Hey I was just curious -Item related-

[Kurondo]

Is a greataxe with +1 and paralyse worth it's cost? I'm a duskblade, kind of just want to be a greataxe wielding badass who can cast spells, also are there any feats you would recommend if I do plan to use a greataxe? We're using all 3.5 books.

[Flickerdart]

"Paralyse" is not a weapon enchantment. Can you be more specific?

[torrasque666]

Probably referring to either Paralyzing or Paralytic Burst enhancement, both MIC, page 39.
Paralytic Burst is every critical, so better on a bit of a critfisher build, Paralyzing is 1/day activated paralyze for 10 rounds(or until saved against)

[Deophaun]

In general, I don't find any of the weapon enhancements that have saving-throw dependent effects to be worth it, because the saves are low and, by the time you can afford it, the targets you really want it to work on are much more likely to save than not.

[HunterOfJello]

We would need the specifics and the DC of the ability to make a call. If this is a custom item, then it could be worth it.

I seem to remember a 1 round stun enhancement that wasn't too bad since it was based off the character's charisma but it's been a while since I trolled through the MiC and DMGII enough to remember specifics. (It also needed a high charisma to be worth it.)

[Deophaun]

I seem to remember a 1 round stun enhancement that wasn't too bad since it was based off the character's charisma but it's been a while since I trolled through the MiC and DMGII enough to remember specifics. (It also needed a high charisma to be worth it.)
Stunning Surge. 10 + 1/2 CL + Cha. Probably the only one that's worth it.

[HunterOfJello]

Stunning Surge. 10 + 1/2 CL + Cha. Probably the only one that's worth it.

It has like 1 + Cha charges too, right? I liked that one a lot.

There's also a nice charisma based on that does a bunch of damage against undead. It was powered by turn undead or something. Pretty nice.

[ericgrau]

In general, I don't find any of the weapon enhancements that have saving-throw dependent effects to be worth it, because the saves are low and, by the time you can afford it, the targets you really want it to work on are much more likely to save than not.
I noticed that the DCs on many of them look bad but they're actually decent. It's because it's a free action that might happen multiple times in a round. Or conversely, compare to 1d6 damage. Dealing only 1d6 damage would suck hard. But +1d6 is another story. Likewise +SoL with a low save DC is another story. If a weapon could SoL reliably for multiple rounds on top of everything else it does it would be way overpowered. Can you imagine 4 such abilities on the same weapon times 3 hits? Ok, now try not to fail any of your 12 saves or you're out of the fight. Even at very high level and a low save DC a foe might still roll a 1 after a couple rounds.

OTOH props to Deophaun for finding a better enchant. And paralyzing's 1/day does seem like a bit of a bugger compared to other SoL enchants. At least it's still a free or swift action I assume?

[HunterOfJello]

I noticed that the DCs on many of them look bad but they're actually decent. It's because it's a free action that might happen multiple times in a round. Or conversely, compare to 1d6 damage. Dealing only 1d6 damage would suck hard. But +1d6 is another story. Likewise +SoL with a low save DC is another story. If a weapon could SoL reliably for multiple rounds on top of everything else it does it would be way overpowered. Can you imagine 4 such abilities on the same weapon times 3 hits? Ok, now try not to fail any of your 12 saves or you're out of the fight. Even at very high level and a low save DC a foe might still roll a 1 after a couple rounds.

OTOH props to Deophaun for finding an even better enchant. And paralyzing's 1/day does seem like a bit of a bugger compared to other SoL enchants. At least it's still a free or swift action I assume?

Paralyzing Burst only works during a crit, is not an action, has a DC of 17 (will), and is a +2 enhancement. This is a bit harsh since you probably want to get Keen on a weapon first and there are better enhancements out there once you get to the +4 weapon price range.

Paralyzing is a +1 enhancement, has a DC of 17 (will), swift action, and is 1/day. It's honestly not too bad at low levels since it isn't based on fortitude and could be used quite reliably with that high of a DC on lots of monsters. Unfortunately, the enemy gets a save every round to resist the paralysis and you have to activate it before you hit them at all (per the errata), but that's how it goes.


Stunning Surge is still better for the most part if your character has the charisma and swift actions to do it. (Crusaders and favored souls, I'm looking at you!)

If you're going with a crit-fisher then I would go with Prismatic Surge. It's kind of stupid strong sometimes, but i love it.

[Greenish]

There's also a nice charisma based on that does a bunch of damage against undead. It was powered by turn undead or something. Pretty nice.Divine Wrath. Not really worth it as a +1 weapon, since it requires burning a swift action and TU just to add a few d6s to a single attack. Undead Bane is going to be better pretty much always.

[Deophaun]

I noticed that the DCs on many of them look bad but they're actually decent. It's because it's a free action that might happen multiple times in a round.
But those are normally only triggered on a crit, so they come up rarely (of course, you can make a crit-fish build with a keen elven courtblade or something, but by then you're going to do enough damage to kill whatever you're hitting anyway).

Another downside is, outside of PbP games, forcing saves on every hit can really slow a game down. I had a character with 10 natural attacks and the Touch of Golden Ice feat, and after the second session I just stopped asking for saves.

[HunterOfJello]

Sudden Stunning from the DMGII is also really good. It's a 2000gp solid cost enhancement, has Cha charges per day, is a swift action usable after a successful melee attack, and stuns with a Reflex DC of (10 + 1/2 char's level + Cha modifier) for 1d4+1 rounds. That might actually be a bit too strong. Especially for that price.

[Frostthehero]

Duskblades need a free hand to cast. Do not use a greataxe.

[lsfreak]

Duskblades need a free hand to cast. Do not use a greataxe.

You only need two hands to swing the weapon, not hold it. I'm not sure there's actual rules that state this, but it's widely considered a free action/non-action to take one hand off the axe, use any somatic or material components, and place your hand back on the weapon. Without such as assumption there's some serious problems with, for examples, wizards being nearly incapable of casting while holding a wizard staff.

[ericgrau]

But those are normally only triggered on a crit, so they come up rarely (of course, you can make a crit-fish build with a keen elven courtblade or something, but by then you're going to do enough damage to kill whatever you're hitting anyway).

Another downside is, outside of PbP games, forcing saves on every hit can really slow a game down. I had a character with 10 natural attacks and the Touch of Golden Ice feat, and after the second session I just stopped asking for saves.
Yeah I meant in general. 1/day and crit fishing is a bit iffy, I'd have to recalculate.

As for 10 saves, if you're going to make a build like this then you better bring lots of d20s for the DM. Then the DM says to himself "I need to roll an X to save", rolls all the dice at once, and see if any of them come up below X. If you have multiple effects then your dice better be color coded, 1 color for each effect.