Value of a Weakening Weapon

[scampb]

I looted a +1 weakening sword of some sort on the weekend. Listed on auction for 200K gold, sold within a couple hours. Where would you rank weakening weapons among the rest? Next one I loot I will probably hold onto for my next toon but I am just curious. In all talk of weapons I only hear about Vorpals, Paralyzer, Banishers, Transmuters etc. Where do these fit in? I can't help but think two tanks, one with a weakening weapon and one with a wounding weapon could have a lot of fun :D

[tihocan]

What was the "of some sort"? Basic weakening weapons are not worth that much.

[kamimitsu]

For me, weakening weapons are best put in the hands of rogues who have crippling strike (-2 STR on every sneak attack). My rogue uses dual weakening of enfeebling (rapier/short sword combo) in this manner to great effect. It only takes a few hits to take most foes to zero strength. Which means they can't hit you, and you get free crits and sneak attacks until they are dead, which usually isn't long. There are some monsters with pretty high STR that can take quite a bit longer, but for your run of the mill monster it seems to work just fine. I'd still take a wounding of puncturing , though, if I could find one. As for banishers, vorpals, and smiters... they're pretty situational, but sure do make some fights much easier. I'd take a paralyzer and a weakener, or paralyzer and wounder for most situations, however.

[scampb]

What was the "of some sort"? Basic weakening weapons are not worth that much.

Sorry, don't remember what the 'of some sort' was. I know it was nothing to get too excited over or I would not have sold in the first place. But because it was the first one I have seen and I did not see something similar on the AH I put a high price on it. Because it sold so quick I figured they must be pretty good. Maybe the buyer has a few capped toons and 200K gold was a drop in the bucket for them :) Anyway, I think I may keep the next one try a combo like the above poster did. Would be fun.

[Thame]

I looted a +1 weakening sword of some sort on the weekend. Listed on auction for 200K gold, sold within a couple hours. Where would you rank weakening weapons among the rest? Next one I loot I will probably hold onto for my next toon but I am just curious. In all talk of weapons I only hear about Vorpals, Paralyzer, Banishers, Transmuters etc. Where do these fit in? I can't help but think two tanks, one with a weakening weapon and one with a wounding weapon could have a lot of fun :D

I armed my ranger once with a weakening of enfeebling rapier and weakening of enfeebling ss, mobs become helpless VERY quickly as their str gets to 0. If your not one for kill counts then its the ultimate support combo for the DPS in your group as well as the cleric considering with 0 str mobs cant hit anything.

[Thrudh]

They are VERY effective against beholders since beholders have a low strength... Once a beholder's strength drops to zero, it can't cast spells anymore... all it can do is try to bite ya... You can stand next to it and laugh... Even take a picture for the grandkids...

[Depravity]

I armed my ranger once with a weakening of enfeebling rapier and weakening of enfeebling ss, mobs become helpless VERY quickly as their str gets to 0. If your not one for kill counts then its the ultimate support combo for the DPS in your group as well as the cleric considering with 0 str mobs cant hit anything.

Not to mention every two str damage you do to a mob makes it hit 5% less often, and 1hp lighter every swing, sort of like giving your party DR vs that mob. If it takes a little bit to wear something down, this makes your cleric happy.

[Azoralq]

Weakening can be very useful alone, in certain situations. Granted, few situations, but they can be life savers. Example: The Elder Beholder in Rainbow in the Dark has somewhere between 8-12 Strength. Granted, you can Finger him, but if you need another way to take him down, taking him down to auto-crits is fairly quick. Same with the named beholder in the same quest.

Weakening of Enfeebling is incredably useful. All my characters carry a weakening of enfeebling scimitar, and use it on almost all the orange named enemies. Dropping the named ogre magi in Let Sleeping Dust Lies to 9 strength makes for a very easy kill.

I rate weakening weapons well above vorpals when fighting orange named enemies, simply because once they are auto-critable...your best bursting damage weapon will take it down in 4-7 hits. Relying on a 20 is just stupid in that case...but some people get cheap thrills off an auto-kill

[Hvymetal]

Use a Wounding Of Puncturing Shortsword combined with a Weakening Of Enfeebling Shortsword on my Rogue, combined with crippling strike I would take one over most other weapon types on critters that are vulnerable to stat damage.

It allows auto crits when their str is drained and is like adding ac to your own charcater by lowering their to hit, win-win situation.

[Venar]

Many Red Names can be brought down to the same auto-crit valus if the caster cast Ray of Enfeeb and Ray of exhaustion on them (like the fire elemental at the end of rainbow, for exemple). And they call my sorc crazy for carrying those...

[Thrudh]

Use a Wounding Of Puncturing Shortsword combined with a Weakening Of Enfeebling Shortsword on my Rogue, combined with crippling strike I would take one over most other weapon types on critters that are vulnerable to stat damage.

It allows auto crits when their str is drained and is like adding ac to your own charcater by lowering their to hit, win-win situation.

My ranger uses a wounding of enfeebling rapier, and a weakening of puncturing shortsword... same effects, much cheaper!! (I can't afford a WoP weapon) :p:p:p

But yes, stat damaging weapons (especially when two-weapon fighting) can be very effective, especially against high hit point monsters

[theANTItommy]

to OP-
i had a +2 weakening greatsword i couldn't sell on the AH for 30k gp... so either nobody uses greatswords, you found a very desperate buyer really quick, or it was a very sought after type of weapon

maybe i'll try and post it again later on for 200k gp and see what happens :)

[samagee]

I have a scimitar of weekening and enfeebling on my 14th level fighter and it comes in handy at times. His crit range with that weap is 15-20 and never misses on the confirm crit.

[scampb]

Well, I guess I will research an item I am not familiar with going forward before I just go listing it on the AH. Since I can't remember what the 'of some sort' was I am hoping it was not Weakening of Enfeebling :o

[Zenako]

Likely it was, either that or one of the other 5 types that comes in suffix form.

My ranger has fun with a W/E returnning dagger when solo at times. (If I am not just going to dps kill the mob...did that once with the Beholder in Threnal IIRC. Sneak up, target it and then move as far back as possible...a few tosses later...beholder = gasbag