Best light weapon

[Trandir]

What is the best light weapon or what is in your opinion?

I do not know many weapons and none from obscure books so why not ask the playground?

[Saintheart]

Depends what you want to do with it.

If it's Power Attack, the answer is none of them, because you can't double PA and you can't get x1.5 STR bonus with it. You can only get at best a one for one BAB to damage.

[AnimeTheCat]

IMO, I'm a big fan of a few specific ones:

Dagger - Small, easy to hide (sleight of hand), better than average threat range, and throwable in a pinch. I usually have 3-7 on any given character
Spiked Gauntlet - Always on, always threaten your immediate area.
Light Mace - bludgeoning weapon that lets you use weapon finesse, 1d6 damage is good for light weapons.
Kukri - better crit range dagger, except no throwing. This is a pretty common crit-fisher weapon.
Light Pick - it's x4 crit multiplier can be very useful with the right feats/investment.
Short Sword - My personal favorite light weapon. Versatile, good crit range, and 1d6 damage.

Notable entries that may fit your needs based on Weapon Finesse:
Rapier - better crit range than a short sword, can be used with Weapon Finesse
Spiked Chain - Weapon Finesse, reach, threatens next to you, downside it requires a feat to use.

Entry for the LOLs:
Sap - without the eratta it deals 1d63 nonleathal damage per hit for a medium creature. 1d43 for a small creature. Best light weapon damage in the game :smallbiggrin: (possibly an error because of a machine readable text conversion with my PDF reader).

[heavyfuel]

The answer to that question depends 100% on your character.

Do you wanna crit fish?
Are you using ToB / PoW?
Can you afford EWP?

There are too many questions to be answered before one can say what is the best weapon.

Personally, I'd say the Dagger is the best as it's the most versatile. It may not be the best weapon for your character, but it's hard to go wrong with it

[DrMotives]

Entry for the LOLs:
Sap - without the eratta it deals 1d63 nonleathal damage per hit for a medium creature. 1d43 for a small creature. Best light weapon damage in the game :smallbiggrin:

You've got some weird printing there. I know I have some misprints in my books, but that glitch isn't present for me when I doublecheck. Which is good, because I also don't have a d43 or a d63 either.

[AnimeTheCat]

You've got some weird printing there. I know I have some misprints in my books, but that glitch isn't present for me when I doublecheck. Which is good, because I also don't have a d43 or a d63 either.

it could be a .pdf rendering error or something that wasn't in the original printed book, like when the pages were converted into text-recognizable formats it added that in (probably because the supertext 3 that follows the damage denotes nonlethal damge. It's also like that on the whip in my pdf copy too, so most likely the case).

[DwarvenWarCorgi]

You've got some weird printing there. I know I have some misprints in my books, but that glitch isn't present for me when I doublecheck. Which is good, because I also don't have a d43 or a d63 either.

These errors are in my copy. Bolas, whip and unarmed strike have a similar error.





Edit:saged

[NNescio]

Entry for the LOLs:
Sap - without the eratta it deals 1d63 nonleathal damage per hit for a medium creature. 1d43 for a small creature. Best light weapon damage in the game :smallbiggrin:

Also small unarmed strikes (gauntlet optional) or tiny daggers, while we're on the subject of lolworthy.

(Obviously for 1d2 Crusader shenanigans.)


You've got some weird printing there. I know I have some misprints in my books, but that glitch isn't present for me when I doublecheck. Which is good, because I also don't have a d43 or a d63 either.

1d43 → Roll 1d100, rerolling all values from 87 to 100. Divide results by 2, rounding upwards.
(Alternatively, roll 11*(1d4 - 1) + d12, rerolling 12s on the d12.)

Roll 21*(1d3 - 1) + 7 * (1d3 - 1) + 1d8, rerolling 8s on the d8. (Use 1d6 divided by 2, rounded upwards, to emulate a d3.)

