]

I don't even do that much math on my taxes........

ACK!

[duke o' york]

Which weapon does having a massive strength (26, for argument's sake ) improve the most? I'd imagine the sling, if you still get the strength bonus you got in BG, but maybe it's something else.