Optimizing slings?

[RagnaroksChosen]

so is there any way to make a sling not suck?
another thread made me think about this..


Is there any way to optimize a sling?
I know there is a 3.0 halfling prestige class from races of fareun... but what else?

[Tyndmyr]

You can get special ammo, to add alchemical fire/holy water/etc dmg. Still not awesome, but hey, anything beats 1d3, right?

[Vizzerdrix]

A nice high Str score and a size larger sling maybe?

[RagnaroksChosen]

slings get jipped it apears... not even a rapid reload like feat for em...


what about greek slingers i meen realy.. made me sad... are there any sling only feats in 3.5

[Starscream]

There's a nice Explosive Sling from the MIC. Does an extra 2d6 damage to both the target and anyone standing near him.

[RagnaroksChosen]

There's a nice Explosive Sling from the MIC. Does an extra 2d6 damage to both the target and anyone standing near him.

That's actually kinda cool.

[Cieyrin]

Slings are poorly represented in 3.5, though they are still pretty useful for applying your full Strength yet having more range than thrown weapons do. There are a couple of neat slings out there, though, like the Stunshot Sling (stun with a save DC set by the attack roll), the Warsling with its x4 crit mod and the Sling of the Dire Wind, which, when combined with Elemental Lodestones and Dungeonsmasher Fighter ACF, can deal 20d6+4xStr mod at 20th.

[Grumman]

As I said last time someone asked, by RAW Aptitude Weapon works with Rapid Reload.

[Dimers]

slings get jipped it apears... not even a rapid reload like feat for em...

Waitaminnit -- you mean that they don't fire as often as bows do? I've never seen any indication that they're slow to use.

As for "making slings not suck", a variant of Brutal Throw feat would help, so they're not MAD.

[Cieyrin]

As I said last time someone asked, by RAW Aptitude Weapon works with Rapid Reload.

As would Hand Crossbow Focus, which'll roll WF in with your Rapid Reload.

[RagnaroksChosen]

As would Hand Crossbow Focus, which'll roll WF in with your Rapid Reload.

err I guess i should have specified aptitude aside.


Dimers:

Your Strength modifier applies to damage rolls when you use a sling, just as it does for thrown weapons. You can fire, but not load, a sling with one hand. Loading a sling is a move action that requires two hands and provokes attacks of opportunity.

You can hurl ordinary stones with a sling, but stones are not as dense or as round as bullets. Thus, such an attack deals damage as if the weapon were designed for a creature one size category smaller than you and you take a -1 penalty on attack rolls.

[Akal Saris]

PF has the Halfling Sling-staff as a free weapon proficiency for halflings - it's a 1d8 (or 1d6 for small) x3 weapon with an 80ft range that can be used as a club in melee. Still the horrible move-action loading issues, however.

Really, the only times I use a sling are on a very low-level character who can't afford a light crossbow. There just isn't enough support for it to be good for much else.

Oh - and Weapons of Legacy has a legacy item sling that turns your bullets into boulders, eventually dealing 4d6 base damage, along with whatever else it gets. I thought that was nifty :)

[Cieyrin]

Oh - and Weapons of Legacy has a legacy item sling that turns your bullets into boulders, eventually dealing 4d6 base damage, along with whatever else it gets. I thought that was nifty :)

Sling of the Dire Wind, as i previously mentioned.

[RagnaroksChosen]

if slings are allowed to reload as a bow (aka free action) does that make them Over powered?

[Ravens_cry]

if slings are allowed to reload as a bow (aka free action) does that make them Over powered?

Possibly for a free, weightless, simple weapon.
A homebrewed. Sling Rapid Reload feat based on the Crossbow Rapid Reload feat would be appropriate in my view.

[Riffington]

if slings are allowed to reload as a bow (aka free action) does that make them Over powered?

Not particularly. Compared to a bow it has low range, low damage (compared to an archer who either has low-moderate strength or has high wealth), and high weight (if you want much in the way of ammo).

[Cieyrin]

if slings are allowed to reload as a bow (aka free action) does that make them Over powered?

Hardly. D&D slings are short-ranged and have inferior damage to bows, as well as far less rules support, which makes them the beaten red-haird step child of ranged weapons.

ninja'd

[Boci]

The Bloodstorm Blade can be adapted for halfling sling wielders, allowing them to reload the slin as a free action with one hand.

[Thurbane]

Magical sling ammo:

• Blight Stone (MIC p.153)
• Bullet of Sound (MH p.41)
• Glitter Stone (MIC p.161)
• Stench Stone (MIC p.186)

As well as the Explosive Sling already mentioned, there is the Stunshot Sling (MIC p.60).

The PHB II has the Penetrating Shot feat, which allows you to make a 60 ft line attack with a sling.

