Critical hits

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im currently playing a dwarven warrior, whom im going to make into a weaponmaster using a twohand weapon. so seeing as im powergaming a bit here, im wondering which twohander is best.

As far as i can see, its either the great axe d12 with a x3 multiplier or the scyth with its 2d4 x4. im jusst wondering, when criticals damage are calculated is strength modifier and enchantment added before the multiplier or after?
because getting the scyth will meen i have to use an extra warrior level on exotic weapon feat, which is worth it, if either strenght or enchantment or both are added before the multiplier, but not if its added after.

 

I think they are, because I have tried both of these weapons as a weapons master and the critical hits from the scythe seem to do a hell of a lot more damage than the great axe.

 

You may want to check out the weaponmaster's guide. It is probably here on SP but can also be found at gamefaqs.

I think the scythe wins for most damage on a critical hit, but you also need to factor in how often you get a critical hit. As such I believe the greatsword is tops, followed by the greataxe.

My weaponmaster is a halfling who duals kukris. Nearly 50% criticals with a keen weapon.

 

aye kukris i think is the winner weapon for duelwielding, as i believe its 1d4 with 18-20 /x2.

greatsword should sligtly top but its damage is rather weak 1d12 19-20/x2

i have gone scyth now, and it really seems to be way higher then my former halbard.

my +2scythe seems to crit for around 50-60, while my halberd of talona (+1 and with +1d6 acid) did around 40-45.

im not a weaponmaster yet, do to being a dwarf and scythe being exotic i wont hit it untill lvl 11.

 

I had a half orc Bard RDD CoT who used a scythe, he would take out most foes with a few strikes scoring as much as 100pts with a critical hit (iirc).

A WM using a scythe would rule.

 

I recommend the scythe. If your lucky you may pick up the deaths handmaiden which is a deadly weapon.

 

I did a half-orc barbarian with a scythe in ages past. Guy was basically unstoppable, able to take down most bosses in a handful of hits as soon as he got improved critical (scythe). There is a reason in NWN that the scythe is an exotic weapon.

 

yea I took scythe, its lovely when my +2 scythe one-shots though mobs on a crit.

blackthorn. greatswords, arent really that great, since thier crit mltiplier is only x2, and thier range i tink is 19-20, which is roughly 5% mor crits then the scythe with its x4 multiplier and which is also a largeweapon given the 1.5 strength modefier.

 

In HotU you get on higher level some decent improvement when you play a weapons master. Imroved critical and iirc increased multiplier gets you a 2d6 weapon with 15-20 crit range, and triple damage. When coupled with high strength and a keen weapon that's nasty.
A scythe weapons master however, would then iirc yield 18-20 crit range, and have pentuple damage on 2d4 base damage, with the same strength multiplier. A scythe with the increasec crit feat would iirc have 18-20 (?) critical range, somewhat better when keen.

IMO the greatsword is just fine, and probably more effective - as you liklely hit critically more frequently. IMO longsword and greatsword as standard weapons are all right, as you can utilise the feat you have to spend on exotic weapon proficiency better somewhere else. It probably only make a difference on higher levels. Someone here might like to calulate that out statistically.

If you want to make the best of critical hits go for a scimitar wielding weapons master. The scimitar is probably the best weapon as far as crits are concerned. A scimitar has a threat range of 17-20. The improved critical feat will double this to 13-20. Now add a keen weapon and this increases again to 9-20 (?) ... you get the idea. The weaponsmaster will then bring it up to triple damage on higher levels. All that should compensate for the 1d6 base damage of the weapon. You should reliably have at least one critical hit per round on higher levels.
For the maximum number of attacks you will want to dualwield, as that gets you an extra attack. For the same reason you will also want to have high parry skill for the riposte attack and very light armor to have minimum malus on your parry skill (thus high dex; the parry skill is wasted on heavy armor characters).
It is a pity the scimitar cannot be used with the finesse feat, probably for good reason. But then there is the rapier ... if you go for rapier you would, in the end, have 1d6 damage, x3, with a 13-20 crit range (even less with a keen weapon) piercing damage, and could go for extreme dexterity. You would improve your AC and hit probability at the same time, at the expense of strength damage bonus (but that's what items are there for).

An interesting base class is the ranger for the free dualwielding feats. One could then add a few thief levels for sneak attacks, or, if you have chosen an evil ranger as your base character, assassin.

PS: Successively checking my numbers ...

[ December 22, 2006, 18:02: Message edited by: Ragusa ]

 

actually ragusa, im useing the keen scythe "deaths handmaiden" im currently fighter(10)/weaponmaster(7) and my crit range is 16-20/x5 with does a fair amount of damage.

as for duelwielding, im devided between, dwarven waraxe, katana(especially in hotu, where you get a +12) and kukri