Epic weapons for swashbuckler

Hi

I have a lvl 26 swashbuckler and need some advice on gear. He's currently using a Celestia short sword (2.5[1d10])and Kobold's tiller buckler.

The Celestia should be good because it breaks most DRs, but I was getting yellow first numbers for the zombies in Von 5. I'm not sure if that's WAI or a bug.

I've tried Rebellion (2.50[1d8]) because of the better crit range but found Celestia did more damage. While swash buckling I'm critting all over the place anyways.

Those are the 2 finessable epic weapons I happened to have picked up in his previous life as a monk.

So what are people using? Thunderforged rapiers (3.5[1d6])? They are only 1d6 but at least you get 3.5 of them.

thanks

Balizarde is excellent. With Swashbuckling, you get a 15-20/x4 crit profile. With Exploit Weaknesses, it's probably closer to 13-20/x4 in effect. Compared to Celestia, it's clearly better vs lower fortification mobs.

This is particularly true for Swashbucklers, because the enhancement bonus benefits from Swashbuckler bug out the DR bypass on Celestia, and mean it can't bypass any DR. If necessary, you can turn off Swashbuckler to get the DR bypass back (as long as an Arti hasn't cast anything but Deadly on it), but unless you're facing an Elite Pit Fiend, and have no other DR breaker, it's probably not worth doing.

Eventually, a Mortal Fear Thunderforged is clearly better than Balizarde vs trash. Vs bosses, I'm not sure what's best.

If your not trying to farm out CITW when ever it pops up..
The stuff in Epic Three Barrel is what I use on all my swashs

Barnacle Bucklers, Tiller shield
Mutineers Blade




I couldnt remember all the names so I looked on wikki... there is alot more E3BC loot then the 4 that are posted on that page

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Originally Posted by crazycaren

The Celestia should be good because it breaks most DRs, but I was getting yellow first numbers for the zombies in Von 5. I'm not sure if that's WAI or a bug.

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Unfortunately, just about anything which alters Celestia's stats also changes the dmg type from Light, which breaks its DR-breaking. :(

Apart from the weapons mentioned, you may also want to consider EE Skullsmasher (15-20/x4), Cutthroat's Smallblade (13-20/x3), Forester's Brush Hook (13-20/x4), and Devourer's Reaping (13-20/x3).
[Listed crit specs are with Swashbuckling and Imp Crit.] For endgame, I think the consensus was with a sufficiently high dmg mod, tier-3 TF light pick (17-20/x4) is best, presuming you've got Exploit Weakness and Thread the Needle.

A (now) easier alternative available at L21 are the Drow Weaponmaster light weapons. They have an enhanced crit profile, maiming on crit, and a variable tactics buff which includes Stunning which goes nice with Frozen Fury/Spinning Ice DCs in Warchanter.

I went Level 24 Epic swashbuckler and Thunder Forge Shortswords on my Drow Swashbuckler.

Since Celestia bugs out with Swashbuckler, I pretty much dropped it. I like Mutineer's Blade for undead and you can get away with a light mace for skellies.

I think best can be a relative term...it really depends on your build and what abilities you need on your weapons/bucklers to fill in any gaps left by gear.

Thanks all. I've submitted a bug report on Celestia as it should be a better weapon than it is.