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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Arkhandus" data-source="post: 2137009" data-attributes="member: 13966">Improved Critical and Keen stacked in 3.0 D&D, but do not stack in 3.5.You know, a rapier with its low base damage, low crit multiplier, and high crit range really is inferior to a battleaxe overall if you don't allow Keen and Improved Critical to stack.....  Battleaxes have a higher base damage and will hurt most creatures more, and more often, whereas the rapier is only optimal for fighting creatures that are crit-able.  Considering that undead, oozes, constructs, and similar creatures aren't altogether uncommon or rare in a typical campaign, this means that more often than not, not only is the battleaxe dealing more damage per hit, it's being more effective against enemies that can't be critted, whereas the pathetic rapier (or scimitar for that matter) is only on equal grounds when you're facing opponents who are subject to critical hits.And don't forget that no matter how huge your threat range, it doesn't matter if your attack bonus isn't high enough to confirm the critical hit.  Considering that the battleaxe's higher crit multiplier and base damage are balanced by its minimal threat range (20), it's going to be getting critical hits less often than a rapier, true, but that also means that it's much less likely that a battleaxe will waste any of its would-be critical hits on enemies that aren't subject to crits.The issue of Weapon Finesse is irrelevant.  Taking Weapon Finesse just means that you'll use Dex for attack rolls, but you're only likely to take it if your Str is inferior, meaning you'll still be doing much less damage than a more typical warrior.  You may hit just as often as the common Str-based weapon wielder, but you'll do less damage and overall won't be significantly aided.  You're better off putting your high score into Str and neglecting Dex, you'll get more out of it unless you've got a very efficient plan for skyrocketing your unarmored AC.And besides, with Weapon Finesse, you won't be able to effectively use a shield in your off-hand, so the rapier with WFin isn't really as good as a longsword with large/heavy shield.  At best, going Dex-based with WFin and a rapier may very marginally boost your AC more than a sword-and-board fighter, but only until the sword-and-boarder starts getting an enhancement bonus for his shield, at which point your pitiful attempt at high AC with no shield and meager or mediocre armor will be realized for its true mediocrity.Sword-and-boarder at high level: AC 35 through 16 Dex, mithral full plate +5, and mithral tower shield +5.  Dex-monkey at high level: AC 25 through 22 Dex and mithral chain shirt +5.  The benefits of boosting Dex to the maximum could get you up to perhaps a 34 Dex or so, for +12 AC, but it isn't as effective as the +15 AC from mithral chain shirt and 22 Dex.  If you use a buckler +5, then you get AC 31, still not as good as the sword-and-board fighter with his AC 35.  And still dealing lower damage due to less Str.  This is of course before dodge, deflection, luck, insight, natural armor, and similar bonuses, but both kinds of warrior can benefit from those equally (with a rare few exceptions, which, for their costs/limitations, don't really make the Dex-monkey better than the sword-and-boarder, though they may equalize them at significant expense and specialization of the Dex-monkey).Since Weapon Finesse doesn't allow the character to effectively use a decent shield, it doesn't really make the rapier equivalent to a longsword or battleaxe, and a better comparison is with the greatsword, since they also don't allow effective use of a shield.  The rapier may be only a one-handed (or in 3.0, Medium) weapon, but in order to use it effectively, the character must follow the limitations of two-handed weapons (no good shield use, can't use off-hand) but without reaping the benefits (of greater base damage, and 1.5x Str bonus to damage, and larger size for purposes of disarming, HP, and such).In summation: Wielders of rapiers, scimitars, and falchions need Improved Critical and Keen to stack if they're going to effectively compete with sword-and-boarders or greatsword-wielders.</blockquote>

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