Best weapons by type and where to find them

[Knight]

I made this list for BG2 and it was a pretty interesting list with differing opinions.

I'll make the same for this game. Let me know what you think.

Axe:
Battle Axe+2 in Northwest BG
Bala's Axe (exceptional against mages but otherwise somewhat unremarkable) Found in Durlags Tower
Golden axe found in W baldur's gate locked area is worth mentioning though.

Club:
Mighty Oak from shadow druid leader inside treehouse at cloakwood 3.
Night Club Entar silvershield's garden

Dagger:
Dagger of Venom in Beregost Smithy (6 poison damage per round is insane for this stage of the saga)
Dagger +2 Longtooth from Krystin in chapter 7

Flail:
Thrasher in Sorcs sundries (Thanks Hopper)
Flail+1 found in bear cave west of nashkel

Mace:
Mace+2 in Durlags tower (4th floor)
Stupifier Burning Wizard inn
Mace+1 Beregost Smithy AND burning wizard inn

Morning Star:
Morning Star+1 from Drasus in the Cloakwood mines
Kiel's Morning Star in Durlag's Tower is an unreliable superior weapon though.

Halberd:
Halberd+2 from Zhalimar Iron throne South BG.
Halberd+1 SW Nashkel cave
Chelsey Crusher (weird weapon) East of knoll stronghold on Ingot.


Staff:
Staff of striking. Durlags tower 4th level. (besides the chelsey crusher) This staff does the highest raw damage IN THE GAME. (Unlike crusher it can attack more than 1 time per round.) Enchanted as a +3 to hit, yet deals 10-15 damage per strike. Has a charge of 25. Can be recharged by selling then buying, but it'll cost you thousands each time. Only weakness is it's a temporary weapon unless you recharge it. Even then, you'll need to do this consistently rather than gradually.
Staff Spear+2 (Kirinhale, Durlag's Tower) slightly outdamages Quarterstaff+3 (Ulgoth's beard)

Bastard Sword:
Bastard Sword +1, +3 vs Shapeshifters from Aldeth is the best available.
Albruin near quayle at Wyrm's crossing
I should mention Sword of Balduran only beats them if you're fighting lycanthropes

Long Sword:
Long Sword+1 Flame Tongue (4th level durlag's tower) is incredibly reliable. So much so I'd place it over long sword +2, JUST BARELY.
Long Sword+2 from Greywolf via nashkel mines is still a solid pick though.
Moonblade deserves a mention, but it's from Xan and only usable by Xan so... no. Would be at the top if you could use it though.
Harrower deserves a mention against undead, off Zeela near nashkel mines

Short Sword:
Short sword of backstabbing from Sylth in the undercellar is simply the best, but offers no backstabbing bonus.
Short sword +2 from Zrgal SW Beregost will serve you until ch7.

Katana
Katana+1 3rd floor cloakwood mines.

Scimitar:
Drizzt's Frostband and Defender are arguably the best weapons in this game. But if you don't wanna kill Drizzt there's a Scimitar+2 on top of Durlag's tower and +1 dropped by an ogre mage in the bg sewers.

War Hammer:
War Hammer +2 from Bassilus SW Beregost is the ideal pick
Hammer of Dawn from Brathlan
Ashideena +1 +3 electrical is good since very few have any resistance to electric. Sold by magda.
War Hammer +1, +4 vs Giant Humanoids from hurgan at Ulgoth's Beard is a close second (unless you're facing a giant of course)

Spear:
Spear+1 from Poe by firewine bridge.
Backbiter. Can be stolen from undead knight in firewine ruins. Although it does 2 more damage than Spear+1, it does 3 damage to the weilder making it a poor pick.

2H Sword:
Gold Digger. A PLUS 4 SWORD! 5-14 damage per hit. Costs you 10 gold a hit but it's probably worth.
The Phantom Blade acts as a superior World's Edge, but only available via the spell. Does +10 damage against undead.
World's Edge. 1 less damage in exchange for a slightly better speed factor and less gold loss. From the King in chess area of Durlag's tower.


Long bow:
Longbow of Marksmanship from Hakt in bandit camp has a better THACO and thus I like it more.
Composite Longbow+1 does more damage though, Feldpost's inn in Beregost.

Short Bow:
Eagle Bow from Marek, Blushing Mermaid
Short Bow+1 from the smithy in Beregost

Sling:
Melf's Minute meteor spell, insane potential. It might not have enough raw damage, but hits faster and against any protection
Sling+3 4th level Durlag's tower
Sling of unerring accuracy thieves guld purchase
Sling+1 Beregost Smithy

Heavy Crossbow:
Heavy Crossbow of Accuracy +2 from Dabron if you killed Aldeth
That's it.

