Bane Blade...

[CtenosaurOaxacana]

Is it just me or is this stupid treasure equipment just not worth it?
I was getting ♥♥♥♥ed over allll match because I was juuuust 1 or 2 hits shy of killing people,
whether attacking or defending,
so I kept getting ♥♥♥♥ed by the -1 hp, plus the extra -1 hp at dawn.
Pretty great stuff.

[JaGarLo]

I believe it's a "high risk, high reward" kind of Treasure.

+4 dice in battle is massive for a Hero with low Fight stat. A Hero who is vulnerable in combat can quickly become a considerable threat for other players. And woe betide the entire population of Armello if it falls under Fang's paws.

However, this comes at a heavy price...

-> 4 extra dice does not mean 4 extra Attacks or Defenses. Anything that isn't guaranteed values is a gamble.

-> You're getting +2 Rot from this Treasure. Very useful if you're going for a Corruption build, but a burden otherwise. This is not something you can just overcome with a single Cleansing Wyld. So it's likely you'll have to take 1 damage per dawn for the rest of the game.

-> A Hero with high Body stat and Defense items can ruin your day, indeed.

So, is it worth it? It depends on your selected Hero and the situation of the board. It's not a "no-brainer" for me. If you want to equip it, then you need to be aware of the advantage you're getting... As well as the nasty drawbacks you'll have to live with.

[pikminjp]

Originally posted by Vulpes Velox:

Is it just me or is this stupid treasure equipment just not worth it?
I was getting ♥♥♥♥ed over allll match because I was juuuust 1 or 2 hits shy of killing people,
whether attacking or defending,
so I kept getting ♥♥♥♥ed by the -1 hp, plus the extra -1 hp at dawn.
Pretty great stuff.

I'm glad people are pointing out that Bane Blade isn't the be all, end all treasure to obtain in Armello. Many novice players just hunt this down (trust me I was too) and expect to just win. Don't get me wrong, when used smartly it can be a powerful tool, especially in rot and prestige builds when be under the rot of the King isn't a big issue. Having 4 extra dice can make a huge difference in battle. Here's some tips for Bane Blade

1. DO NOT GRAB for kingslayer if your character is bad at fighting otherwise and or doesn't have atleast some form of defense. The Bane Blade is a offensive powerhouse, but without some dice protection from the king and or defense to make up some hefty misses, often or not the + 2 rot dice you'll be giving to the king isn't going be ending in your favor.

2. Favor wit over raw power. Burns help significantly as they could help reduce the risk of punishment and may improve defense. Also more wit gives you more of a chance to get offensive spell cards like Moonbite to help just that much more on ensuring a kill. Or Mirrors Image to simply overwhelm any in raw power.

3. Be especially wary of evading! Evading is often viewed as a state of weakness for Baneblade. While yes improves your defense significantly in battle. However, with that 1 damage weakness triggering every time. Some like River and people that can pierce can use this as free damage or outright kill you, you being helpless to even fight back.

Hope this helps, but I bet you already knew a few of these.

[Comric]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYHI9RXYhAg

[Gibble Fenwick]

As an offence item: Bane Blade has an average of a little* more than +2 attack in battle (subject to the whims of RNG); meaning it's not that much better than War Hammer, which guarantees +2 attack in battle.
*(A number of variables make this tricky to quantify precisely, but exploding Wyld dice offer rapidly diminishing odds of bonus attacks; and they're quickly capped unless you have a big Explode Pool.)

However, Bane Blade does offer more flexibility.
1) Extra dice can be used to lock in specific symbols by burning cards. (Ordinarily with non-evading Twiss and certain bears: even if you have cards to burn, you usually lack the dice to do so.)
2) The extra dice also mean 4 more chances to roll a shield. A single shield from the bonus dice can reduce damage received in combat by 1. This immediately offsets the damage received if the opponent manages to survive.

(Point 2 probably makes the Bane Blade worthwhile even if you don't kill your opponent.)

However, I'd like to point out that in a Rot battle against the king, this item can be a liability.
Suppose you attack the king late enough that you gain 6 Rot dice. That means you're getting a minimum of +10 dice and a nice big Explode Pool. Great for rolling a large number of attacks, especially since you're unlikely to hit the explode cap. But it also means giving the king a large number of missed dice; and each exploding die has another 2/6 chance of being snared by the king.
Of course any time you face the king in Rot battle, you should try to take appropriate precaution (e.g. Chain Shirt, KG Armour, Royal Shield, high HP, burn cards). It's just that Bane Blade probably makes it a little more important.

[Tei]

Considering +4 combat dice is at least doubling base fight for most of the heroes, I'd say bane blade can easily be worth it. You can't abuse it as a low fight hero, but it's still useful. It's one of the more fair items in the game because it's actually better in the hands of high fight heroes while the rng still gives some hope of fighting them. I definitely don't mind seeing bane blade as a wolf hero even if I don't intend to get corrupted.

Keep in mind, bane blade is also better if you don't go extremely hard into card cycling. Burning more shields and misses is going to mean you take more damage. That's another reason why I'd rather be a wolf hero with bane blade. A free item helps with their gold problems, and I'm mostly just concerned about palace breaching symbols once I have viable items on.