Are you kidding? Glaive of Pain + Ring of Acid was a very standard combination back in the days when elemental rings gave elemental brands in melee. Those 9d6 damage dice get an impressive boost, making the brand an effective Ring of Damage (+62) on average. ...in retrospect, that makes it pretty obvious why off-weapon brands got made vastly more rare.
Of course, the Glaive of Pain isn't available in a randarts game, but even a puny 2d5 Longsword gets an extra 12 damage/blow on average, which is quite respectable from the amulet slot.
Acid brand is also pretty reliable; there's many dangerous enemies that aren't resistant to acid. Sauron is of course the most notable of these. I mean, yes, many brands are not as helpful. The only really useful ones in the endgame are acid, evil, undead, demon, and maybe dragon -- which leaves poison, frost, fire, electricity, animal, orc, troll, giant...what am I forgetting? Anyway, there's plenty of non-useful brands. But that doesn't mean that all off-weapon brands are useless.
Of course, the Glaive of Pain isn't available in a randarts game, but even a puny 2d5 Longsword gets an extra 12 damage/blow on average, which is quite respectable from the amulet slot.
Acid brand is also pretty reliable; there's many dangerous enemies that aren't resistant to acid. Sauron is of course the most notable of these. I mean, yes, many brands are not as helpful. The only really useful ones in the endgame are acid, evil, undead, demon, and maybe dragon -- which leaves poison, frost, fire, electricity, animal, orc, troll, giant...what am I forgetting? Anyway, there's plenty of non-useful brands. But that doesn't mean that all off-weapon brands are useless.
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