Dual Rad II or Lit II or Min II or Epic Dynastic Falcata Khopeshes?

[Ginetti]

Link to Epic Khopesh:

Which set of Khopeshes would you use for bosses? (consider the rad special effect won't blind, but the 4d6 crit light damage still takes effect, which happens 20 per cent of the time, or 30 per cent depending on the weapon)

Which set would you use for trash?
I'm enjoying my Rad II Khopesh and the blinding effect it has on trash - but end game, where there are loads of devils, most things are immune to the fire and fire burst other portion of it. Then again, for a rogue, it's good that things are blinded, as well.

So yes, give me your best set for Trash, and or Bosses, and why.

Cheers,

Ginetti.

[khaldan]

Link to Epic Khopesh:

Which set of Khopeshes would you use for bosses? (consider the rad special effect won't blind, but the 4d6 crit light damage still takes effect, which happens 20 per cent of the time, or 30 per cent depending on the weapon)

Which set would you use for trash?
I'm enjoying my Rad II Khopesh and the blinding effect it has on trash - but end game, where there are loads of devils, most things are immune to the fire and fire burst other portion of it. Then again, for a rogue, it's good that things are blinded, as well.

So yes, give me your best set for Trash, and or Bosses, and why.

Cheers,

Ginetti.

Trash: Rad II if the dps is bad enough that I have aggro on most things, otherwise Lit 2.
Bosses: Min2 if the DR is high enough that Lit 2 isn't worth it, otherwise Lit 2.

[Draccus]

I normally jump into these threads and spout my love for dual RadIIs for all types of trash -- even fire immune mobs. No weapon in the game can match the 70-100 hp of extra damage PER HIT that you do once a mob is blind.

However, it really depends on your playstyle. If you rarely find yourself toe-to-toe with a mob and don't need blindness to get sneak attacks, then LitII's or your khopeshes may be higher DPS.

But I'd be **** sure you don't need that blindness before using anything but dual RadIIs. **** sure.

First, there are so many times I find myself soloing a mob while in a full group. Whether it be in Part 2 of the Shroud, P3 of ToD, or any epic quest where the mobs are somewhat spread out, I constantly find myself 1v1 with a mob.

Second, even with ridiculous amounts of threat reduction, you will pull aggro. It's nice not to worry about the mob turning to ensure I'm getting my sneaks.

Finally, many of the techniques people who use LitII's instead of RadII's use to ensure they don't get aggro and continue sneak attacking are actually DPS reductions. Waiting until a fighter gains aggro or delaying your entry into the fight is dropping your overall DPS in an attempt to get a slight boost in your burst DPS. Even Diplomacy is a DPS drop due to the delay between when the skill hits and the monster actually turns. Maybe a good technique...maybe not.

Remember, even a FIVE SECOND delay on a pure rogue is 11 swings. At an average SA of, say 80 per hit, a 5 second delay is a loss of 880 hit points of damage! I'd be surprised if there's a weapon in the game that can outdamage a RadII by 880 hit points in 5 seconds.

(EDITED...that 11 swings in 5 seconds number is off. Prior to Update 5, it was actually 13.8 swings with GTWF. Post U5, I'm not sure what it is. I think it's 12.45 but either way, 5 seconds of missed SAs is a LOT of missed damage.)

[Xezno]

I will soon get my toon with dual rad2 rapiers over from Europe which i plan to TR a few times. Lets just say that i will sneak in atleast 7 levels of rogue into all the builds as nothing beats a lvl 12 rogue with dual rad2 at for pure carnage.

As a rogue allways build a rad2 first - it changes the whole build from being very group dependant to becoming one of the best soloers in the game.

No amount of technique can substitute at rad2 on normal mobs that can get SA. And if you do not pull the aggro atleast you blind the mobs so that the tank gets hit 50% less, and he can get off his SA (most builds have atleast some SA through tharnes or other items).

[Ginetti]

Thanks for the feedback, it's much appreciated.

I am surprised, however, to see that the Epic Dynastic Falcata Khopeshes didn't spring out to anyone as the be all end all of weapons. I guess it's not that great, afterall.

