Comparing weapons

[Petoften]

I'm not clear how to compare weapons.

The measure I can use is inspect each and see what damage/round it says.

But I'm not sure what all factors that includes. For example, I found a unique weapons with lower damage, but 4 speed and 20 accuracy.

How would that change the actual damage done? No idea.

[wobbly]

The change in accuracy is a small difference for a warrior (larger for say a mage) but a speed boost is generally a big difference with +10 speed being double +0. The speed increase is non-linear, smaller the more speed you find. I think there's now an option to change the speed indicator to a multiplier.

Oh & to-hit is shown as a % if you look at a monster. Doubt you'll need any on screen, go into ~, known monster & look at something around your current depth.

[Petoften]

The change in accuracy is a small difference for a warrior (larger for say a mage) but a speed boost is generally a big difference with +10 speed being double +0. The speed increase is non-linear, smaller the more speed you find. I think there's now an option to change the speed indicator to a multiplier.

Oh & to-hit is shown as a % if you look at a monster. Doubt you'll need any on screen, go into ~, known monster & look at something around your current depth.

Ya, just makes it tricky trying to compare apples and oranges.

[Petoften]

Don't think the quarterstaff Nar-i-vagil has any use instead of the Spear despite the 4 speed - the spear is like double the damage.

[wobbly]

That's because the game handles weight & blows in a bizarre fashion. Late game light weapons like the spear will max. out on blows & heavier weapons play catch-up. Pay attention for the "if +blah str, blah blah no. of blows". Unfortunately you'll have to do the maths but if a weapon looks like it'll get good later(slay evil or acid brand in particular) hold onto it or stash it in the home.

[Sky]

Roughly speaking:

1. The damage list in the weapon description - higher is better.
2. Slays, with slay evil being the most important and acid brand second. Weapons which slay all 3 demon/dragon/undead are almost as good as slay evil (and could be better in some situations)
3. Stat and resistances, plus some activations. Its ok to lose some damage if the resists make you less vulnerable. ESP is particularly useful.

Speed can be great or meh depending on how much you have. IMHO a base char with Spd +5 is worth losing half the damage, say 100dmg speed 0 or 50dmg speed 5.

These are rough guidelines if you just want to carry 1 weapon. You can do better if you switch equipment on the fly dependibg on your needs, but this takes experience.

[Pete Mack]

Nar-i-vagil is a lousy weapon, but it has a great activation (detect objects.) I carry it occasionally as a swap.

[Ingwe Ingweron]

Nar-i-vagil is a lousy weapon, but it has a great activation (detect objects.) I carry it occasionally as a swap.

You've confused Nar-i-vagil for Eriril, the staff of an Istar of legend. Eriril is the one that has Detect Object.

[Ingwe Ingweron]

When comparing weapons, I suggest:

1. Inspect and compare damage/round.
2. Take into account whether the number of blows currently will change with increased stats, and how the weapons may compare later.
3. Consider any special properties or activations that may be important either now or later.
4. Consider the weapon in light of the class you are playing. E.g., where will max blows top-out? is there an edged-weapon penalty? etc.

It takes a bit of experience playing to know what to keep and what to ditch, and there's some element of personal preference in that mix. Until you've amassed some of that "feel" you can try storing weapons at home for later comparison.

[luneya]

When comparing weapons, I suggest:

1. Inspect and compare damage/round.
2. Take into account whether the number of blows currently will change with increased stats, and how the weapons may compare later.
3. Consider any special properties or activations that may be important either now or later.
4. Consider the weapon in light of the class you are playing. E.g., where will max blows top-out? is there an edged-weapon penalty? etc.

It takes a bit of experience playing to know what to keep and what to ditch, and there's some element of personal preference in that mix. Until you've amassed some of that "feel" you can try storing weapons at home for later comparison.

And in fact, I'd say more strongly that in the early game you should store every interesting artifact or higher ego weapon that you find. By the time that home stash space starts to become a problem, you should have several such weapons on hand. At that point, you can directly compare weapons of roughly equal weight, and ditch whichever is weaker. Given two weapons of equal weight, the better of the two will always be better (unless you're taking into account abilities that don't contribute to damage dealing, such as resists or activations). But if you're comparing a heavy weapon to something like a 'Thanc dagger, then the dagger is better in the early game, but the heavy weapon will be better once you've maxed your character stats.

[Soteria]

As a sort of post-mortem, you can look at the artifacts you've discovered by pressing ~. By inspecting the weapons in the list, you can compare the damage they would deal for you now, even if they're lost. That way you can learn (for future playthroughs) if it would have been worth keeping a given artifact. Of course, it doesn't help you with ego weapons.