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General Tabletop Discussion
Character Builds & Optimization
Custom Weapon for a Cavalier
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<blockquote data-quote="EzekielRaiden" data-source="post: 7474268" data-attributes="member: 6790260"><p>This will depend heavily on how dangerous the campaign is. An extra death save is nice, and coupled with the "1s count as only one failure" thing, you'll be very survivable. This makes the low levels a lot nicer, when literally two bad rolls can leave you Dying (assuming this is 5e, which from the terms you used is likely). However, unless the defensive boons become really substantial, you run the risk of a minimally-useful weapon at high level--you probably won't <em>need</em> major defensive boosts at high level, whereas offensive boosts are always useful at all levels.</p><p></p><p>1d8 elemental damage 1/day is...not <em>terrible</em>, but definitely small-time. It's the equivalent of <em>half</em> a free first-level Smite, or a less-versatile Expertise die, once a day. So the offensive power starts off relatively low, and if the weapon never got any better, I'd take the defensive option hands-down and never look back.</p><p></p><p>So...you have to ask yourself two questions. One, is the GM going to make these weapons Pretty Dang Good for their niche? And two, do you want to have a stronger weapon initially but (almost certainly) a weaker weapon in the end, or a weaker weapon to begin with but (likely) a stronger weapon at high level?</p><p></p><p>If you don't think the campaign will go past level 10, or you are worried that early levels will be majorly lethal, take defensive. If you think the campaign will last a long time, that you'll actually get a good offensive boost at high level, and that the lethality of levels 1 and 2 will be sufficiently easily-managed, take offensive, because it will <em>probably</em> end up stronger. Extra defense on an already well-defended character is all-too-easily wasted. Extra offense is almost never wasted.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="EzekielRaiden, post: 7474268, member: 6790260"] This will depend heavily on how dangerous the campaign is. An extra death save is nice, and coupled with the "1s count as only one failure" thing, you'll be very survivable. This makes the low levels a lot nicer, when literally two bad rolls can leave you Dying (assuming this is 5e, which from the terms you used is likely). However, unless the defensive boons become really substantial, you run the risk of a minimally-useful weapon at high level--you probably won't [I]need[/I] major defensive boosts at high level, whereas offensive boosts are always useful at all levels. 1d8 elemental damage 1/day is...not [I]terrible[/I], but definitely small-time. It's the equivalent of [I]half[/I] a free first-level Smite, or a less-versatile Expertise die, once a day. So the offensive power starts off relatively low, and if the weapon never got any better, I'd take the defensive option hands-down and never look back. So...you have to ask yourself two questions. One, is the GM going to make these weapons Pretty Dang Good for their niche? And two, do you want to have a stronger weapon initially but (almost certainly) a weaker weapon in the end, or a weaker weapon to begin with but (likely) a stronger weapon at high level? If you don't think the campaign will go past level 10, or you are worried that early levels will be majorly lethal, take defensive. If you think the campaign will last a long time, that you'll actually get a good offensive boost at high level, and that the lethality of levels 1 and 2 will be sufficiently easily-managed, take offensive, because it will [I]probably[/I] end up stronger. Extra defense on an already well-defended character is all-too-easily wasted. Extra offense is almost never wasted. [/QUOTE]
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