Sunday, 9th January 2011, 23:26 by KoboldLord
Vorpal brands aren't that bad, either. They don't crap out on you the moment you leave the area where they're optimal, and you really don't have the resources to pump up weapons situationally depending on where you want to go.
Memorizing the Fire Brand and Freezing Aura spells and using them situationally depending on what you face is generally going to deal more damage than simply vorpalizing the weapon, but on the other hand that costs four spell slots and a turn to cast them. Spell slots may be in short supply or not depending on your build, and that turn could potentially be an extra turn for your mark to wake up or notice you.
Assuming you train necromancy extensively, pain brand is the best up until Zot and Slime, after which point it becomes completely worthless. It also essentially requires you to go Kiku.
Holy wrath is useful the moment pain brand is useless and not very useful before that point, but likewise it straitjackets you into TSO.
Electric branding is a bad idea for a stealthy character. It may deal lots of damage in a straight fight, but it will also wake up all the nearby monsters and force you into a straight fight in the first place.
Distortion branding is bad for pretty much everybody. Again, it may be a high-damage brand, but it also likes to blink big bruisers around you so that they can all hit you at once and block your escape route. By the time you can deal with this, it's long-since stopped mattering whether you have a brand on your weapon or not.
- For this message the author KoboldLord has received thanks:
- styrix