Light Crossbow:
Light Crossbow of Speed from smithy at beregost is FAST and acts as a +1
Light Crossbow+1 is found on Taxek in SE BG house

Throwing Axe:
Throwing Axe+2 from Prat is a solid pick.




Other Notes:

The best raw damage from a projectile is bolts. Bolt+2 will deal 3-10 damage. Sling's get Bullet +2 which deals 4-7. Arrows+2 get 3-8. Arrows do retain utility in the lategame though.

Arrows of Dispelling are going to be effective throughout the game. 6-36 arrow of detonation can be insane. Bullets get no utility, but Melf's Minute Meteors blow most projectile weapons away with it's easy availability and exceptional reliable damage output.

Club+1, +3 vs unnatural creatures WOULD exist here but... it's not obtainable in game. You can get it with the unfinished business mod. Even then I have no idea really what it does. Other than that Clubs are hot garbage. EDIT: EE added magical clubs.

The strangest weapon is the longsword Vampire's Revenge. You can get this sword from Ulcaster by trading in the idol of Kohza from the lighthouse excavation area and Ancient Armor from firewine ruins. It literally drains your life and gives it to the person you're attacking. You can, weirdly enough, turn an attacker into a healer, yet it's cursed, so you can't exploit it well. It's janky and incredibly difficult to obtain. Better off just buying potions tbh.

Bolt of shapeshifting is another rare find. It transforms targets into squirrels if they fail a save vs plymorph check. It's exceptionally rare in drops, and insanely expensive at sorcerers sundries.



EDIT: forgot some of the EE weapons added them, thanks alex.

[Hopper]

Good list.

There's a Flail +2 in the Sorcerous Sundries.
And there's free Mace +1 in the Burning Wizard inn in Beregost.

[AlexMBrennan]

EE added Albruin +1 which is superior to the generic +1 sword

Longtooth/Gravebinder/Dagger+2 can be more easily obtained in the from the tomb where you emerge from the Nashkel mines. Backbiter can be more easily obtained from the druid in Larswood. Another +2 scimitar can be obtained in Cloakwood

You also forgot about the joke weapon, the Chesley Crusher +2 (+6 damage, 1APR)

[Gustuv Wynd]

The weapons have long since been documented thoroughly on many sites around the Internet and there are a lot missing, but if you are going to make one here you need to at least include the +2 war hammer with +1 electrical damage off that crazy cleric south of high hedge. It is a must for any one swinging blunt objects.

[D'amarr from Darshiva]

Originally posted by Gustuv Wynd:

The weapons have long since been documented thoroughly on many sites around the Internet and there are a lot missing,

True, but a fresh approach could still be interesting, and many players maintain lists in private for future replays.

Using full and accurate item names would be helpful. Example: The Shadow's Blade +3 short sword rather than referring to a weapon with a different name.

[Knight]

Originally posted by Gustuv Wynd:

The weapons have long since been documented thoroughly on many sites around the Internet and there are a lot missing, but if you are going to make one here you need to at least include the +2 war hammer with +1 electrical damage off that crazy cleric south of high hedge. It is a must for any one swinging blunt objects.

I think Asheedna was one of the weapons I didn't have on my list because it was from EE but I'll add it.

[rompier02]

Hi. 2 H Swords - I'd take Spider Bane anytime over the others. Gotta fight the fat lady to get it in Cloakwood. Isn't Ashideena the same with the crazy cleric weapon?

[Knight]

Originally posted by rompier02:

Hi. 2 H Swords - I'd take Spider Bane anytime over the others. Gotta fight the fat lady to get it in Cloakwood. Isn't Asheedna the same with the crazy cleric weapon?

I mean... free action is nice and all. But why not just buy a potion of freedom or use Edventar's gift?

[rompier02]

Originally posted by Knight:

Originally posted by rompier02:

Hi. 2 H Swords - I'd take Spider Bane anytime over the others. Gotta fight the fat lady to get it in Cloakwood. Isn't Asheedna the same with the crazy cleric weapon?

I mean... free action is nice and all. But why not just buy a potion of freedom or use Edventar's gift?

Yeah sure. Why not use a blade that gives indefinite benefit as long as it is wielded en route to the mines. The latter comes much later after you win the fight against Saravok's acolytes. You also forgot Aule's staff + 3. Good weapon without the need to recharge. Found in Durlag's Tower.

[Knight]

Originally posted by rompier02:

Originally posted by Knight:

I mean... free action is nice and all. But why not just buy a potion of freedom or use Edventar's gift?

Yeah sure. Why not use a blade that gives indefinite benefit as long as it is wielded en route to the mines. The latter comes much later after you win the fight against Saravok's acolytes. You also forgot Aule's staff + 3. Good weapon without the need to recharge. Found in Durlag's Tower.

