Was pondering the applications of Flamesalt weapons earlier when running Saltmarsh, since I never use those weapons and was wondering “are these actually good?” I came to a realization that no, they suck. And so do Ferrocrystal weapons. I eventually did the quick maths to prove it. For this case study, I decided to look at the ML 2 Nicked Weapons from Sharn, and ML 4 Cannith Crafted Weapons to compare.
ML 2 Nicked Weapons: +2 enhancement +2d6 elemental +3 deadly
= +2 to hit, +7~17 damage
ML 4 Cannith Crafted Weapons: +2 enhancement +2d6 elemental (red aug) +2d6 light damage prefix +2d6 bludgeon or piercing or slashing suffix
= +2 to hit, +8~38 damage
ML 5 Ferrocrystal Weapons: +2 enhancement +2d6 elemental (red aug) Destruction +2d8 damage on crits (avg = 9 damage per crit; crits 15% of the time; 9 * 0.15 = 1.35 damage per hit on average) +2d10 damage vs fey
= +2 to hit, +5.35~15.35 damage, Destruction vs fey = +2 to hit, +7.35~35.35 damage, Destruction
Even against Fey, Ferrocrystal weapons are WORSE than ML 4 Cannith Crafted Weapons (7.35~35.35 vs. 8~38 damage per hit). Against non-fey, they are inferior to even NICKED weapons (5.35~15.35 vs. 7~17 damage per hit). WTF? The only thing you are really getting is Destruction, but Destruction is pointless at Level 5 because you’re supposed to be killing things quickly. Ferrocrystal weapons suck donkey balls. It’s hard to believe how bad they are. Just like the rest of Feywild. Fuck Feywild.
ML 5 Flamesalt Weapons: +1 enhancement (why…?) +2d6 cold +Weakening +2d6 elemental (red aug) +2d10 bane vs monstrous humanoids
= +1 to hit, +5~25 damage, +1 str damage per hit vs monstrous humanoids = +1 to hit, +7~45 damage, +1 str damage per hit
Flamesalt weaponry on the other hand… it’s just mediocre. The most glaring problem I have with them is the +1 enhancement bonus. Seriously, why? It’s not a huge issue, but it’s just bizarre. Aside from that, you’re getting 5~25 damage per hit against normal targets, which is strictly inferior to Cannith Crafted ML 4s (5~25 vs 8~38). Against Monstrous Humanoids, Flamesalt has a +7 higher damage ceiling than ML 4 Cannith Crafted weapons, but a -1 damage floor and -1 to hit (7~45 vs 8~38. You also apply -1 str damage per hit, which is realistically not going to be doing much.
Given this reality, are Flamesalts really worth the inventory slot? I don’t really think so. They’re better than nothing, sure, but they seem resoundingly mediocre. At best, they’re situationally better than ML 4 Cannith Crafted weapons, and even so, it’s ever-so-marginally.
Also, consider the competition, even outside of Cannith Crafted weaponry. Shortswords have Tiefling’s Assassin Blade at 4 and Blade of the Clouds at 6. Daggers have Flotsam at 4. Scimitars have Kronzek’s Cruelty at 4. Quarterstaves have the Cheiftain’s Spear at 4. Etc. All of the above have ToEE weapons at 7. Given all these options, I really see no niche for Flamesalt weapons.
In summary: Ravenloft 10 weapons are very good at their level. Sharn 15 weapons are very good for their level. On the other hand, Saltmarsh weapons are mediocre for their level. Feywild weapons are downright useless; against most targets, they’re inferior to ML 2 nicked weapons (lol) and against Fey, they’re inferior to ML 4 Cannith Crafted weapons.
What were they thinking when designing these weapons??? Stuff like this really blows my mind as to how Turbine still has its sycophantic apologists.
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