Brands, brands (and some weapon advice too)

[radzia]

i playing vampire lastly, already cleared zot 5 and want to go for some more runes, i gathered so many scrolls of enchant weapon that i can easily go for +9 +9 weapon, what would be best brand for extended game (can't wield holy wrath, can't find speed brand)

- flaming (as usual demonic warrior droped it)
- vorpal (i have vorpalise scroll)
- pain brand (can go Kiqu for this, and let say i would have maxed necromancy skill)
- freezing (actually don't have, but i'm curious)

what weapon is better to wield with shield:
demon trident or
demon sword ?
demonic trident: wielding two handed grants you *only* bonuses? or are there some disadvantages when wielded with shield? asking because demonic trident stats (hit +1, dam 14) are better then stats of demonic sword (-1, 13)

and last question, should i go for two-handed weapon with condensation shield? now i have decent shield (+2, r.elec, rF+) but can learn insulation, and have enough fire resistance
shield 15
transmutation 9 (starded as staker but now i'm fully armoured warrior )

[lucy_ferre]

I would use a vorpal demon trident with the shield. Wielding the trident without the shield gives you a minor damage boost. Condensation Shield sucks. Avoid it.

[MrMisterMonkey]

I'll address each point individually then give my advice.

• Flaming: a bunch of demons resist this, but it's good when they don't. (25% bonus damage on average against non-resistant monsters)
• Vorpal: usually does less damage than flaming and freezing; I wouldn't use it. (12.5% bonus damage on average)
• Pain: most of the extended game is undead or demonic, upon which pain is useless. ((necromancy+1)/8 chance of doing 1d(necromancy) bonus ac-ignoring damage per hit, but nothing against resistant monsters)
• Freezing: nearly identical to flame, but effective against a different monster set. (25% bonus damage on average against non-resistant monsters)
• As for not having freezing, if you have the freezing aura spell, or some other way to get a temporary freezing brand on your weapon, you can use that, then read a scroll of vorpalisation to affix it permanently.


• Demon Trident: a good weapon; notable penalties for tridents (more for other 1.5-handed weapons, depending on delay) vanish with shield skill; for a human sized race, this is 5 for bucklers, and 15 for normal shields, if I recall correctly.
• Demon Blade: not that great unless it has a great brand (like speed) or you're skilled in long blades, don't feel like changing (at risk of wasting exp or juggling to Ashenzari in 0.8 trunk), and haven't found anything better (like a double sword or katana).
• On weapon stats in general: you're omitting delay and minimum delay, but demon trident is superior in these aspects, too.


• And yes, use the real shield. Condensation shield vanishes when you are hit by, cast spells of, or think about fire, and as if that wasn't bad enough, it is of a really short duration, anyway, and also ends when you blink or teleport.

Final answer: demon trident of freezing or flaming; if you feel like it, you can get both and enchant them both up to something decent. Hell knights can have some interesting brands (notably speed, distortion, and pain), too, so you might want to pick them up when you find them.