Sunday, 14th August 2011, 21:22 by smock
Many uniques tend to drop awesome whips. I think this makes M&F a good choice -- if I kill Pikel I might have a elec or pain whip, and I may actually finish the game with it, too. There seem to be more quality M&F drops early on, too. That might make them a good choice. This feature of Crawl annoys me a bit, as I tend to pick M&F often just for Pikel's elec whip.
Aptitudes matter more for slow weapons that require high skills to reach the speed cap. Using a demon whip with a -4 M&F apt is a lot different from using a giant spiked club or a double sword. Getting to skill 12 or whatnot is easier than getting to skill 24. Not that it matters for humans. But it should factor in for hybrid, caster, or low-apt builds that want to train other skills, too. So while snow's statement may be hyperbolic, in some cases wielding an awesome weapon will be more important than spending a few skill points.
I've been wondering if polearms and Oka/Trog make sense. Since there are fewer weapon types, you might be more likely to get a good demon trident. Is this true?
I must be playing poorly because I tend to go M&F often. But not with Merfolk.