Good Weapon Ability Choices

[kalos72]

So my guys are running the a modified 4E/3.5E Neverwinter campaign now and were discussing some good weapon special abilities and thought that holy and magebane would make a potent weapon considering all the potential enemies in this storyline, Netherese/Shade, Thavian, Aboleth, Drow, Orc, Demons/Devils.

My main player was thinking of making 2 daggers of dancing to throw out to help protect his flanks while then running the Holy Magebane Longsword as his primary.


Thoughts?

[kalos72]

No opinions? What special abilities would you use in that scenario?

I always thought sending sounded fun but have never used it...

[LoyalPaladin]

I'm away from my books... but off the top of my head, I'm a fan of Aptitude, Force, Holy, and Dancing. They're probably my favorite enhancements.

[Hiro Quester]

It's going to depend on how much you can/want to spend. There are some awesome +5 abilities. But also some damn good for the price +2 or +3 abilities that you may be better able to afford now.

It will also depend on what class the players are. Abilities for the rogue's daggers, the fighter's great sword, or the archer's bow will be different.

The Weapon Special abilities (http://community.wizards.com/forum/previous-editions-character-optimization/threads/1061821) guide here will be useful.

[Starkeeper]

Dancing is interesting, but terribly inefficient.

The weapon doesn't benefit from any feats or ability bonuses your character has so the damage it deals is pathetic, a Dancing Dagger costs 50 302gp and deals a puny 1d4+1 damage, you also need to spend a Standard action to let it loose, that means you spend two rounds doing practically nothing.

The concept is fun, but it really sucks in practice.

[kalos72]

Dancing is interesting, but terribly inefficient.

The weapon doesn't benefit from any feats or ability bonuses your character has so the damage it deals is pathetic, a Dancing Dagger costs 50 302gp and deals a puny 1d4+1 damage, you also need to spend a Standard action to let it loose, that means you spend two rounds doing practically nothing.

The concept is fun, but it really sucks in practice.

Maybe shortswords then? Just trying to add some additional coolness but still be effective. IDK

I was thinking Holy would be nice because most all of the enemies this group is facing are evil, seems obvious. And Magebane would cover most others, its anything that has spells or spell like abilities right?

Plus the name "Holy Magebane" has a certain flare... :P

[kalos72]

Distrubution and Ghost Touch have also come up considering the Shade/Netherese presence but I dont know if Ghost Touch would apply.

[khadgar567]

well on top of my head and partially from my a*s morph, metal line and if you look at steel forge folding enchants
with these enchants you can have any weapon( morph allows you to change its shape and metal line allows you to change its type) any time with no sheath requirement( just turn it in to dagger and fold in to coin )

[OldTrees1]

If you are adept at using extra attacks then Speed[+3] is worthwhile
If you face DR of any/every form then Transmuting[+2] is worth its cost
Otherwise weapon abilities tend to be lackluster to me.

[Dread_Head]

Valourous (UE) is great if you have a character focused on charging (or even if you only charge occasionally). Smoking (LoD) is good to add concealment to a melee character and helps prevent grapples, the wording however is slightly dodgy and depending on DM interpretation it can be less than useless. Seeking is good for a ranged character as is Force.

[kalos72]

In the world described OP, would Holy and Magebane be good choices to counter the evil the player will most likely meet?

[Geddy2112]

Keen is a must for any slashing weapon that has a crit range of more than 20. Speed is also important unless you have other sources of haste. Dueling is a must if you are going to have your weapon drawn most of the time. Since you are facing a lot of evil, holy is also a good choice.

[OldTrees1]

Keen is a must for any slashing weapon that has a crit range of more than 20. Speed is also important unless you have other sources of haste. Dueling is a must if you are going to have your weapon drawn most of the time. Since you are facing a lot of evil, holy is also a good choice.

Why would keen be a must for 19-20s or even 18-20s? If you have a crit fishing build then it makes sense but the default benefit(+30% expected damage) is mere damage.

[Geddy2112]

Why would keen be a must for 19-20s or even 18-20s? If you have a crit fishing build then it makes sense but the default benefit(+30% expected damage) is mere damage.

Considering it is only a +1 enhancement, a 30% return is more raw damage than any other enhancement is going to bring of that cost.

[Madhava]

Warning is generally very good, for a lot of different classes/roles.

Collision is a personal favorite of mine.

And wounding would be devastating, if it wasn't so situational.

[bekeleven]

Warning is generally very good, for a lot of different classes/roles.
Also Eager (and to a lesser extent, Burning).

Keen is a must for any slashing weapon that has a crit range of more than 20.
Impact is the same thing, but for bludgeoning weapons.

[Andezzar]

Valourous (UE) is great if you have a character focused on charging (or even if you only charge occasionally).Valorous is not that great. It only doubles the weapon damage, not the whole damage of the attack. So at best you double the 2d6+5 not 2d6+5+1.5*STR+Power attack damge+ whatever else.


And wounding would be devastating, if it wasn't so situational.What's so situational about wounding? Most creatures have a con score.

[Madhava]

Most creatures have a con score.

True. But collision, for instance, would be universally helpful against nearly any target... undead, constructs, objects, what have you.

Also, I think wounding doesn't truly shine until higher levels, since HP loss from con damage is scaling with opponents' level. If your target is < level 10, then collision is going to bite deeper, just in terms of hit point loss (granted, lowering enemy fort saves with wounding is useful too).