Katar-- Cool weapon to throw in the recycling bin?

[BASHMAN]

One of my beefs with the new rules is two weapon fighting. Only rangers can gain any real benefit from having an off-hand weapon. Yes, anyone can take TWF and TWDefense, but lets face it, you off-hand weapon could be a banana and you'd get the same benefits as it being a sword.

Rangers are different-- they can actually attack with their off-hand weapon by using powers. Now this, I have no problem with so much.

But one of the other benefits of being a TWF ranger is that you can use a regular 1-handed weapon as an off-hand weapon. Suddenly, weapons with the "off-hand" designation like the Katar are now no longer a viable choice for the ranger to use off-hand, unless you are one of those people who chooses to handicap their character for "role-playing" purposes.

Is there no way that a non-ranger can make use of an off-hand weapon besides +1 dmg or +1 Reflex & AC? If that is the case, as I said, the choice of off-hand weapon does not matter at all.

This is further complicated by the fact that you need A FEAT to wield a Katar-- which nobody would ever take if the weapon's stats did not matter for off-handed wielding, and you may as well use a dagger. You would also be foolish to take the feat to use it as a main weapon, since bastard sword is a far better choice.

The reason I ask is I had an idea of a character concept of a Githzerai who dual wielded Katars, and now that looks like a lame option.

 

[Fallen Seraph]

I'd say it is still a pretty viable weapon, even being a ranger. Since even with it being a off-hand, your still getting; High Crit and if you ever multiclass with Rogue, being a Light Blade will come in handy.

I think the Katar comes into its own as the out-of-left-field heavy-hitter for those who multiclass with a Rogue. You have your ordinary weapon in main hand, that in your left, you use a Rogue power, and sneak attack with that so you get; Power + Sneak Attack + Potential High Crit.

It is also by itself a fair weapon for a Rogue to take as his main weapon for the same reasons, of it being a light blade and High Crit. I could see my rogue using two of them, for when he has magical weapons to alternate powers and abilities they have.

 

[Olfactatron]

It's there so rogues have a way to increase their base damage from the dagger.

Edit: Except I remembered that rogues don't get their +1 to attack with anything but the dagger. Back in the crapper it goes.

 

[small pumpkin man]

Katars are for Rogues, Warlords or Clerics* who multiclass into Ranger.

Yes, that's incredibly specific, what's your point?


*Classes chosen arbitrarily, may cause suboptimal choices, overidentification and "simulationism", Multiclassing is not for everyone. Consult your local charOp board before taking multiclassing.

 

[Fallen Seraph]

I'd say it is more for any class that is multiclassing into Rogue, not Ranger. Since with Rogue you get Rogue Powers, and Sneak Attack. Those require certain weapons like a Light Blade.

So as such, you got your main weapon for your class powers in your main-hand and your Katar in your off-hand for Rogue powers/sneak attack.

As well as just a good Rogue weapon in general.

 

[BASHMAN]

I'd say it is still a pretty viable weapon, even being a ranger. Since even with it being a off-hand, your still getting; High Crit and if you ever multiclass with Rogue, being a Light Blade will come in handy.

I think the Katar comes into its own as the out-of-left-field heavy-hitter for those who multiclass with a Rogue. You have your ordinary weapon in main hand, that in your left, you use a Rogue power, and sneak attack with that so you get; Power + Sneak Attack + Potential High Crit.

It is also by itself a fair weapon for a Rogue to take as his main weapon for the same reasons, of it being a light blade and High Crit. I could see my rogue using two of them, for when he has magical weapons to alternate powers and abilities they have.

No, the Katar is a lame option for a ranger, since you could take PAIRED SCIMITARS instead, which are also high crit weapons, but do d8 damage, and you can spend the feat you would have waisted on the Katar to either get a +1 to hit & Mark 1/encounter (student of the sword) or get +1 Dmg with both weapons (weapon focus)

 

[Surgoshan]

I made a rogue and gave him TWF and TWD because the first gave him a damage bonus and the second gave him a defense bonus. Then I gave him two different magic daggers because they gave him different powers and bonuses. One gave a damage bonus to all attacks, the other had a big bonus on crits. The former would be the more useful, but the rogue also had several area attacks. Area attacks plus the daggermaster paragon paths mean the possibility of several crits in a single sitting, so the second dagger was more useful for those powers.

Fighters would have less reason to go with that option because they get bigger weapons, but then they get shield training from the get-go.

Why worry about the katar being an offhand weapon? It stands out for having a high crit rate. There are three other high-crit weapons: the dagger, the scimitar, and the war pick. The dagger does less damage, and the other two only have a +2 from proficiency (katar has +3). So you'd choose a katar if you wanted a high crit weapon with a higher hit bonus. It's a fair trade-off.

 

[Kordeth]

Katars are also useful for archery rangers who might pick up a couple of two-weapon powers to have an emergency fallback that's better than a melee basic attack.

It's there so rogues have a way to increase their base damage from the dagger.

Edit: Except I remembered that rogues don't get their +1 to attack with anything but the dagger. Back in the crapper it goes.

Wrong--it's there so rogues can step up their crit damage from the short sword, and in that respect it stacks up nicely.

 

[Fallen Seraph]

It is also handy with feats that work only with Light Blades, especially noticeable is Light Blade Mastery, which makes critical 19, so while not much does mean the High Crit of the Katar will happen more frequently.

 

[Sashi]

I'd probably houserule the Rogues bonus to be +1 with any weapon with the "dagger" descriptor (and give "dagger" to the Katar), since the intention of the ability seems to be giving Rogues a reason to use a Dagger over a Short Sword, and taking the Katar is just like a Longsword fighter taking the Bastard Sword.