[shovah]

Vicious Love said:

Thought? You mean you might actually consider giving a commander a "balanced" Wraith Sword? Its only edge is armor negation. True SCs have too many HP to derive much benefit from it without heroic quickness. Weaker thugs, in contrast, have too few HP to benefit. I imagine there's a middle ground, but I don't doubt it could do more damage with a lowly Sword of Sharpness. If you really want to give your nonessential commanders lifedrain, it's easier to just use the Standard of the Damned.
And there's still the question of thematic dissonance. Magical or otherwise, a sword is a sword. A 200-ton titan should be able to inflict more damage with it than a scrawny little hoburg.

Wouldn't it have been easier to drop the Wraith Sword's damage to 0, drop its defense to a negative value, and do more of the same to the Blood Thorn? We could assume the sword exerts some sort of icky insalubrious influence upon the wielder's life/unlife. It's still potentially deadly, but it screws with the wielder as much as with the target. Mere mortals would be too weak to endure it, and SCs would approach it with at least a hint of caution. There'd still be the possibility of lifedraining uber-SCs, but they'd be much rarer, somewhat less effective, and still every bit as susceptible to the usual counters.

Meh. Still pretty inelegant a solution, but it makes for a semi-viable weapon, and it has more style than a strengthless sword. Too bad we don't have the mod commands to curse the Wraith Sword, make it decrease reinvigoration, possibly make it decrease MR, and make the Blood Thorn suffer the same, plus the "berserker(+0)" attribute and a hefty defense penalty.

Beg to differ. I've seen plenty of SCs without luck; it's simply one of the most cost-effective buffs for expendable thugs. Luck is certainly useful under most circumstances, but it's not always advisable. Ditto regarding MR, albeit to lesser extent. Ever notice how the Charcoal Shield/Shield of the Accursed are so much more popular than the Lead Shield? There's also something to be said for paranoia leading players to overemphasize MR.

As for quickness, there are only two items that can grant it. Using the boots usually precludes flight(the Stymphalian Wings are a problematic item), and the armor is only viable for 0-encumbrance fighters that don't cast too many spells before engaging. Besides, there are times I would opt for Hydra Skin Armor over Jade Armor even on a 0-encumbrance chassis without Boots of Quickness.

but i thought the wraith sword was meant to be a sort of etheral blade? as in no matter how hard you swing it will basically go through someone and hurt them, therefore i think zens change makes it more what i expected but thats just me