Large weapon worth it?

[Chester]

I play a Warforged who wields a masterwork greataxe.

We just killed a minotaur that wielded a large greataxe +1.

Is it worth the -2 penalty for me to start using this big Axe?

[eggynack]

I don't think you can use it at all, given that it's a two-handed weapon being sized up one step. However, assuming you're allowed to use it in spite of the illegality, you're basically trading out two points of to-hit for five points of damage on average, along with the ability to bypass DR/magic, which I suppose is a slightly favorable trade given the base rate established by power attack. Still, I don't really like the fact that it's locked in like that, and you can definitely pick up better rates than the basic power attack rate if you've put in the effort.

[torrasque666]

If you're a medium Warforged and not a Charger, then a Large 2-handed weapon is unwieldable by you, barring size boosts. A great-axe is already a twohanded weapon, and weapons increase by "handedness" when you increase the size(light to one-handed to two-handed) and vice versa.

[Galvin]

I believe the OP was referring to Monkey Grip. The feat allows you to weild weapons at plus one size category for minus two to attack rolls. The average damage on a medium Greataxe is six damage. The average damage for a large Greataxe is eight. That's 33 percent more damage at the cost of 10 percent hit change. I personally would take the medium axe and save the feat.

[Extra Anchovies]

I believe the OP was referring to Monkey Grip. The feat allows you to weild weapons at plus one size category for minus two to attack rolls. The average damage on a medium Greataxe is six damage. The average damage for a large Greataxe is eight. That's 33 percent more damage at the cost of 10 percent hit change. I personally would take the medium axe and save the feat.

It's +2 damage for -2 to hit at the cost of one feat. You'd get more damage for the same cost with Power Attack.

[Artillery]

You can buy Strongarm Bracers for 6000gp which let you wield weapons a size category larger without penalty. Its in Magic Item Compendium, page 139.

You are going from 1d12 to 3d6. So you are going from 6.5 avg dmg to 10.5 avg dmg. If you can do it without penalties it is worth it. If not, then Power Attack is equal or better.

[Deadline]

Agreed with Artillery, it's worth it only if you have Strong Arm bracers. Otherwise, it's not.

[LoyalPaladin]

I took Monkey Grip on my Paladin and I thoroughly enjoy it. But the large sword I wield in integral to my character's design. As a general rule of thumb, Monkey Grip is bad. But I think it's fun flavor.

[Dusk Eclipse]

The thing with Monkey Grip it is completely outclassed with a relatively cheap item, there is no real reason to spend an extremely limited resouce (feat) when you can overcome it with money even for RP reasons. If your game allows retraining I highly suggest picking up the bracers and retrain Monkey Grip to something more useful.

[Deadline]

The thing with Monkey Grip it is completely outclassed with a relatively cheap item, there is no real reason to spend an extremely limited resouce (feat) when you can overcome it with money even for RP reasons. If your game allows retraining I highly suggest picking up the bracers and retrain Monkey Grip to something more useful.

Not only that, the Strongarm Bracers are better than the Monkey Grip feat, because they let you do the same thing without penalty, don't they (sorry, away from my copy of the MIC)?

[Flickerdart]

Not only that, the Strongarm Bracers are better than the Monkey Grip feat, because they let you do the same thing without penalty, don't they (sorry, away from my copy of the MIC)?
Yep, that's correct - Strongarm Bracers straight up treat you as one size larger for weapon wielding, while Monkey Grip merely allows you to wield the larger weapon without increasing its handedness.

Interestingly, this actually means a Medium creature with Strongarm Bracers could wield a Huge one-handed weapon in two hands for a -2 penalty, since the weapon wielding rules treat the creature as Large. The benefits of this are dubious - a Large Greatsword is identical to a Huge Longsword, and most other weapons follow this pattern. However, a Huge Bastard Sword or Dwarven Waraxe (for a creature that is proficient) deals 3d8 compared to a 3d6 Large Greatsword; the extra 3 average points of damage manages to outstrip Weapon Specialization in its "usefulness."

[Dusk Eclipse]

Could be interesting in an otherwise low powered game or perhaps some Greater Mighty Wallop Shenanigans if you use a bludgeoning weapon (greatclub or heavy flail)

[Urpriest]

I took Monkey Grip on my Paladin and I thoroughly enjoy it. But the large sword I wield in integral to my character's design. As a general rule of thumb, Monkey Grip is bad. But I think it's fun flavor.

There's no actual flavor difference, though, unless the weapon was literally taken from a giant. Just "I have a massive Cloud sword" can already be encompassed with a Medium Greatsword, since you can imagine the size of your weapon however you want to.

[Uncle Pine]

Monkey Grip iss generally not worthy. Everything you can do with it can be done better with Greater Mighty Wallop or a +1 sizing weapon coupled with Enlarge Weapon.