Why would you ever get Burst weapons?

[Ibram]

Why use a burst weapon? because the only thing cooler then a flaming-frosting-shocking-corroding keen Rapier is a flaming/frosting/shocking/corroding burst keen rapier.

Besides I still want my Flaming Burst Vorpal Longsword!!!

 

[iwatt]

Burst weapons on a 3.0 ranger/Deepwood Sniper using a Longbow and Hunter's mercy were pretty scary to see as a DM.

 

[Scion]

could work with maiming (not sure why that isnt just a monetary plus though, it isnt strong enough to be worth a +1).

I like prismatic spray myself

 

[Alratan]

Plane Sailing has it right, if you run the numbers, burst abilities won't give as much bang for the buck as most others. They are fun though, and their usefulness improves considerably with keen weapons (another one that, while fun, is actually one of the worst ways to augment a magical weapon), though without a RP purpose, this combination makes for a sub-par weapon for the cost.

Particularly given the existance of scabbards of keenness

 

[Greatwyrm]

Plane Sailing has it right, if you run the numbers, burst abilities won't give as much bang for the buck as most others. They are fun though, and their usefulness improves considerably with keen weapons (another one that, while fun, is actually one of the worst ways to augment a magical weapon), though without a RP purpose, this combination makes for a sub-par weapon for the cost.

Doesn't it still take a standard action per ability you want to turn on? A frost shock sword will take two rounds to power up, compared to a shocking burst's one.

 

[Scion]

Most of the time there is little reason to turn the abilities off.

Especially if one has a special made sheeth (say, out of adamantine or something similar, even plain old steel will be able to absorb at least a couple of enhancements forever).

 

[Greatwyrm]

But would you want to carry a scabbard made of steel that is continually cold and trying to electrecute you?

 

[Scion]

But would you want to carry a scabbard made of steel that is continually cold and trying to electrecute you?

Just keeps you on your toes

How is it different than the rest of the d&d world anyway? Still though, nothing says that doing elemental damage to something makes it feel more like that! (man, this metal really feels sonic today)

 

[Olive]

Well, my players have two burst weapns in the party - an acid burst waraxe and a icy burst rapier. Weapons with good crit ranges are fun with the burst, and given that the rapier is wielded with by a rogue type with no strength he enjoys it. The axe was an heirloom, but it seems to do good damage fairly regularly, especially given the extra dice from the x3 crit multiplier.

 

[AuraSeer]

Burst weapons still aren't worth it though. For the +2 price of flaming burst you could get flaming and shocking and get +2d6 damage all the time barring energy immunities.

That's true, but an awful lot of opponents will have some kind of energy resistance. When you're fighting a monster with cold resistance 5, a shocking burst weapon will average more damage than a shocking frost weapon. If you know

A similar argument for burst weapons is that they're good for focussing on an elemental vulnerability. If you're building a sword whose whole purpose is to kill red dragons, icy burst is a useful thing to have.

Even taking those into account, I agree that elemental burst is a bit weak for its cost. So IMC I've house-ruled to make it stronger. When the burst goes off, it does the bonus 1d10 damage to the target, and 1d8 to all adjacent creatures except the wielder. (Reflex negates for those additional targets.) This makes it much more useful when you're fighting large groups, though it does become a drawback when you and your allies are ganging up on one opponent.