...also, the Halfling Paragon class (UA) gives +2 damage with thrown weapons and slings at 2nd level.

[gdiddy]

Every night, load 50 slings. Hang them on a belt like a grass skirt. Get the Quick draw feat. Bam. Full Sling attack.

[Ryfte]

The nice kicker for the Bloodstorm Blade prestige class adaptation (in addition to the free reload of slings --> full iterative attacks with them and the Quick Draw feat as a bonus feat) is that you can actually trigger Iron Heart strikes with a sling attack as well. :D

They do take some "interpretation" by your DM but according to the adaptation text sling usage is supposed to effectively be identical to throwing a melee weapon for them with all the normal features of the bloodstorm blade. Thus, for example... you could make a strike of perfect clarity with a sling and deal your normal damage + 100 points... *shrug* ;)

Dazing Strike can be great as a ranged attack... especially if you've got a decent strength modifier and Disarming Strike is like having the ranged disarm feat for free. Finishing Move rocks as a ranged attack... dealing an extra 4d6, 6d6 or 14d6 damage depending on the current state of the creatures HP. Lightning Throw applies as well... dealing + 12d6 damage to all creatures in a 30' line (some interpretation would have to be applied there, we allow a 30' line from the 1st target... *shrug*).

[Boci]

The nice kicker for the Bloodstorm Blade prestige class adaptation (in addition to the free reload of slings --> full iterative attacks with them and the Quick Draw feat as a bonus feat) is that you can actually trigger Iron Heart strikes with a sling attack as well. :D

They do take some "interpretation" by your DM but according to the adaptation text sling usage is supposed to effectively be identical to throwing a melee weapon for them with all the normal features of the bloodstorm blade. Thus, for example... you could make a strike of perfect clarity with a sling and deal your normal damage + 100 points... *shrug* ;)

Dazing Strike can be great as a ranged attack... especially if you've got a decent strength modifier and Disarming Strike is like having the ranged disarm feat for free. Finishing Move rocks as a ranged attack... dealing an extra 4d6, 6d6 or 14d6 damage depending on the current state of the creatures HP. Lightning Throw applies as well... dealing + 12d6 damage to all creatures in a 30' line (some interpretation would have to be applied there, we allow a 30' line from the 1st target... *shrug*).

Pretty cool, unfortunatly by the same interpretation wouldn't you have to loose a prepared iron heart manouver every single time you use the free reload sling feature? I'm sure any sane DM would ignore this, but RAW I think its sadly true.

[Ryfte]

Pretty cool, unfortunatly by the same interpretation wouldn't you have to loose a prepared iron heart manouver every single time you use the free reload sling feature? I'm sure any sane DM would ignore this, but RAW I think its sadly true.

I don't believe so. The "free reload" is merely part of the prestige class effectively while the class ability that allows the use of a martial strike is different. At least... that's how we've interpreted it, lol.

[Draz74]

As well as the Explosive Sling already mentioned, there is the Stunshot Sling (MIC p.60).

And since the Save DC (vs. stun) of this item scales with character level, it's actually pretty awesome.

[Ryfte]

With the explosive sling there are also advantages to adding enchantments to the sling which add status effects due to the fact they will affect all targets that are damaged... or at least have a chance to do so.

[Vizzerdrix]

Hmm... How much would it cost to combine the explody and stunning and boulder slings into one sling?

[Ryfte]

Hmm... How much would it cost to combine the explody and stunning and boulder slings into one sling?

The "Pebbles to Boulders" property is only found on a single legacy sling (i.e. Sling of Dire Winds) from the Weapons of Legacy book (3.5). I haven't seen it anywhere else or listed with an actual enhancement bonus rating like +X for figuring cost. It's scalar based on level though and effectively increases your "weapon size category" by +1 for every 4 levels... thus a medium character ends up with 4d6 damage at 20th level. It's got a bunch of other stuff as well. The explosive sling and the stunning sling are the same in so much as they aren't "standard" enchantments found as ranged or melee weapon properties as they're written. There is an exploding property that has different characterstics than the sling though... weaker I think and dealing 2d4 as opposed to 2d6. *shrug*

[Boci]

weaker I think and dealing 2d6 as opposed to 2d6. *shrug*

Typo? I think the property is in complete warrior. Its +2 I think.

[Ryfte]

Typo? I think the property is in complete warrior. Its +2 I think.

Yeah, my bad... it's 2d4 as opposed to 2d6, lol. :D

Edit: Of course all your melee buddies hate you if you use any explosive weapon as they're not selective, lol.

[Thurbane]

Well, a Stunshot Sling is 7,800 gp and a normal +1 sling is 2,300gp - so it would be reasonable to rule that the Stunshot property costs +5,500gp.

The Explosive Sling is 36,300gp; +5,500gp = 41,800gp.