Reach weapons?

[Emjay]

Hi folks,

I'm trying to work out what the point in a few weapons are in the game and was hoping I could get some discussion/feedback on it.

I'm currently playing a paladin wielding a 2h sword and I'm in midst of act 1/act 2. I have found a number of weapons in my game so far, but I just don't see a point for majority of them. My 2h sword is far superior to everything else I've come across, at least form a dps point of view, so why should I ever be changing to anything else?

Do I look at weapons simply for the damage number? Should we be looking at other aspects?

[Ellie]

I mean, damage is a big factor. Some weapons will also allow you to cast certain spells without using a spell slot, or have other special effects.

(Weapons kinda blend together in the first half of the game, but there will be notable improvements in the second half.)

[Ackranome]

If you run a couple feats (way late into the game) called Sentinel and Pole-arm Mastery - you get a bunch of attacks of opportunity when using "long range" weapons.

[michael199310]

A good spell or ability can really make it worth losing few points of damage. For example, I've been using a Sussur Dagger, which can Silence enemies. It deals pitiful damage in the off-hand but it can be really good vs spellcasters.

Glaives with Sentinel and Polearm Mastery feats are really good too.

[Azunai]

The most important stat in general is the attack bonus. I'd take +2 longsword or halberd over a +1 greatsword any day even though the greatsword has a higher damage number.

[JustSmile]

Some weapon skills are worthwhile, you really should keep at least one of each damage type (piercing, slashing, blunt) in reserve, reach is important as it is sometimes the difference between plinking with a crossbow and using your actual weapon.

And higher attack bonus is almost always the most important - a bigger damage die or an additional 1d4 on hit is less valuable than going from +1 to +2.

[Darkaiser]

While a lot of what you wield will come down to personal preference, there are a few distinct advantages to some weapons:

1) 2-Handed weapons do more damage. They can also benefit from the Feat called Heavy Weapon Master that does a lot more damage at the cost of a reduced chance to hit. This feature can be toggled on and off.

2) Reach weapon have the benefit of being able to hit a target before getting to actual HtH range. So if you hit a target with a reach weapon, you can then move away without drawing opportunity attacks from them.

3) Polearms (glaives, halberds, spears, and quarterstaffs I think) can benefit from the Polearm Master Feat which grants several benefits, not the least of which is a Bonus Action Attack with the back end of the weapon. It does less damage but it still benefits from Paladin Smites.

4) Battle axes specifically do the most damage of any heavy weapon in the game (1D12) and so tend to do more damage on a Critical.

5) Most weapons have 1-2 inherent traits that you can use no matter what class you are, as long as you're proficient with the weapon. Most points things like spears can do a puncture attack that causes the target to bleed. Many slashing weapons do this as well. Many bows can use a Hamstring attack that reduces enemy movement briefly. Crossbows have the Braced feature so if you give up most of your Movement, you have a chance for better damage with your next shot. Great axes (and battle axes but not sure here) can do a Sweep attack and hit several targets that are close together. Your sword might have the same thing.

6) Many weapons benefit from some sort of Fighting Style (available to Fighters, Paladins, and Rangers). Archery makes your shots hit more often. Great Weapon Fighting enables you to reroll a 1 or a 2 for damage (this is done automatically).

There are quite a few magical weapons in the game for all flavors so that shouldn't be a problem no matter what you use.

One of the great things about this game is that you can do a total Respec if you find a really cool weapon that you don't have the skills to use well. As a Paladin, you want to hit as often as possible because you can add Smites to each hit as long as you have spell slots. Many Paladins take Polearm Master for this reason, as well as the fact that the Bonus Action attack is sort of free for you since Paladins don't use their Bonus Action very often.

