+6 Belt of Strength with +5 Earthbreaker, or +4 belt with +5 Furious Earthbreaker?

[Zhentarim]

I'm 40 GP shy of having both, and I want to know which is better in the long run? Basically, is it better to have a floating +2 STR or +2 attack and damage only while raging?

[Psyren]

+2 Str is only +1 attack and damage, so I'd probably go for the second.

A better option though would simply be to borrow the 40gp from a party member or ask the GM to cut you some slack - that amount is a pittance at the kinds of levels where you're slinging +5 weapons around.

[Zhentarim]

+2 Str is only +1 attack and damage, so I'd probably go for the second.

A better option though would simply be to borrow the 40gp from a party member or ask the GM to cut you some slack - that amount is a pittance at the kinds of levels where you're slinging +5 weapons around.

I didn't think of that. Thanks!

[Aharon]

I didn't think of that. Thanks!

Also, in case you didn't consider this: having a +1 weapon with lots of enchantments and then asking team-mates to cast Greater Magic Weapon on it is often more cost-effective than getting +5 on the weapon itself (getting a pearl of power for a third level spell, so the expenditure doesn't hurt the caster, is the usual way of making this fair).

[Firest Kathon]

Also, in case you didn't consider this: having a +1 weapon with lots of enchantments and then asking team-mates to cast Greater Magic Weapon on it is often more cost-effective than getting +5 on the weapon itself (getting a pearl of power for a third level spell, so the expenditure doesn't hurt the caster, is the usual way of making this fair).
True in most cases, except for damage reduction. An actual enahncement bonus allows you to overcome certain types of damage reduction (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/gamemastering/special-abilities#TOC-Overcoming-DR) (+5 gives cold iron, silver, adamantine and alignment-based), while Greater Magic Weapon (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/m/magic-weapon) explicitly does not give these benefits.

This bonus does not allow a weapon to bypass damage reduction aside from magic.

[Aharon]

True in most cases, except for damage reduction. An actual enahncement bonus allows you to overcome certain types of damage reduction (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/gamemastering/special-abilities#TOC-Overcoming-DR) (+5 gives cold iron, silver, adamantine and alignment-based), while Greater Magic Weapon (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/m/magic-weapon) explicitly does not give these benefits.

Interesting, that's a difference to 3.5 I hadn't come across yet. Thanks for drawing my attention to this!

[Psyren]

True in most cases, except for damage reduction. An actual enahncement bonus allows you to overcome certain types of damage reduction (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/gamemastering/special-abilities#TOC-Overcoming-DR) (+5 gives cold iron, silver, adamantine and alignment-based), while Greater Magic Weapon (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/m/magic-weapon) explicitly does not give these benefits.


Interesting, that's a difference to 3.5 I hadn't come across yet. Thanks for drawing my attention to this!

As a corollary to this, note that a +3 Furious Earthbreaker will turn into +5 while he's raging and thus defeat all those same forms of damage reduction for cheaper.

[Zhentarim]

As a corollary to this, note that a +3 Furious Earthbreaker will turn into +5 while he's raging and thus defeat all those same forms of damage reduction for cheaper.

I thought +6 was the lowest to cover epic?

[Psyren]

I thought +6 was the lowest to cover epic?

It is, but unlike the other forms, abilities count towards DR/epic. This means that a +3 Furious Earthbreaker will count as +6 for beating DR/epic (+3, +2 when raging, +1 from Furious itself). Yes, this method effectively counts Furious twice.

The ruling is here (http://paizo.com/paizo/faq/v5748nruor1gl#v5748eaic9r5f) if you want to read it in detail.