Hell sword vs Wraith sword vs Blood thorn

[Kuritza_Dru]

A question to experienced munchk.. err, strategoi.
What would you choose for a SK of Hell sword/Wraith sword/Blood thorn, had you an access to all three?
Do they grant the same % of lifedrain, and what is generally more effective?

And another question about the Eye shield - how does it work? Simply one eye per strike, or is there some MR roll to avoid getting an affliction? Seems to be quite a cheesy item, especially against the SK cyclopes.

[deccan]

What's an SK?

[Boron]

deccan said:
What's an SK?

Probably a Superkrieger, german for SC .

To the original question:
I would never chose the wraithsword, in most cases the blood thorn and for thugs the hellsword.

Blood thorn enables you to use a shield also this is better then the 6 higher weapondamage of hell-/wraithsword.

[Kuritza_Dru]

No, it's not German, it's just me being dyslexic.

And what about the Eye shield? (opinions about the lifedraining items still welcome)

[sushiboat]

I go with Blood Thorn, when possible, for the extra hand slot.

What about Bone Armor? How does its life drain work? Through hits that the wearer makes, or does the armor cast a spell, or does it drain from those who hit the wearer?

[Chazar]

sushiboat said:What about Bone Armor? How does its life drain work?

It merely auto-casts 'Soul Vertex' at the beginning of the battle for the wearer, i.e. it will drain a couple of nearby units, friend or foe alike. Hence bodyguards for Soul-Vertex-casters function merely like batteries which are discarded after use.

[Oversway]

Blood thorn is often better for extra hand slot but wraith sword is often easier to come by.

Eye shield is one eye per hit, and I think there is an mr check, but not sure. It can be useful but once you have units that will stand up to taking hits from SCs, you probably have better options than an eye shield.

[Cainehill]

Hellsword has one potentially big advantage: it helps a SC go berserk, meaning that it will stay on the field of battle after all other commanders / troops have fled. This can be quite handy if you want to send in some chaff that you know will be eliminated (say, undead to wear down other SCs with lifedraining weapons) or if, like some pretenders, it's stuck with some auto-summoned minions.

[Kuritza_Dru]

Ok, thanks. Btw, what shields may be a 'better choice' than an Eye shield? Considering you have already got luck from a pendant?

[NTJedi]

Better Shields:
Charcoal Shield... better protection and if your SC has lots of life the fire damage will work great in preventing him from getting swarmed by little units.

Main Gauche... this weapon provides 6 defense ! So if your SC has super high protection already this weapon is sometimes the better way to go. An extra battle swing is nice too.

Also there's a shield which blocks 80% of all arrows... definitely worth considering if you are playing human opponents.