Keldorn: give him Carsomyr of Purifier?

[Klorox]

I've heard a lot of good stuff about this Paladin-only weapon (Purifier -- I've found Carsomyr already).

Is Purifier better? Should I have Keldorn start learning the bastard sword proficiency in anticipation of this weapon, or am I better off sticking with Carsomyr and adding proficiencies into a blunt weapon?

I doubt that Purifier is as good as Carsomyr, but will the addition of a shield change my mind (I can't see Keldorn dual weilding)?

[Carcaroth]

Are you very likely to use a blunt weapon with him? If you find a really nice blunt weapon, almost any of your other npc's will be able to use it anyway.

Other choice is a ranged weapon to get a couple of shots in before they manage to reach you, but that may affect how you choose other ranged fighters.
(Probably better for a main fighter to rush in and ranged to pound from distance, than to wait for enemy to reach you and ranged fighters to retreat to get a better shot)

[Klorox]

Well, Keldorn comes with ** in Crossbows. I don't use it often, but that's his ranged weapon of choice.

I was just thinking of a blunt weapon for those rare times a slashing weapon won't harm a creature (Golems come to mind). Since I currently have Keldorn use Carsomyr, I have him use a Quarterstaff in such situations (I may not be proficient in it, but at least it's taking advantage of my Two Handed Weapon style proficiencies).

If I were to choose Purifier over Carsomyr, future proficiencies would probably go into Mace or Hammer (to take advantage of my shield).

Keldorn is currently 13th level in my game, and has ** in Two Handed Sword, Two Handed Weapon style, Crossbow, and Longsword.

[Abomination]

Carsomyr vanilla is more powerful than the upgraded Purifier, however Purifier gives you the advantage of being able to dual wield with Crom or use a shield at the same time. If your PC is a Paladin or a Fighter/Thief with UAI then give them the weapon that Keldorn is without and give whoever has Carsomyr the Belt of Fire Giant Strength.

At least that's how I do it.

[Faraaz]

Give him Carsomyr +6. 'Nuff said.

Edit: to you Ziad!

[ September 22, 2004, 15:11: Message edited by: Faraaz ]

[Ziad]

Disagreed, Farraz. If you're going for Carsomyr, then give him Carsomyr +6

Unless you go all the way to *** in two-weapon style, stick to Carsomyr +6. The nice thing is that +6 weapons will bypass Absolute Immunity (which spellcasters in TOB like to use)

If you go the dual-wield way, then Purifier in main hand and Crom Faeyr in off hand. Switch them whenever you're fighting golems.

I think both combinations are equally powerful, and in the latter you can give the Belt of Fire Strength to someone else. In either case I don't bother with shields, as in TOB a lot of enemies can't hit you, and the ones that can will do, regardless of your AC.

[Advanced Simplicity]

If you go the dual-wield way, then Purifier in main hand and Crom Faeyr in off hand. Switch them whenever you're fighting golems.

I would rather use Answerer +4 in main hand and Purifier in the off hand, Purifier is not a main hand weapon imo.

[Ziad]

"I would rather use Answerer +4 in main hand and Purifier in the off hand, Purifier is not a main hand weapon imo."

Depends how you look at it. Answerer lowers MR and AC - not such a plus in my opinion. If you're already hitting things in melee, then you don't care about their MR, and their AC is low enough for you to hit. Purifier on the other hand deals an extra +5 damage against evil creatures - how many enemies in TOB aren't? I can only think of one. The extra damage is nice because it means you kill things faster, which is always an advantage (particularly when you're doing 4 attacks per round. That's up to +20 damage per round)

[Kitrax]

If you go the dual-wield way, then Purifier in main hand and Crom Faeyr in off hand. Switch them whenever you're fighting golems.

Just remember that Keldorn is old, and hence has low dexterity. Just imagin what could happen.

Personally, I give him the upgraded Carsomyr +6 and the red cross bow from ToB...I forgot what it's called...Fire tooth comes to mind, I also up gade that one too.

[Tiberius]

Go with proficiency in the Hammer selection. Hammer of Thunderbolts and the RuneHammer are pretty killer.

[NonSequitur]

Carsomyr is the better choice, IMHO. Keldorn doesn't need to be dual-wielding hammers and bastard swords when he can lay the +6 smack down on anyone with a weapon that he already has the maximum ability a paladin can have with two-handed swords. I usually pad him out with hammer or flail proficiencies.

Obviously, for some situations Carsomyr is sub-optimal (but not many). In these rare instances, I'd stick with Abomination's advice and have Keldorn able to switch to a shield and a one-handed weapon, most probably Yaga-Shura's Runehammer or the Flail of Ages (upgraded or not).

[egervari]

I have to agree with Ziad. I used to use the answerer/purifier combo. I thought it was crazy good and even promoted it in my equipement guide. But, it's only +4 and all of ziad's comments are true. I no longer promote this combo either. I just don't remember the password to my gamefaqs account, so it'll never be changed.

[Ziad]

(Bows to egervari) Thank you, I try to be right as often as I can

@NonSequitur
I'm curious, in which situations would Carsomyr be suboptimal? And why would it be better to switch to a one-handed weapon with shields? I can't remember any situation where Carsomyr was ineffective.
As for using the Flail of Ages, I'd have to insist on using it upgraded. IIRC there are quite a few demons in TOB, and a number of them require +4 or better weapons to hit.

@Kitrax: Isn't Firetooth a red crossbow? Looks like you're seeing things in double

[Sparhawk the Pandion]

Kitrax was saying that he thought Firetooth was the red crossobow's name.

Though Firetooth is the name of a throwing dagger as well.

[Rastor]

I'm curious, in which situations would Carsomyr be suboptimal? And why would it be better to switch to a one-handed weapon with shields? I can't remember any situation where Carsomyr was ineffective.

Ever fought clay golems?

[NonSequitur]

I'm curious, in which situations would Carsomyr be suboptimal? And why would it be better to switch to a one-handed weapon with shields? I can't remember any situation where Carsomyr was ineffective.

Pretty much what Rastor said. And I would prefer to have Keldorn packing a shield/Crom Faeyr and the Runehammer against level-draining undead than Carsomyr. But as I said, those are exceptions, not the rule.