We can disagree. It doesn't benefit you past a +2 sword any fight you don't benefit from free action. Any small fry that have the ability to use something like Web aren't that difficult to fight without Spider's bane. And assuming I need it for a boss or powerful mob I can just pay 175 gold for a potion... or, given that I'm probably far into the game by the time I really need it, use edventar's ring.

Also, I didn't forget that staff.

[rompier02]

Originally posted by Knight:

Originally posted by rompier02:

Yeah sure. Why not use a blade that gives indefinite benefit as long as it is wielded en route to the mines. The latter comes much later after you win the fight against Saravok's acolytes. You also forgot Aule's staff + 3. Good weapon without the need to recharge. Found in Durlag's Tower.

We can disagree. It doesn't benefit you past a +2 sword any fight you don't benefit from free action. Any small fry that have the ability to use something like Web aren't that difficult to fight without Spider's bane. And assuming I need it for a boss or powerful mob I can just pay 175 gold for a potion... or, given that I'm probably far into the game by the time I really need it, use edventar's ring.

Also, I didn't forget that staff.

Never found it in your list for staffs. Yeah the small fries in the random encounter with the web traps & in one map in cloakwood sure are a walk in the park. Kinda hard to use a potion when you're already held. Spider Bane + the ring gives 2 people with free action. Sure we can disagree.

[Knight]

Originally posted by rompier02:

Originally posted by Knight:

We can disagree. It doesn't benefit you past a +2 sword any fight you don't benefit from free action. Any small fry that have the ability to use something like Web aren't that difficult to fight without Spider's bane. And assuming I need it for a boss or powerful mob I can just pay 175 gold for a potion... or, given that I'm probably far into the game by the time I really need it, use edventar's ring.

Also, I didn't forget that staff.

Never found it in your list for staffs. Yeah the small fries in the random encounter with the web traps & in one map in cloakwood sure are a walk in the park. Kinda hard to use a potion when you're already held. Spider Bane + the ring gives 2 people with free action. Sure we can disagree.

Well, look again. It's there.

I'm not doing this passive aggressive condescending nonsense with you dude. Let's just agree to disagree. I'll quaff my potions, you waltz around with your sword.

[rompier02]

Originally posted by Knight:

Originally posted by rompier02:

Never found it in your list for staffs. Yeah the small fries in the random encounter with the web traps & in one map in cloakwood sure are a walk in the park. Kinda hard to use a potion when you're already held. Spider Bane + the ring gives 2 people with free action. Sure we can disagree.

Well, look again. It's there.

I'm not doing this passive aggressive condescending nonsense with you dude. Let's just agree to disagree. I'll quaff my potions, you waltz around with your sword.

Ok dude because when a user disagrees with you it is " passive aggressive condescending nonsense ". Oh my fave Cursed 2 H Sword. Excellent starter weapon & it is free. Induces berserk state. Very good against the Sirine Queen.

Btw next time omit the ' let me know what you think '. That way neither of us would have wasted our energy & time. Have a nice day.

[Knight]

Originally posted by rompier02:

Originally posted by Knight:

Well, look again. It's there.

I'm not doing this passive aggressive condescending nonsense with you dude. Let's just agree to disagree. I'll quaff my potions, you waltz around with your sword.

Ok dude because when a user disagrees with you it is " passive aggressive condescending nonsense ". Oh my fave Cursed 2 H Sword. Excellent starter weapon & it is free. Induces berserk state. Very good against the Sirine Queen.

Btw next time omit the ' let me know what you think '. That way neither of us would have wasted our energy & time. Have a nice day.

A user can share their opinion without being condescending and passive aggressive, much like you have been and continue to be.

I would ask you not participate in this discussion any more.

[Hell-met]

Originally posted by Knight:

The best raw damage from a projectile is bolts. Bolt+2 will deal 3-10 damage. Sling's get Bullet +2 which deals 4-7. Arrows+2 get 3-8. Arrows do retain utility in the lategame though.

sling bullets benefit from str and dex though. Also can be combined with a shield. Slings are the best launcher and few people realize it

also, Arrow of Dispel can remove the haste of various creatures that have infinite haste including sarevok

[Voroff]

Originally posted by Knight:

A user can share their opinion without being condescending and passive aggressive, much like you have been and continue to be.

I would ask you not participate in this discussion any more.

Dude, you DO realize that you are something like 15 years late to the battle ? The internet is filled to the brim with lists written in good format - even excel is better than here.

Then, you really forgot the Aule +3 Staff, as you forgot the mace-staff that is amazing for some builds. The sling getting str bonuses in the "other notes" ? And so on. So, please, stop being condescending, coz you are that and snazzy on your own made topic. Accept criticizm and git good. At least, better, critics helps in that way.

But, why this topic ? You wanted to help us ? To make your own sticky note accessible everywhere on the internet ? Or what ? (im curious)