Best Mundane Weapon

[Keltaris]

Ok... I was thinking about an all-mundane martial character, and so, obviously, the weapon can be pretty important here.

What do you think? What is the best combination of weapon, materials and other mundane enhancements?

A serrenwood bow can be a great backup weapon, even if it's quite expensive.

What else?

[ahenobarbi]

Spiked chain gets much love. Range, can attack close enemies, good at tripping and disarming, two handed, from Players Handbook. All good things. You might have it golden or platinium (from one of Fearun books) to boost damage a little.

[Coidzor]

Executioner's Mace is probably in the running, and due to it possessing all damage types, I believe all of the mundane enhancements one would want are legal on it.

[Keltaris]

Executioner's Mace is probably in the running, and due to it possessing all damage types, I believe all of the mundane enhancements one would want are legal on it.

IIRC that is Dragon Mag material, right?

Another possible mundane enhancement is Kaorti Resin (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/re/20031014a).

Adamantine weapons can be good against sundering and to overcome DR.

[Sgt. Cookie]

A Greatsword or Axe, with as many ranks and bonuses of Profession (Executioner) as you can your hands on. Why? Insta kill against helpless enemies, with NO SAVE.

[TopCheese]

A Greatsword or Axe, with as many ranks and bonuses of Profession (Executioner) as you can your hands on. Why? Insta kill against helpless enemies, with NO SAVE.

Well if you are worried about the save passing then you are doing it wrong to begin with :smallbiggrin:

[andromax]

Dwarven Warpike (RoS) is pretty darn good for a martial weapon, but probably not the best.

Spiked chain does it all, so that's incredibly hard to beat. It's dumb to use it on every build though.

In order to make this thread work I think you'd need to seperate them by catagories.

Reach:
2 Handed:
1 Handed:
Light:
Ranged - ammunition based:
Thrown:

[Randomguy]

You can probably afford a bunch of different weapons, since mundane weapons are way less pricey than magical ones.


A dragonfang weapon (darconomicon) gets you +1 energy damage, and a dragonbone bow has increased range. You could use a dragonbone bow with serrenwood arrows, or just keep the dragonbone bow for sniping.

Make a weapon out of starmetal (complete arcane) instead of adamantine. It's the same as adamantine but it also does +1d6 against extraplanar creatures while they're on the material plane.

Instead of silver, use Pandemic Silver. It's the same thing but forces a will save vs. a fear effect whenever you draw it. The DC is higher in windy conditions. I think you can put these on arrows to force multiple saves a round, but archery gets worse when the save DC gets higher, so that might be pointless.

A dagger of Thinaun will let you trap the soul of an enemy to present resurrections. It'll also make your own resurrection cheaper if you die while holding it.

A dwarvencraft weapon is harder to sunder.

The Minotaur Greathammer is a great exotic weapon. It's one of the only ones worth the feat, other than the spiked chain.

[Kalaska'Agathas]

I think, in terms of an all-mundane build, I'd go with a Lance. It synergizes best with charging, which is likely the most effective strategy available.

[Mithril Leaf]

A Kaorti resin Jovar with all the mundane weapon enhancements presented in that one issue of dragon magazine (Master Forges? 323?) which enhance base damage and weight and such.

[sambouchah]

I think spiked chain is my favorite weapon listed. That paired with quickdraw and a Dragon Fang dagger for Coup De Grace(s) may work well.

[Invader]

Long spear or quarter staff because in the hands of a clever player a 6-7 foot piece of wood can be used for just about anything.

You can add whatever special enhancements you want to beef it up.

[herrhauptmann]

Executioner's Mace is probably in the running, and due to it possessing all damage types, I believe all of the mundane enhancements one would want are legal on it.

Yeah, I've been wondering about that.
Can you do keen and impact on that, and have them stack? Probably not, but I don't remember the exact wording on impact; while keen only mentions the things that existed in the PHB/DMG.

When you say 'all-mundane' what do you mean? No magic items? Or just no spells, SLAs or Su abilities?

[Keltaris]

Yeah, I've been wondering about that.
Can you do keen and impact on that, and have them stack? Probably not, but I don't remember the exact wording on impact; while keen only mentions the things that existed in the PHB/DMG.

When you say 'all-mundane' what do you mean? No magic items? Or just no spells, SLAs or Su abilities?

Think Fighter 20, no magic items, only mundane stuff.

I was just trying to think of the best combinations possible.

This is just a thought exercise. Well, more like a scavenger hunt for the best things one could find.

p.s. Could a net be made out of adamantium? Would that increase the DC to burst out of it? (Don't think so)

[limejuicepowder]

p.s. Could a net be made out of adamantium? Would that increase the DC to burst out of it? (Don't think so)

I don't know about adamantine, but steel cable should certainly be possible (with sufficiently advanced forging techniques of course). Might be a more steam-punk technology weapon, than medieval/renaissance.

[Andezzar]

I don't know about adamantine, but steel cable should certainly be possible (with sufficiently advanced forging techniques of course). Might be a more steam-punk technology weapon, than medieval/renaissance.The PHB does not specify what material a net is made of. So it is up to the DM. If he decides that a net can be made (mainly) from steel cable/thread, that steel can be exchanged for adamantine because it now is a metal weapon. If not, there is no adamantine net either.


I think, in terms of an all-mundane build, I'd go with a Lance. It synergizes best with charging, which is likely the most effective strategy available.It synergizes well with mounted charging. I don't know if that is the intention of the OP.

[Keltaris]

I really wasn't thinking of a specific build.

I was focusing solely on the weapons.

The lance would surely count as a good weapon, considering that even without expending any feats you get the multiplier on a mounted charge.

[Vizzerdrix]

I'm a fan of the spear and war spikards, myself. (ECS)

[Person_Man]

You may wish to look at my Haberdash (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=88633) build, which lists out every useful exotic weapon in 3.5. Master of Masks 1 or a high level Binder can grant you access to every exotic weapon. Warblade can also retrain any weapon feat, which includes Exotic Weapon proficiency. Master's Touch spell grants proficiency as well. Or you can just eat the -4 penalty to hit.

[Answerer]

Spiked Chain or Lance are pretty much the only options. Spiked Chain for reach/trip/AoO/lockdown, Lance for pure damage.

[Slipperychicken]

Greatsword certainly gives you excellent value (2d6, 2H, decent crit) for what you have to put in (practically nothing). Good on feat-starved power attack melee.