[Estevan Valladares]

It seem it is hard to think about it like ... Look everything.
To do things most efficiently and get the job done without much run around, you might have multiple weapons for a character. You have fast weapons better to a certain fight, even if they are low damage. You have enemies who are immune to certain types of damage (many are immune to slash damage), you have places in which having a hammer will really save time.
You have moments when you need reach weapons, other times you need more burst damage weapons which reach weapons arent.
You have to remember that weapons of a type when against certain enemies will have a higher chance to miss, etc, etc.
The same way spell has a variety to use, weapons for non casters must be varied for the best performance. IN general that is the reason people often say casters are "OP", because they compare a "handicapped" non caster gameplay (using one or two weapon types) with a caster that uses varied spells according to the situation.
I myself leave the casters at camp with the exception of Shadowheart because of healing mostly.

[Revan619]

Halberd you get that goes great with sentinel and pole arm master. Put it on my tank so people cant just run past and attack my squishies

[Agony_Aunt]

I'm a big fan of reach weapons, as long as I don't have a much superior non-reach weapon.

Sometimes that reach can be the difference between getting in attacks or not.

You know how sometimes you go to attack an enemy, and you just can't reach them? So you have to switch to bow, which is probably not as good as your melee attack. A reach weapon can ensure you get those hits in. Also useful in areas where you can't get to the front line due to others in the way.

[Jes]

I'm going to try to explain some differences. some of these are tabletop rules but they should apply?

Greatsword - The most consistent 2 handed dps with the fighting style.
Greataxe - The highest potential dps if you're a barbarian H-orc. +2d12 damage on a crit thanks to savage/brutal critical. they should stack according to tabletop.
Greatclub - In this game there's glancing blows, but otherwise it's the only simple 2H weapon, so most classes can use it.
Spears/Javelins/tridents - great for throwing, otherwise...
Glaives/Pikes/Halberds - Humans get access to these and spears for free. Glaives and pikes get the brace skill for what is basically advantage on damage rolls.

On the reach tag - They can help you avoid getting hit by an attack of opportunity if you poke and run, otherwise there's sentinel as others pointed out.

Versatile weapons (longsword/warhammer/staff) can gain 1d10 (less with staff) damage when 2handing them, with duelist fighting style you're always getting at least 3 damage minimum so it's pretty consistent. Elves and dwarves get longsword/warhammer respectively.
Quarterstaves are normally best for monks early level in the tabletop, as they don't get many options for monk weapons. eventually enchanted handwraps would be better. In this game anything you're proficient with is a monk weapon (and therefore finesse!), so a gith monk can use greatswords, even with dex.

In tabletop, 2 handed weapons and versatile weapons are normally required for spellcasting, as you cannot cast with both hands holding a (non-focus) object, while you technically only hold a 2 handed weapon with both for the swing.

Short swords, scimitars are good for dual wielding. finesse and light means it works for dex or str. Elves get short swords for free.

Rapiers - They are the best in slot for 1h rogues usually, and probably bards as well. there's a buggy longsword that counts as a finesse weapon for... some reason. sneak attack animation is broken on it last i checked but it counts the damage.

Daggers... hm. They can use dex when you throw them? ...
their best use is in the unfortunate situation you decide to play an dex trickster cleric that isn't an elf. without any martial training you'll be using light crossbows and daggers a lot.

Range weapons are simple. Heavy Crossbow>Longbow>Light crossbow>shortbow. in tabletop you can't multiple-attack with a crossbow, so bows were better at higher level.


Outside ALL that, the weapon's special abilities are important. topple and daze are really good, for example.
damage type also matters. skelemen take DOUBLE damage from bludgeoning weapons for example, so a warhammer, maul (forgot about this one), or greatclub is going to be much more effective than the greatsword.

lastly, whatever magic the weapon has on it is going to be very important.

For example, there's an ACT 1 club of giant strength (sets you at 19 str minimum). on a dex-focused monk, this will help with jumping, carrying, and shoving just by equipping it. you could also put more points into constitution for example, if you're planning on using it for a barbarian or fighter, letting it do the legwork in making sure your strength is high.

since it's a light weapon, you can also put it in your off-hand, and focus on a different primary weapon, or as a monk, the damage will be overriden by your martial arts die as you gain levels.


So yeah. To conclude, all weapons have some use, even daggers, if magical.

You'll probably miss absolutely nothing by going pure greatsword though, since every weapon type has some real powerful variants.