I mean, it's not like most people have a d3 lying around either, right? Or d100s (i.e. golfballs) for that matter. People emulate it with a d6 (or something roughly equivalent to 10*[1d10 - 1] + 1d10 for the d100), so in theory you can emulate any non-conventional-sided die by multiplying and adding up other dice, rerolling if necessary for out-of-bounds values. Or just use a (pseudo)random number generator!

(On a serious note, don't.)

[pabelfly]

I really like the Elven Lightblade. It's pretty much the elven version of a short sword (and its text says it can be treated as such for several feats). While it's not RAW, you can make a pretty reasonable case to your DM that it should also be treated as a short sword with Shadow Hand stances, and thus get dex to damage with the Shadow Blade feat. You can also finesse it, so it's a good way for TWFers/MWFers to not have to worry so much about strength in favour of pumping dex.

[Trandir]

The answer to that question depends 100% on your character.

Do you wanna crit fish?
Are you using ToB / PoW?
Can you afford EWP?

There are too many questions to be answered before one can say what is the best weapon.

Personally, I'd say the Dagger is the best as it's the most versatile. It may not be the best weapon for your character, but it's hard to go wrong with it


The poit isn't my character but your go to light weapon.
One might prefer a rapier over a dagger for some reason or a weapon for a specific enhancement.

[heavyfuel]

The poit isn't my character but your go to light weapon.
One might prefer a rapier over a dagger for some reason or a weapon for a specific enhancement.

But that's my point exactly. I don't have a go-to weapon. I keep daggers in me as a last resort, but I hardly ever use them. I think on what's best for each individual character, and go from there.

The character I'm currently playing is using PoW and going for a Light Mace modified to be part of the Flail weapon group because then I get +2 to DCs of all of my maneuvers.

I'd never use that weapon with a character that didn't have those maneuvers

[Particle_Man]

Other considerations: does your dm allow for transferring abilities from one type of weapon to another for specific magic weapons? If not short sword (of subtlety) for rogues, assassin’s dagger for assassins, etc. Sun Blade for warriors, I think.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Kusari-Gama, DMG p145 is an exotic light reach weapon that can hit adjacent targets and is equal to a spiked chain for making trip and disarm attempts.

Spiked Gauntlet, you always threaten adjacent squares when the hand is empty, and you don't need to put it down to use that hand for something else. You can cast a spell with that hand, but still threaten adjacent squares when it's not your turn.

[AnimeTheCat]

Kusari-Gama, DMG p145 is an exotic light reach weapon that can hit adjacent targets and is equal to a spiked chain for making trip and disarm attempts.

ya know... this weapon was always very confusing to me. It requires 2 hands to use a kusari-gama in real life. The weapon is a sickle with a weight chained to the end of it, hence why you threaten adjacent squares with it. Why is it a light weapon instead of a 2 handed weapon I wonder...

[Kalkra]

Crescent Knife from Dragon #275 gives you two attacks. The damage isn't great, but combined with precision damage or any other boost to damage it can be pretty good.

[RNightstalker]

A 1-level Dervish dip lets you treat scimitars as light weapons.

[Saintheart]

Crescent Knife from Dragon #275 gives you two attacks. The damage isn't great, but combined with precision damage or any other boost to damage it can be pretty good.

It is indeed a good light weapon. And when you look at Dragon 275, it's clear that one was from right back early in 3.0 when the makers didn't know what the hell they were doing. Good luck getting that one past a DM when virtually everywhere else in the system you wear minuses all over the place for daring to make more than one attack outside your ordained BAB by level.

(Also note: it probably is a light weapon because it's by definition Small, but that isn't express at the table if I remember right. It's an exotic melee weapon, yes, but I don't think there's anything in it that by RAW deems it a light weapon as such.)

[bean illus]

Is the court blade not a light weapon?

[Saintheart]

Is the court blade not a light weapon?

