Khopeshes

[Slapphappy]

In the pally forums and guides I have found a lot of references to Khopeshes. Why are these a preferred weapon for pallys? I.e. Why are they worth the feat for a class already short of feats?

Thanks!

[arminius]

1. Overall, paladins need a big boost in the Damage Per Second field as opposed to fighters and barbarians. This is because fighters get lots and lots more feats than paladins (and so can easily get Power Attack, all the Improved Crits, Great Cleave, etc), and barbarians have rage and such that jack their damage potential up. Also, paladins can't usually afford to max Str, because their build points are spread thin.

2. Going with a two handed weapon (i.e. to max damage output) requires at least one of the following to be true: either a.) the damage output is so great that the enemy falls before they have a chance to hit you much, or b.) you have gobs and gobs of hit points to soak up the extra damage taken from the loss of a shield. A. isn't often the case for paladins, as noted above, and b. isn't often the case for paladins, because high Con dwarves have the highest hit point potential. Dwarves aren't often paladins because of their Chr penalty. Also, paladins don't often get to have optimal Con scores, because they need Str, Dex, Con, Wis, and Chr, (and Int too if they want Combat Expertise) so their points are simply spread more thin than other classes.

My paladins had to work hard to get to 300 standing hp, whereas that would be considered pretty low for barbarians and many Str based fighters.

3. A khopesh is by far the most damaging one handed weapon. It isn't even close. This is because of the wide critical range of the weapon combined with a higher critical damage.

4. Therefore, if a paladin wants to spend one feat that will help to mitigate his lack of DPS, then Khopesh is a good choice. Power Attack can be useful too, but since it requires that you give up To Hit to get Damage, it isn't always the best choice in situations where one misses a lot.

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