Octopode mages

[Lasty]

When I start a new octopode mage, I always aim to equip it with a dagger. My reasoning is that a dagger is the one weapon which has a delay of 1.0 without any skill, meaning that a) using it never eats an extra turn you might need to escape, and b) I get constriction attacks as fast as possible.

For all you Octopode experts out there, is this reasonable, or is this pointless? For example, does it turn out that that the extra damage on a short sword is worth the extra .1 delay at untrained? Or should I just bite the bullet and get 2 levels of short blades or maces & flails just so that whips or short swords are at 1.0 delay? Obviously, since I'm talking about mages, this will be mostly used on popcorn mobs, so the difference between good and bad choices is relatively minor, but I'd still rather make a good choice if possible, since it's hard enough getting Octopodes off the ground as it is.

[KoboldLord]

As an octopode mage, you should probably not be hitting things with your weapon very often. So wield an executioner's axe if you want; the delay can't affect you if you never actually swing it at anything.

Early on and with zero skill, the difference in delay and base weapon damage is essentially overwhelmed by the impact of additive brands. As a low-level octopode caster, you should prize weapons of protection because they mostly nullify your most salient early-game weakness. Other than that, you might consider weapons of pain, distortion, electrocution, and venom. Any old crap that drops with one of those is suddenly worthy of your consideration.

As far as a direct comparison between a +0 dagger and a +0 short sword, both at 0 skill, it doesn't matter very much. You probably shouldn't keep short blades at 0 skill if you plan to use either, and the impact of weapon enchantment is going to be a factor here as well.

[crate]

Attacking at 1.1 attack delay is fine, you should try it sometime.

[Konebred]

I keep all the glowing weapons I find and use detect curse when I get a bunch. I pretty much just try to find something with the protection brand on it.

[Lasty]

I appreciate the advice given so far -- that all aligns fairly well with what I currently do.

I've still got a question, so let me reframe my initial query a little: when playing a character with powerful auxiliary attacks, is it best to go for the fastest weapon possible at the beginning of the game in order to maximize damage from those auxiliary attacks, or is it best to maximize weapon efficiency as if you did not have those auxiliary attacks? Specifically, which is best if you will be mostly using these attacks against popcorn monsters while not training a weapon skill?

[rchandra]

Constriction damage is scaled over time, so you're only gaining advantage for getting the first squeeze in with a fast weapon. Using the otherwise best weapon will do more damage, possibly making you need one less squeeze, and be more useful when you need it against non-popcorn, even if you don't want to need it. I would usually be using a spear or short sword until a nice brand appears, as per KoboldLord's list.

If you get something silly like your DS gets hooves/horns 3 on d:1 along with a dagger of speed, go nuts.

[crate]

This is one of the many things where the answer is not really very important (there is a lot you can do that is "good enough") but if you must know you can test very easily in fsim. I recommend just doing that.