Absolutely not. The explanatory text for the courtblade explicitly says that whilst you can use Weapon Finesse with it, it is still a two-handed weapon and not a light weapon.

[PoeticallyPsyco]

I'm fond of throwing axes. Martial, d6 damage, decent range, dual-wieldable.

Spiked armor is also a lovely last resort.

[NNescio]

Is the court blade not a light weapon?


Absolutely not. The explanatory text for the courtblade explicitly says that whilst you can use Weapon Finesse with it, it is still a two-handed weapon and not a light weapon.

Well, to be pedantic, if a creature is wielding a Courtblade that is sized for a creature two sizes smaller, then the Courtblade would count as a light weapon.

But presumably nobody would want to eat the penalties for something with worse damage dice than an appropriately-sized weapon, so...

[Saintheart]

Well, to be pedantic, if a creature is wielding a Courtblade that is sized for a creature two sizes smaller, then the Courtblade would count as a light weapon.

But presumably nobody would want to eat the penalties for something with worse damage dice than an appropriately-sized weapon, so...

If someone is big enough to be using a Courtblade as a light weapon, they are doing it wrongTM. :smallbiggrin:

[NNescio]

If someone is big enough to be using a Courtblade as a light weapon, they are doing it wrongTM. :smallbiggrin:

I'm now picturing the image of a Cloud Giant who also happens to be a raging elfb passionate connoisseur of Elven culture. One who insists on speaking pidgin Elvish despite being able to speak in impeccable Common. All the while expounding the magnificence of the Elven katana Courtblade and the superior craftelfship of master craftselves.

[Darrin]

Ahem.


http://i.imgur.com/peBt4Va.jpg

[MaxiDuRaritry]

The monk's unarmed strikes are easily the best, by a ridiculous margin.

After all, it's not hard to turn them into a +50 equivalent weapon by level 20 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?285801-Tippy-s-Terrifically-Terrible-Trial/page25&p=15474863#post15474863). The only other light weapon you can get anywhere near that is the sling, since you can enhance the sling as a +1/+9 equivalent with greater magic weapon to turn it into a +5/+9, with +1/+9 ammo, both of which combined turn it into a +23 equivalent weapon.

Also, I like using a (spiked) gauntlet to turn my unarmed strikes into a 2-handed weapon via the rules in Savage Species. You know how Captain James T. Kirk double-fists his enemies in the head? It's like that, but spikier.

Also, if your feet are prehensile, feel free to make them 2-handed foot-gauntlets.

Would a tanuki's testicles (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?576324-3-P-Tanuki-Marital-Arts-Style) be considered a light weapon, since they're technically natural weapons? I suppose if you had Improved Unarmed Strike and Beast Strike, you could add your "slam" damage to your unarmed strikes that way, effectively turning them into a light weapon.

[Saintheart]

Would a tanuki's testicles (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?576324-3-P-Tanuki-Marital-Arts-Style) be considered a light weapon, since they're technically natural weapons? I suppose if you had Improved Unarmed Strike and Beast Strike, you could add your "slam" damage to your unarmed strikes that way, effectively turning them into a light weapon.

Until I clicked that link I had thought the Butter thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?565543-Butter&highlight=butter+golem) was the greatest thread ever in all forums everywhere.

But I was wrong!
There will be more fights to come!
And House Saintheart will stand behind House Tanuki Testicles as it has for a thousand years!
And I will stand behind MaxiDuRaritry:
The KICK! In the BALLS!

[Nifft]

Dagger - Small, easy to hide (sleight of hand), better than average threat range, and throwable in a pinch. I usually have 3-7 on any given character
Dagger also gets TWO damage types (piercing and slashing), which is better than many Martial weapons if your DM is fond of damage-type DR rather than material-type DR or whatnot.

If your DM rolls for magic weapon types, IIRC the Dagger is also well represented on those tables.


Ahem.


http://i.imgur.com/peBt4Va.jpg


That's a Small weapon, but not a Light one.