Is Epic Cutthroat Smallblade worth grinding?

[brian14]

The only rogue I have is level 6, and might not reach level 20 until next Crystal Cove. So even if the answer to above question is yes, it's no big deal if I do not grind it out this time around. Still, should I even bother? If you have a capped rogue, what are your weapon choices -- assuming no "regular" Epics?

I specify "no regular Epics" because if you are serious about Epic Cutthroat Smallblade, your rogue can have it the moment he levels to 20. For regular Epic weapons you need to run epic quests umpteen number of times. Besides, I have only two epic-enabled packs (Red Fens and Chronoscope/Devil Assault).

[grodon9999]

It's a wonderful weapon if you are pierce-specced. I'd say yes.

[Razcar]

My trash set is Rad II rapier and tier III small blade.

Of course it doesn't break DR so not good for bosses, but nice for stabbing random peasants & commoners

[Rydin_Dirtay]

but nice for stabbing random peasants & commoners

heh.

I have a Smallblade from last Cove, that still needs its final upgrade, so yes, I'll be finishing it out. And the Rogue in question is indeed pierce-specced and for that I consider it worth grinding out.

He'll also work for another Spyglass, so that I can move last years Spyglass over to the Exploiter permanently.

[Sarisa]

A friend's Rogue found that a pair of Cutthroat's beat out all his other gear (including several different Greensteels and many "real" epics) against Epic Velah. He does not have Triple Water, and that or a Cannith crafted Dragon Bane would probably be the only things that top it. He often uses it offhand (slotted Good) with either his RadII or LitII Rapier for most trash.

Another friend's rogue liked his tier 1 Cutthroat combined with his Epic Unkor's Cleaver better than any other combination of weapons with the Epic Unkor's Cleaver.

Granted that I'm a Cleric, and not a real melee class (no TWF feats), but I get much better use out of a Cove Scimmy or an epic Kron'zek's combined with the Cutthroat's rather than dual wielding Cove Scimmies. And mine is just tier 1.

[mournbladereigns]

The only rogue I have is level 6, and might not reach level 20 until next Crystal Cove. So even if the answer to above question is yes, it's no big deal if I do not grind it out this time around. Still, should I even bother? If you have a capped rogue, what are your weapon choices -- assuming no "regular" Epics?

I specify "no regular Epics" because if you are serious about Epic Cutthroat Smallblade, your rogue can have it the moment he levels to 20. For regular Epic weapons you need to run epic quests umpteen number of times. Besides, I have only two epic-enabled packs (Red Fens and Chronoscope/Devil Assault).

They are very good weaps if your pierced specced, as people have said. I have a 13rog/7monk Ninja Assasin that i use them on. They tear shiz up, and the corrosive salt are nice. Your NEVER going to get any epic weapons as easily as you can get these. You should at least aim to tier2 them, pretty easy to make. 2d6+6/18-20/x2 light weaps is nice. Great offhand weap as people have said.

[Kale_Hagan]

The quick answer is Yes, it is useful enough that grinding it is worth the effort, if only to use it as a nice off-hand weapon (which I do with my Rad II, or at least I did until I finished my Epic Midnight Greetings).

Go ahead and grind it. You won't be sorry.

[JoshuJushin]

To beat a dead horse...

Yes its a good offhand weapon for a piercing specced rogue. I use it in a couple of my weapon sets on my str-based assassin. The only thing I haven't yet figured is what to slot into it.

Regardless, you will be more then pleased to have this waiting for your rogue when he caps.

[gwenniez]

make 1 or make 2.. there a lot easier to get then a greensteel weapons :P

[Bodic]

My trash set is Rad II rapier and tier III small blade.

Of course it doesn't break DR so not good for bosses, but nice for stabbing random peasants & commoners
^This^

and 6% more DS it hits and crits like a rapier, but you don't get the oversized off hand penalty you can slot good thus a good trash beater to pair w/ RadII.

[Grace_ana]

It's actually not even much of a grind tbh. You can grab a tier 3 in a few hours of Cove running.

[Backley]

He'll also work for another Spyglass, so that I can move last years Spyglass over to the Exploiter permanently.

Or move the new one over. Note that the items are all still BTA (even after upgrading), as the BTC change didn't actually make it into our live build.

OP: Yes, the Epic Small Blade Tier 3 is very nice. My piercing-speced rogue uses it in the off-hand, even on boss fights where it doesn't break DR (6% Doublestrike added to the main hand, sneak attack damage from the off-hand the same as a real bossbeater, and slicing/bleed/corrosive salt all bypass DR anyway).

[Rydin_Dirtay]

Or move the new one over. Note that the items are all still BTA (even after upgrading), as the BTC change didn't actually make it into our live build.

In the Bargain Box, it shows the level 16 and 20+ Spyglasses as BTC. Level 4-12 ones are shown as BTA.

Is this one of those cases where the text doesn't match?

[Backley]

In the Bargain Box, it shows the level 16 and 20+ Spyglasses as BTC. Level 4-12 ones are shown as BTA.

Is this one of those cases where the text doesn't match?

Last dev post on the matter said all the items should still be BTA. But, I'd move the ingredients to the character you actually want it on before crafting it, in case they are wrong on this one and the recipe is right.

Please do share your results.

[Esserbe]

I made a 20 spyglass so my arti can use it eventually, and it's BTA even at tier 3. Sitting in shared bank right now.

[Grace_ana]

In the Bargain Box, it shows the level 16 and 20+ Spyglasses as BTC. Level 4-12 ones are shown as BTA.

Is this one of those cases where the text doesn't match?

Yep. I made an epic spyglass yesterday brand new and upgraded it to tier 2. It's still showing BtA in my inventory.

