Advantage of M&F

[arandomperson12]

One advantage of M&F that is not commonly mentioned is the ubiquitousness of the top tier ones. GSCs can be scavenged off of dead ogres, which are common, and Great Maces can be found near the entrance of the Vaults. While with other weapons you have to either enchant a subpar weapon, leaving you without enough scrolls of enchant weapon to enchant your endgame weapon (triple sword, bardiche, executioner's axe) fully, or you have to play through much of the game with a low enchantment, mediocre weapon while waiting for your ultimate weapon to drop.

[phloomp]

I think this effect is at least partly psychological (except for when playing an ogre). AFAIK a great mace is about equal to a great sword, but since there is no equivalent of triple swords in the M&F category you are less likely to do something stupid like put off enchanting your great sword in the hope of getting a triple sword.

[duvessa]

In what universe is this not commonly mentioned?

[and into]

It may not have been mentioned since OP joined Tavern a bit more than a month ago, to be fair.

Great maces used to be much more common, now they feel less common than great swords. Moreover, flaming great swords and freezing battleaxes are eventually plentiful due to fire/frost giants. No such guarantee with great maces (though you will *probably* find a branded one at some point in the Vaults, if not sooner).

[BabyRage]

I don't see the point in using great mace when demon whip is so good.

[Reptisaurus]

I don't see the point in using great mace when demon whip is so good.

Because you can find a great mace in orc and might not see a demon whip 'till extended.

[BabyRage]

I don't see the point in using great mace when demon whip is so good.

Because you can find a great mace in orc and might not see a demon whip 'till extended.

Demon whip is almost guaranteed in Depths from hell knights. I usually just tend to go with some good morningstar until I find demon whip/eveningstar. I always felt like one-handed maces are really superior to two-handed in crawl, unless you are an ogre.

[Wahaha]

I don't see the point in using great mace when demon whip is so good.

Because a great mace is better.

[andreas]

Demon whip is almost guaranteed in Depths from hell knights.

Until depths is a long time to wait for the weapon you're going to pour your ?enchant weapon into. Sometimes I switch anyway---sometimes a really nice dwhip drops, or the game was short on ?ew---but I wouldn't deliberately hold out for an endgame weapon that long.

Also, to OP: battleaxes, glaives, and great swords are not mediocre weapons, are fairly common, and they are perfectly good to go all-in on if one drops relatively early in the game.

[Siegurt]

Demon whip is almost guaranteed in Depths from hell knights.

Personally in the last 5 trips to the depths i have only encountered two sets of hell knights, neither of which had a demon whip. Not to say that is the usual case, but it is by no means guaranteed.

[and into]

Also, I kind of want to commit to a final weapon type(s) well before I do depths. I mean, I will gladly swap out my battleax of freezing for a vampiric one that I find on V5 or in Depths:2 or whatever, but I will definitely want to have committed to using battleaxes long before I go below D:15.