Why bother upgrading Finnean?

[ec928]

I don't understand the point in upgrading Finnean. It was great when your character was weak, but as you got stronger it quickly became under powered, and/or inflexible, especially as it does nothing to undead or constructs.

And by the time you fight the Blade Smith for Finnean's last upgrade you've long had Greater Magic Weapon on everyone as a 24-hour perma buff. And as the max enhancement is capped at +5, ALL your weapons are +5 by default no matter what. But it's even worse: the final "upgrade" turns it from a Brilliant Energy, Ghost Touch with 1d6 extra force damage, Heartseeker weapon to a lousy Brilliant Energy weapon? Unless the text is wrong, that looks like a "downgrade".

So what's the point of upgrading Finnean if it makes it weaker? And is there any way to fight and complete the Blade Smith quest and avoid this downgrade while keeping Finnean as a Great Sword?

[Sador]

Because it's actually pretty damn strong in the right hand. Lann using it as a longbow is great and makes fighting higher AC enemies significantly easier. Sure, not damaging undead / constructs is a bit of a hassle (have a backup weapon equipped just in case), but it's worth it for the damage he manages to blast out with it.

[Dekent]

They do finnean dirty, considering he's a talking weapon and 'special' you'd think he would be one of the best weapons in the game for whatever you decide to put him in. Instead he lags behind the loot and vendor gear. He's really only useful in chapter 1.

[T.W. Hamill]

The people who think that are the same people who then complain that hitting a Vavakia Vanguard or Korzawhatsit are too hard.

Lann shot them both to death for me without trouble. Finnean is fine and lets you pick a weird/crazy weapon if you want and not have to worry about OK loot.

[Player#2201]

Think of him more like a bridging weapon for the weird martial or exotic unique that only drops in Act 4/5 but will absolutely make your build op.