[DnD3]

Yes. Chance of double strike is better on rogues than any other class. I had mine when I was a Horc for a while and they were great weapons.

[sirgog]

Yes.

They aren't the best weapons in the game, but they are close enough to be very competitive.

[karl_k0ch]

My trash set is Rad II rapier and tier III small blade.
This.

See also here (http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=311997).

[FuzzyDuck81]

got it on my ninja/kensai SS specialist, its a great weapon - same base damage as a greatsword with extra boosts & corrosive salt that will work on most things, a boost to hide & move silently so its good for assassins or other sneaky types who dont want to use gear slots on them & a handy doublestrike chance.

DR-breaking it isnt so good unless you stick something in the red slot - currently mine has devils ruin in it so its a decent bossbeater (paired with a lit2 SS atm) but once thats gone it'll probably just be /good bypass which will still make it effective on many enemy types.

[Kmnh]

It's worth it for trash if you are pierce-specced. Don't use it on raid bosses, or corrosive salt will make suulomades run straight to you when he teleports :)

[Razcar]

It's worth it for trash if you are pierce-specced. Don't use it on raid bosses, or corrosive salt will make suulomades run straight to you when he teleports :)
Well, after he's killed the DoTing sorc :)

[brian14]

Well, I crafted it. And since Turbine changed its mind about Crystal Cove items being BtC, it need not stay in the bank.

Which brings up a question -- should I use Tier 3 Epic Smallblade against undead?

After examining my capped ranger's TWF sets I realized Epic Smallblade beats something in all but one of them. The one I am not sure is my "wraith/zombie chopper": GT handaxe of Disruption plus GT kukri of Disruption -- and by "zombies" I mean CR 36 zombies in Epic Fathom the Depths.

Both weapons are slashing, so break zombies' DR. Both are finessable -- Soondar is DEX/finesse build. Ghost Touch is unimportant in Fathom the Depths. Epic Smallblade is finessable, but won't break DR, and zombies are immune to crits. So should I replace the kukri with Epic Smallblade, or not?

[karl_k0ch]

The Kukri adds

5 Enhancement
14 Disruption
5 Vorpal Disruption effect
2.5 base damage
---
26.5 damage on an average hit.

The smallblade adds:

6 enhancement
7 base damage
2.5 slicing (will this work on a Zombie?)
4.5 bleeding (will this work on a Zombie?)
5.6 corrosive salt (2% of 80d6)
----
26.6 damage before DR

A DR of at least 10 will recuce that way below the damage of the Disrupting Kukri. In order to make up for these 10 DR via the 6% double strike chance, the main hand will need to add 60 damage per hit, which is rather unlikely, as Str will probably add less than 10 damage (since you are a finesse build) and even having a bard will push the main hand damage to something in the lower 50s, at best.

[Vanquishedfo]

id suggest working on a tier 3 lvl 16 if you dont think you will be 20 anytime soon. a lvl 16 will get alot of use in those last 4 lvls to 20 and actually has most of the prized features found in the lvl 20 except a slightly higher + and a gem slot.

[brian14]

id suggest working on a tier 3 lvl 16 if you dont think you will be 20 anytime soon. a lvl 16 will get alot of use in those last 4 lvls to 20 and actually has most of the prized features found in the lvl 20 except a slightly higher + and a gem slot.
A bit late, as Crystal Cove is over.

[Vanquishedfo]

Well, I crafted it. And since Turbine changed its mind about Crystal Cove items being BtC, it need not stay in the bank.

Which brings up a question -- should I use Tier 3 Epic Smallblade against undead?

After examining my capped ranger's TWF sets I realized Epic Smallblade beats something in all but one of them. The one I am not sure is my "wraith/zombie chopper": GT handaxe of Disruption plus GT kukri of Disruption -- and by "zombies" I mean CR 36 zombies in Epic Fathom the Depths.

Both weapons are slashing, so break zombies' DR. Both are finessable -- Soondar is DEX/finesse build. Ghost Touch is unimportant in Fathom the Depths. Epic Smallblade is finessable, but won't break DR, and zombies are immune to crits. So should I replace the kukri with Epic Smallblade, or not?

ok for a rapier/shortsword/dagger finesse fighter when dealing with undead you will need specialized weapons.

For skellies Id suggest a holy light mace of pure good at the least, with a disruption replacing the pure good at the best, oh and maybe silver to just for good measure.

For zombies its Sun Blades all the way. These appear as bastard swords but are in fact short swords for purpose of feats,enhancments, and finesse. They do slashing dmg and alot of extra to evil undead making them just the perfect pair of zombie cutters for a twin short sword master.

My main for the rest is a ghost touch short sword of disruption for wraiths. no incoporeal miss chance and on a 20 they dust every time. Some favor GS weapons made with pos energy etc. and they too are fine choices if abit grindy.

Oh on a side note the sunblades are abit soft being flametouched iron you may want to bind them and give them an addy ritual or two to harden them up so if u get mixed groups and whack some skellies you dont wreck it to bad.

[brian14]

For zombies its Sun Blades all the way. These appear as bastard swords but are in fact short swords for purpose of feats,enhancments, and finesse. They do slashing dmg and alot of extra to evil undead making them just the perfect pair of zombie cutters for a twin short sword master.
Really?

Sun Blade: 1-10 + 2 (overall) + 2 (vs evil) + 4 (vs undead) + 1-10 = 8 + 5.5 + 5.5 = 19

+1 kukri of disruption: 1-4 + 1 + 4-24 + 100/20*19/20 (vorpal strike confirms on 2) = 1 + 2.5 + 14 + 4.75 = 22.25

Unless the mobs' AC is so high Sun Blade's effective +4 to hit vs kukri's +1 matters. And of course +1 kukri is the weakest slashing disruptor.