Sure they always hit but at higher levels a regular enchanted bastard sword does more damage. I just switched over at lvl 14 and am totally satisfied with my decision. Will give Scather & Fragrarch to rear echelon guys (magic users) to deal with close quarter leakers. Who cares about having no proficiency as they alway hit. i.e. no wasted feats...
Powerattack with full power and holy damage is ok in late game aswell and crafting cost experience points for the crafters but i have tried crafting som mean weapons at times.
What do you mean by "regular enchanted" sword? because --using my meager math skills--only a fully opportunistic use of the game engine (which allows stacking multiple --and diametrically opposed --elemental enchantments) can beat Scather/Frag damage on average or at max crit. And I just don't see stacking multiple elemental/burst effects as 'regular' enchantment. Over the long haul, as Chano points out, with Power Attack always at max settings, there's no way to consistently beat the damage Scather/Frag deals out. If there were, the Swords of Answering wouldn't be considered ToEE game breakers. ...unless you're not using Power attack; in which case you may be correct. The damage per single hit would at least be comparable -- except against evil opponents with the +4 damage bonus doubled to +8, and 'regular' crafted weapons limited to +3 total. The real key difference, though, is found after totaling up the damage from all the retaliatory AoO auto hits per round --whether with or without power attack activated. Just sayin'...
My apologies for being a bit of a rabble rouser. I just noticed I didn't seem to be hitting for very much damage (w/Sc & Fr) compared to other (enchanted) weapons. By regular enchanted - I mean various combos of Holy, Keen, Flaming, Frost, Shock, and the 3 Bursts. I usually don't mess with the rest. And I usually don't count/plan on crits - nice when they happen but I don't plan my weapon choices/enhancenents around them. Except of course for the 3 cleavers. (God I hate having to take Fruella even for one - one way trip ) I will admit to being somthing of a noob regarding the power feat. I never set it (turn it on?). I know, I know - pretty dumb - but I just get it as a prereq for cleave and forget it. Actually that is pretty dumb. mea culpa Just did my first Ranger and wow what a sharpshooter. Why EVER bother with a shortbow for anybody ? New Druid will be next From now on I'm NOT going to do the Thrommel exploit and just be satisfied with the one. Great chatting - thanks for the edumication - I won't forget Power Attack again and am anxiously awaiting further NC Thanks guys
Admittedly, power attack can be kind of klunky to use because it helps to always use Full Attack (I highly suggest assigning a hotkey) and adjusting (if you want) the power with each subsequent attack, which is at cumulative -5 normally. It requires paying constant attention to your attack totals compared to the enemy AC. It does not make for smooth combat at all, but if you're willing to play with the setting and constantly adjust for an acceptable 'to hit' probability, it turns you into a fierce damage dealer. That being said, part of the 'game breaker' aspect of Scather/Frag is that they always hit, so no fiddling with the power attack scale. Just keep it at max. At 15th level, wielding the bastard sword two handed, that's an additional 30 damage just from power attack alone for a normal hit, and plus 60 damage on a crit. I personally don't like the overpowered aspect of Scather/Frag in ToEE (it wasn't that powerful in the original 1st edition AD&D pnp module), which comes almost solely from it being a two handed weapon with all the 3.5 combat enhancements and associated damage multipliers. A simple way to tone it down in 3.5 would be to make (re-code) them as light weapons. [Or, as you've discovered, simply avoid using Power Attack!] The second effect, if possible, would be to cause the wielder to always lose initiative (per the original specs), as they were intended as defensive weapons. And thirdly, Scather should only be +2 weapon, not +4. For trivia sake, Gary Gygax later said Frag (the only +4 sword in the set) was supposed to be LG alignment in the hands of Prince Thrommel who was supposed to be a Paladin. A typo made Frag CG. Each of the other Swords of Answering (6 in all) had different alignments (though unspecified in the description, I wonder which alignment --other than true N-- was not included... or was that also a typo?).
Hi Horsesoldier To set power attack, find it under the feat section of your radial menu. Clicking on it brings up a slider bar a bit like that for Lay on Hands. Because Scather and Fragarach always hit, you can always put all of uour BAB into damage (I tend to agree that pre-Scather I tended not to to bother with Power Attack so as to maximise my hit chance). Wielding Scather in two hands (i.e. without exotic weapon: Bastard sword) gives you 1.5x your Str bonus and 1.5x your power attack to damage (or is it double?). So at high level, +10 or 12 for a 24 or 26 Str, plus 1.5x level for power attack, and always hits, so d10 + 12 + 27 (BAB = 18) 4 times a round, plus extra attacks for Haste etc. I have to say bowshots with a maximally composite holy electric bow fired by an invisible rogue is as good for damage: a Str 16 +2 short bow does d6 (arrow) +3 (Str bonus)+ 2d6 (holy) + d6 (cold) + 10 d6 (sneak attack) averages above 50 hp per hit... Of course, no rule to say Scather can't be used by a rogue too..
I began using power attack when I was at a high enough level that my attack totals were more than the opponent AC. If I was going to hit on anything but a 1, I figured why not put the extra numbers in power attack. Same thing when combined with True Strike. After seeing some of the damage results (and shorter battles -- important for a solo character), I always tinker with power attack when possible. Trolls fall faster, I can tell ya. I suppose if you put Scather in the hands of someone aligned other than CG (unlimited AoO) or CN (one AoO), then it becomes a different sword -- which can still be awesome but not totally overpowering. NG gets an auto hit Sword +4/+8 vs evil but no auto AoO. Anyone else non-evil simply gets a Sword +4 that always hits. I suppose evil alignments simply get a "normal" sword +4. But now we're full circle to the impact of being able to fearlessly use Power attack at max and produce prodigious (two handed) damage consistently.
