Questions about hellfire

[LemmingofGlory]

By the way could you ellaborate on the shirotachi? Thats one item (on a long list of items) that I haven't heard much about. Could you also give me some insight on the grandfather?

Or the guide, as the case may be. Downloadable and Online versions available.

Among other things, JG has an exhaustive section on item statistics. Given that, let's look at our two unique Great Swords.

The Grandfather
+5 all attributes, +20 life, +20% to hit, +70% damage, only requires one hand

All told, that's a piece of junk. In short, it's a Soldier's Sword of the Jaguar/Moon. Would you use that over a King's Sword of Haste? I wouldn't. Still, let's examine this ornamental thing affix by affix.

Warriors need one thing for higher difficulties: To Hit. Grandfather's +20% just doesn't cut it.

Damage, of course, is nice too. But here's the dirty little secret about damage: As long as you have stun damage, you have enough damage. Anything more is just icing on the cake. And since the bulk of character damage is from ability scores (at later levels), +Damage% enchantments don't make or break an item. Grandfather's bonus in this area is "eh," at best.

Moving on we have +HPs, +5 to All, and "Requires Only One Hand." 20 HPs? Boring. +5 to all? Boring. Only-one-hand? Oh, so you can use a shield with it. It still sucks.

Shirotachi
+6 lightning damage, penetrates target’s armor (half AC), fastest attack, one-handed

Now this is a neat sword. The lightning damage is just for show, but the rest is all action. In Hellfire, Penetrates Target's Armor is powerful; it acts as a ToHit modifier by wrecking enemy AC. Hit worries with this sword? No way.

Fastest Attack? Yes, please! Always a nice affix. Always.

But, oh no! It's a Great Sword -- two handed! Not so much, Requires Only One Hand comes into play and saves this sucker from the junk heap. All told, Shirotachi is a powerful ToHit Sword of Haste with stylish lightning hit damage.

Hey I just remembered something! I forgot who said this but they were right, I found a mesherschmidts reaver (I know I spelled that wrong) lying on the ground in the town square when I entered a mp game on bnet. I picked it up and examined it, It's the best axe I have seen so far! As good as it was it just wasn't worth giving up my shield, besides I found it in town so I didn't trust it, and so I put it back down and walked off.

Good move, but Messy's a junk axe. No ToHit bonus. You can't use a shield with it. And it's not fast.

I have been reading many of the old posts recently and came across an item that caught my attention Champion's sword of haste/speed qlvl 40, only sold by wirt, cannot be found. I would really appreciate any feedback on weapons with the champion prefix.

Champion's affix is one step weaker than King's. Some players like it because it's less pedestrian than a KSoH. Style counts. ;)

[o: *LEMMING* :o]