[Draccus]

Thanks for the feedback, it's much appreciated.

I am surprised, however, to see that the Epic Dynastic Falcata Khopeshes didn't spring out to anyone as the be all end all of weapons. I guess it's not that great, afterall.

The only epic weapons I see any interest in are Epic Chaosblades and Epic Sword of Shadows. I think the Epic Thornlord bow is pretty good, too.

Your Epic Dynastic Falcata does, what 1d8+1 more than a RadII rapier? That's an average of 5.5 per hit. But that RadII will give you an extra 80 damage per hit when it blinds something. 5.5 vs. 80? No brainer.

[tc12]

Radiance is awesome no doubt, but why 2 of them? One of them blinds very quickly, and once blinded you get full sneak on both weapons. I reinc'd my rogue to test Mechanic/Repeaters for a bit, but for a long time he was 2wf with rapiers. I had Rad II pri hand nearly always, and situational offhander. Never felt like a second Rad II was necessary, if I ever get around to it I'd go DPS/DR offhand with Lit II or Min II. But I can't see a second Rad II making sense. The difference between 0.5 and 1.0 seconds as average time to blindness is trivial.

[Draccus]

The difference between 0.5 and 1.0 seconds as average time to blindness is trivial.

First, 1.0 second to blindness is about 200 hp of damage. Not trivial to me.

And second, I've made 10+ attacks before without rolling a crit. There is no disadvantage to getting your mob blind faster.

[Bodic]

forget your AC get a DT RAD and a RADII Cloak with HP on it. 2 RadII weapons. everything is Blind that can be. More DPS, always have your back up weapons for situational use.

[tc12]

First, 1.0 second to blindness is about 200 hp of damage. Not trivial to me.

And second, I've made 10+ attacks before without rolling a crit. There is no disadvantage to getting your mob blind faster.

You somewhat missed my point. First, make that 100 damage as it's half a sec vs one sec, having the second Rad II cuts the average time in half not to zero.

But my point wasn't just that in the specific situation where you have a mob 1:1 and need the blindness to get sneak. Of course then faster is better though it's a lot of resources for a small incremental gain. But while I agree that can happen even in a full group it doesn't necessarily happen so much that the half sec / 100 dam total difference is huge.

So given a single Rad II still addresses nearly every point in your first reply, nearly as well as two of them do, then what makes more sense offhand? Having one Rad II and one Lit II can be more versatile and seems a better use of larges 25-48 to me.

Sure if you have 96 larges to burn for weapons on one character then make 2 Rad IIs and 2 others. But for anyone at all resourced constrained -- somewhat new to the game maybe, with multiple characters, etc -- I don't feel the *second* GS you should make on a rogue is a second Rad II.

[Draccus]

You somewhat missed my point. First, make that 100 damage as it's half a sec vs one sec, having the second Rad II cuts the average time in half not to zero.

But my point wasn't just that in the specific situation where you have a mob 1:1 and need the blindness to get sneak. Of course then faster is better though it's a lot of resources for a small incremental gain. But while I agree that can happen even in a full group it doesn't necessarily happen so much that the half sec / 100 dam total difference is huge.

So given a single Rad II still addresses nearly every point in your first reply, nearly as well as two of them do, then what makes more sense offhand? Having one Rad II and one Lit II can be more versatile and seems a better use of larges 25-48 to me.

Sure if you have 96 larges to burn for weapons on one character then make 2 Rad IIs and 2 others. But for anyone at all resourced constrained -- somewhat new to the game maybe, with multiple characters, etc -- I don't feel the *second* GS you should make on a rogue is a second Rad II.

I'm with ya. I would DEFINITELY not recommend a new player make a second RadII as his second GS. I wouldn't even make a weapon as my second GS, I'd make a hit point item.

But when discussion DPS weapons, I still maintain that if you have your choice of the three listed in the OP's title, a RadII is your best bet.

Pairing your first RadII with a LitII would be a close second for me but I still want that mob blinded as quickly as possible. Especially because the straight-up DPS difference between a RadII and a LitII is only about 4 hit points. (the difference between a 1.5% chance at a lightning strike vs. a 30% chance at a 4d6 Radiance.)