How relevant is weapon choice on a strength build?

[Zanniej]

I didn't know a shorter title, so the title says it all.
I was wondering

[Theodore01]

Base damage doesn't affect overall damage so much later on.

However it is relevant that you can use power attack /improved p.a with your weapon. So medium and large ones for medium sized races ( +small ones for halflings and gnomes.)

And of course the critical range and/or multiplier, if you make a weaponmaster.

[Blackman D]

its not, if you are a str based fighter then you will get more damage from your str, weapon feats, enhancement bonus and power attack

the difference in average damage from the weapon itself its not that noticeable, if at all, when you add in everything

for example my halberd WM's max normal damage i wanna say is about 54, the halberd is 1d10 so we are talking out of 54 it counts for 5-6 pts of damage on average...

and then to make it matter even less he crits around 220, but now you are talking 20-24 of that being the halberd

[TeoDeathDealer]

Its in the crits where the base damage becomes more important. Choose a weapon with high multiplier and crit range like the scimitar, dwarven waraxe, etc.

[Theodore01]

Choose a weapon with high multiplier and crit range

Never seen such a weapon. Did you ?

[Karond]

Its in the crits where the base damage becomes more important. Choose a weapon with high multiplier and crit range like the scimitar, dwarven waraxe, etc.

You're basically saying, "Don't pick the warmace, and you'll be fine"?

1-2 damage on average isn't that much IMO. What matters is that you can get a good magic weapon of the type you're using. An epic halberd and warmace are sold at the Palace District, and make decent choices. Any other good weapon you possess can also make a decent choice as long as you can twohand it (so no to rapier).

[Hoihe]

Its in the crits where the base damage becomes more important. Choose a weapon with high multiplier and crit range like the scimitar, dwarven waraxe, etc.

You're basically saying, "Don't pick the warmace, and you'll be fine"?

1-2 damage on average isn't that much IMO. What matters is that you can get a good magic weapon of the type you're using. An epic halberd and warmace are sold at the Palace District, and make decent choices. Any other good weapon you possess can also make a decent choice as long as you can twohand it (so no to rapier).

Rapiers are perfectly viable to be two handed! (well, half-sworded)

[Zanniej]

Thanks for all your replies, really helpfull

Its in the crits where the base damage becomes more important. Choose a weapon with high multiplier and crit range like the scimitar, dwarven waraxe, etc.

You're basically saying, "Don't pick the warmace, and you'll be fine"?

1-2 damage on average isn't that much IMO. What matters is that you can get a good magic weapon of the type you're using. An epic halberd and warmace are sold at the Palace District, and make decent choices. Any other good weapon you possess can also make a decent choice as long as you can twohand it (so no to rapier).

This brings me to another question. My initial weapon choice was greataxe. However, I can't find many good ones around.

What weapons offer a good amount of weapons throughout all levels? So far I noticed that the club and longsword are some of the best represented weapons.

[Tsidkenu]

I have a +3 keen halberd which i want to sell

[dzidek1983]

on a RP server where people team up for play i would always take the coolest weapon for my character, that one that fits best his appearance and overall "charm"

but we all count the numbers instead... tsk, tsk...

[Blackman D]

My initial weapon choice was greataxe. However, I can't find many good ones around.

my dwarf has a good number of axes, pretty much if it has axe somewhere in the name he is carrying at least one

i think he has a +4 greataxe, +3 vamp regen greataxe and an acid and spell per day greataxe (poison and contagion?) with +2 EB i think, the vamp is a really old loot drop a friend found for me but the other two should still drop and i know ive seen some other decent ones, just had no reason to keep most of em

battleaxes tho, there is a crap selection

[mrieder79]

You should take a weapon that allows you to use a shield without wasting a feat on monkey grip. Use a longsword, scimitar, dwarven waraxe (if a dwarf), battleaxe, or other one-handed weapon. These weapons are comparable to their larger kin with a slight (1-2) damage reduction.

Believe me, when you get to the epic levels and decide to go to the graypeaks with your friends you will be very very relieved for that extra AC you can get from equipping a shield.

You need the shield option on this server.

Dwarven Waraxe is probably the best weapon in this regard. High damage (1-10), x3 crit multiplier. Dwarves make great fighters and get this weapon feat for free.

If you play a different race I would recommend scimitar or battleaxe. One has lots of crits the other has a high crit multiplier.

Karond makes a valid point on the availability of epic weaponry and if you can spare a feat for monkey grip, warmace or halberd is okay, but you lose -2 AB when you do this.

For my fighter it's dwarven waraxe since hes a dwarf. IF he was not a dwarf, I would use scimitar.

[AlfarinIcebreaker]

The best weapons, mechanically, are scimitar, falchion and scythe. If I played a Weapon Master I'd make sure to pick one of these three. If you play FB or some other melee PrC then it doesn't matter as much because often these other classes will offer fixed damage bonus instead of focusing on critical range and multiplier like WM does.

Also, mrieder79 and Karond make good points about availability of unique weapons and versatility in usage. For example, there is possibility of outright purchase of unique spear which has +4 EB, +2 slashing damage and +3 to Strength which in effect saves you a whole item slot, and that is very hard to beat even though spear has modest base damage. I salute these additions because it is good to have variety.

[Atlas]

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[Karond]

My initial weapon choice was greataxe. However, I can't find many good ones around.

The epic minotaur axe is probably the best named one? It's +4 EB, 2D10 massive criticals and cleave. Since it's a greataxe, this means that it's really 4D10 added to critical hit damage, or 6D10 if you're a weaponmaster.