Off-hand greensteel weapon

[Seamonkeysix]

No doubt this subject has been discussed before, but I am not finding the thread...

I am getting ready to build an off-hand GS weapon for my elven paladin. He does have TWF, but not OTWF. He has the longsword enhancements for an elf, and carries a Min II LS (with the tiny little force critical enhancement ) for his primary weapon for DPS (yes...I know khopesh is better, but I couldn't burn another feat and the elven enhancements make the LS not terrible.)

Looking forward to Mod 9 (no laughing, chuckling or fingerpointing at my optimism, please ), it looks like evil outsiders are going to continue to be the main focus of combat. I plan to take Knight of the Chalice III with my pally, and I am trying to figure out what the best weapon to beat down devils will be for me.

I was going to make a triple positive LS. My initial thoughts were that my LS enhancements made this the best option. I have the slashing weapon specialization feats, and the improved crit range. Lately, I have been toying with the idea of going with a kukri or scimitar for the 15-20 crit range. I was thinking kukri because it is a light weapon, but the lower DPS might make it a bad choice. I am also second guessing the triple positive and thinking that the transmuting effect of the Min II might be superior, especially on a weapon with only X2 crits.

So...the question buried in my lengthy babble is this: What would you craft for a DPS weapon, looking forward to the next Mod as a slasher and off-hander, and why?

[Shade]

Mineral II.

Your looking for something good on devils/deamons.. There you go. They have allot of DR, so using a weapon that does not get thru the DR will not do good dps at all (such as your lightning stirke weapon vs pitfiends/horn devils) While most lightning strikes will work on some devils like bearded/orthons DR.. It won't for the ones that are actually hard (horned/pit fiend)

The fact it's an offhand or mainhand doesn't really matter, you should make the same for both.

Not getting thru DR, but doing a proc 2% of the time does not make up for the heavy loss of dps vs getting thru the DR.

[QuantumFX]

For an offhand slashing weapon I’d go with another Min II Longsword.

Accuracy: With a miscellaneous light weapon you’ll be -2 to hit with it. Since you have the elven LS enhancements you’ll still be -2 to hit.

Damage: A triple positive longsword will be the most versatile versus the expected Mod 9 trash mobs. However, Mineral II will still rule the red named as bosses usually get alignment + material bypasses. The damage difference between the 2 is minor on trash mobs so go with the Min II.

[honkuimushi]

With the TWF feats but no OTWF you take a -2 to hit with each hand, -4 if your off-hand weapon is not light. -2 isn't so bad, -4 might be an issue, but should be okay in most situations. If you're moving (another -4) or using Power Attack( another -5) to hit may become an issue. Especially moving while Power Attacking( -13.) You'll have to be the judge of that.

But when you start to compare things, the scimitar just doesn't make sense. Go longsword or kukri. The scimitar and kukri both have the same crit range and both are affected by any slashing specced feats you have. The scimitar will do on average 1 more point of damage, but it costs you -2 to hit. If you care at all about to hit, you'll go with the kukri.

But let's look at long swords. Long swords are not light, so you take the -4 penalty, but they do 1 point of damage more than a scimitar. What's more, you have the enhancements. That means you have an additional +2 to damage. Very few on crit mods will do 2 damage a hit. So you're doing a fair bit more damage with long swords.

And you have the to hit enhancements too. That can increase your to hit by 2, the same penalty you get for dual wielding a one-handed weapon as opposed to a light weapon. But that's not all. You also have the faith enhancements. The Soveriegn Host enhancements will give you another +1 to hit with longswords. So you will actually have a better to hit with longswords than kukris. And tier 2 is awesome.

So, kukris for any on crit effects you must have, longswords for anything else. And if you're looking for a positive, I would recommend a Warhammer. After Mod 9 hits, you'll need a skelly beater.