Best Reach Weapon

[kitcik]

What is the best reach weapon in 3.5?

Take into account anything you want:
- length of reach
- damage & crits
- ability to threaten adjacent & at reach
- trip / disarm usability
- weapon finesse usability
- power attack usability
- weight
- one / two handed
- type of damage
- ease of gaining proficiency
- etc.

If you select "other" please specify & give a reason. Non-WOTC is fine.

 

[xigbar]

What is the best reach weapon in 3.5?

Take into account anything you want:
- length of reach
- damage & crits
- ability to threaten adjacent & at reach
- trip / disarm usability
- weapon finesse usability
- power attack usability
- weight
- one / two handed
- type of damage
- ease of gaining proficiency
- etc.

If you select "other" please specify & give a reason. Non-WOTC is fine.

A good reach weapon, for me, is one that you can hit with at a distance and in front of you. Spiked Chain is nice. I once had Goliath with a Huge FullBlade, which was lots of fun.

 

[kitcik]

I just posted this in [MENTION=94031]iamtheend[/MENTION] 's Sun School thread, which is what inspired the poll:

If you're going to argue for proficiency with a reach weapon, try the Kusari Gama.

Pages 144-145 of DMG

- has 10' reach
- 1d6 damage (20/x2)
- weighs only 3lb
- threatens adjacent and reach squares
- can be used for trip / disarm attacks
- eligible for weapon finesse

 

[Greenfield]

The list of considerations pretty much screamed "Spiked Chain".

Attack near and far? Check.
Weapon Finesse? Check.
Power Attack? Check.
Trip? Check.
Disarm? Check.

The down side is that it's exotic. Other than that it's about as good as it gets.

Whip is the only reach weapon I know of that's longer, and it's actually treated more like a ranged weapon.

 

[Empirate]

Get the Guisarme! The Guisarme is a reach weapon that trips! The Guisarme is a reach weapon that's two-handed, for all your Power Attack power needs! You want to attack close by? Get a Guisarme, and get Armor Spikes!
The Guisarme comes with a built-in bonus feat that even the Spiked Chain doesn't provide! And the best of all? That bonus feat can be anything you like and qualify for. With the bonus feat from the Guisarme, you'll have so many bonus feats that you'll not even know what to spend them all on!
You want Law Devotion? Take it as a bonus feat! You want Stand Still? Take it as a bonus feat! You want Defensive Sweep? Martial Study? Hell, you want Weapon Focus? Take it as a bonus feat! Prereqs to fulfill? BONUS FEAT! And all because of the Guisarme, the best reach weapon there is! Guisarme! Get one now! Get three! GUISARME!


To me, the Guisarme is the obvious best, with Spiked Chain as a runner-up. You want two-handed goodness for damage, you want trip, and most of all, you want to keep it martial.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Though I don't use it for all my reach builds, my favorite is the Greatspear. 2d6 x3, Reach, RI 10' out of the box. As of CompAdv (as I recall), it works with feats taken for use with other spears, so you don't need to double up. Add feats like Monkey Grip (or the Powerful Build attribute), size boosting powers, as well as weapon enchantments (Returning, extended range, things like Fiery, Shocking, bane, etc.) and it gets ugly fast.

Other faves: the Kusari-Gama, the Bisento (a 1d12 martial weapon from a Rokugan sourcebook).

 

[Greenfield]

Get the Guisarme! The Guisarme is a reach weapon that trips! The Guisarme is a reach weapon that's two-handed, for all your Power Attack power needs! You want to attack close by? Get a Guisarme, and get Armor Spikes!
The Guisarme comes with a built-in bonus feat that even the Spiked Chain doesn't provide! And the best of all? That bonus feat can be anything you like and qualify for. With the bonus feat from the Guisarme, you'll have so many bonus feats that you'll not even know what to spend them all on!
You want Law Devotion? Take it as a bonus feat! You want Stand Still? Take it as a bonus feat! You want Defensive Sweep? Martial Study? Hell, you want Weapon Focus? Take it as a bonus feat! Prereqs to fulfill? BONUS FEAT! And all because of the Guisarme, the best reach weapon there is! Guisarme! Get one now! Get three! GUISARME!

To me, the Guisarme is the obvious best, with Spiked Chain as a runner-up. You want two-handed goodness for damage, you want trip, and most of all, you want to keep it martial.

Um, from the SRD:

Guisarme: A guisarme has reach. You can strike opponents 10 feet away with it, but you can’t use it against an adjacent foe. You can also use it to make trip attacks. If you are tripped during your own trip attempt, you can drop the guisarme to avoid being tripped.

What bonus feat are you talking about? There's nothing like that mentioned anywhere.

 

[iamtheend]

Greenfield I believe he is talking about not spending it on Exotic Weapon Proficiency.

 

[RUMBLETiGER]

And the best of all? That bonus feat can be anything you like and qualify for. With the bonus feat from the Guisarme, you'll have so many bonus feats that you'll not even know what to spend them all on!

Bonus Feat?

Oh. nevermind, I should have read further.

 

[Empirate]

Greenfield I believe he is talking about not spending it on Exotic Weapon Proficiency.

Exactly. The Spiked Chain is the only weapon I'd spend a feat on, but I'd rather save it and use a weapon that's already good.