Re: Hell sword vs Wraith sword vs Blood thorn
 

I'm a big fan of the Charcoal Shield (Fire Resistance and Fire Shield), the Lantern Shield (extra Fear and a couple of pieces of skum who have banefire attacks), the totem shield (curses all the enemy SCs), and the Lcuky Coin (which you apparently don't need). But they all are weak sauce compared to the unique shields. Aegis is funny stuff, and so is Barrier.

-Frank

Re: Hell sword vs Wraith sword vs Blood thorn
 

Doesn't the scuttata shoot lightning bolts? That's kinda nice...

Re: Hell sword vs Wraith sword vs Blood thorn
 

IIRC the Hellsword also gives permanent HP's to its wielder.

Re: Hell sword vs Wraith sword vs Blood thorn
 

I've never seen any permanent HP boost from anything? Were you confusing leftover HP from a previous lifedraining?

Re: Hell sword vs Wraith sword vs Blood thorn
 

Shocking grasp on adjacent units.

Re: Hell sword vs Wraith sword vs Blood thorn
 

Molog, thanks for clearing that up for me. So given a choice I guess I have to decide between scuttatas and charcoal shields. I suppose the nature of my foe would decide that. Unless you fellows see something in the stats that makes the choice a no-brainer?

Re: Hell sword vs Wraith sword vs Blood thorn
 

In general, the fire shield is better, as it can damage many more units a turn. Another contender is the Vine Shield.

Re: Hell sword vs Wraith sword vs Blood thorn
 

Spirit Helmet shoots lightning bolts. Sadly, neither works when the owner is paralysed - guess he has to push the 'on' button every turn...

Re: Hell sword vs Wraith sword vs Blood thorn
 

Hmm...so blood thorn, charcoal shield, Spirit Helm.

That leaves armor, boots, and misc.

For armor I think:

Jade Scale

Boots:

Speed or Flying? Or maybe reinvigoration... tough choice.

Misc.

Luck

Anti-magic

Re: Hell sword vs Wraith sword vs Blood thorn
 

Just to play devil's advocate:

Hell and Wraith swords have another advantage over blood thorns: cost. Blood Thorns cost twice as much as Hell swords, they do less damage, and they have no special abilities to speak of (unless your SC has blood magic, then of course they're the best choice).

Hell Swords make you go berzerk, and give +3 attack and fire resistance. Wraith Swords give +3 defense, I believe, which is nice, although admittedly not as much as you could get from a shield. Although a decent shield at 10 gems puts the total cost at a whopping 30 gems and/or slaves for the blood thorn/shield combo, whereas it's only 10 gems for the Hell/Wraith sword.

So, I think in terms of cost:benefit, the Hell Sword probably is the best bet. In terms of pure benefit, I agree the Blood thorn/shield combo is better.