Weapons#
It’s no secret that there are a lot of weapons in this game; there are at least 55 martial ranged weapons and 135 martial melee weapons to consider. This section will investigate the implications of their mechanics.
We’ll keep the scope of this to martial weapons, who are the most likely to care heavily about their weapon choice, and take a few things for granted:
A simple weapon is usually a die size downgrade from a martial weapon
Spear’s d6 vs. Trident’s d8
An advanced weapon is usually a trait upgrade from a martial weapon
Butchering Axe = Greataxe + Shove
Let’s start by establishing a baseline set of martial weapons that we can then make comparisons against. We can validate these against Archives of Nethys (AoN) by writing queries in the search bar, but ultimately we can narrow it down to these basic results.
For someone using melee martial weapons, I recommend comparing against the baseline of the longsword or greatsword. Or, you can compare against the bastard sword, which is a d8 in one hand and a d12 in two hands, but otherwise traitless. The shortsword is great for classes looking for weapons that are both agile and finesse.
Melee:
d12 Greatsword. 2 hands. 1 trait.
d10 Halberd. 2 hands. Reach + 1 trait.
d8 Longsword. 1 hand. 1 trait.
d6 Shortsword. 1 hand. Finesse + Agile + 1 trait. Or Uncommon Reach.
d4 Almost anything goes.
For ranged martial weapons, I recommend comparing against the baseline of the shortbow, which requires 1+ hands (2 hands to use, but no actions to adjust grip) and is Reload 0.
Ranged:
d10 Harmona Gun. 2 hands. Reload 1. 150ft. 1 trait.
d8 Sukgung. 1 hand. Reload 1. 200ft. 1 trait.
d6 Shortbow. 1+ hands. Reload 0. 60ft. 1/2 traits.
d4 Almost anything goes.
You’ll notice right away that ranged weapons don’t reach d12 (backpack weapons with 1-minute reloads excluded).
We’ll exclude throwing weapons and combination weapons for now, but they are other ways to exchange damage for versatility, enabling you to throw a normally melee weapon at a fleeing enemy or enabling an investigator to switch to a fatal gun when they know their devised strategem is going to pay off.
The value of Finesse#
Gains:
Your accuracy with melee and ranged attacks can share the same stat: dexterity.
Pairing with a backup shortbow can go a long way to prevent you from being countered by flying enemies and odd terrain features.
A reduced need to invest in strength.
Costs:
Your weapon damage die is capped to roughly d6s.
d8s require two hands or the advanced Aldori dueling sword.
Implies a dependency on class features to boost your damage, some of which can be countered (precision immunity).
Mitigation:
Oozes with low AC, crit, and precision immunity are still vulnerable to deadly and fatal traits, as well as non-damage crit effects from alchemical bombs.
Alchemical bombs like ghost charges can assist against precision immune ghosts.
Still investing in strength can enable a backup greatsword or athletic attacks to debuff your enemies.
Investing in some magic, like damaging cantrips.
Plan for alternative support actions when your damage boosting class features are countered.
The value of Reach#
Gains:
Feat synergy:
Reactive Strike, Stand Still, etc. can trigger off of many enemies moving adjacent to you.
Gang Up can allow a rogue to provide flanking against many enemies at once.
Enemies may still need to spend an action moving to reach you.
Rarely, an action saved not needing to move yourself where a non-reach weapon might.
Costs:
Almost always 2-handed.
Capped at d10s.
1-handed is almost always d4s, d6s are always uncommon.
The value of Agile#
Gains:
Higher accuracy on multiple attacks in a turn.
Other traits combo well with this (Sweep, Backswing, Forceful, Twin)
Works well when most of your damage comes from a class feature (sneak attack)
Situationally useful you know an enemy is just barely still standing (barbarian unarmed Strike)
Some feats reduce this penalty even further (Double Slice, Agile Grace, Flurry).
Costs:
Capped at d6s.
Implies a dependency on class features to boost your damage, some of which can be countered (precision immunity).
Mitigation:
See finesse.
The value of Range#
Gains:
Can take an action that has impact from safer locations
Behind one-sided cover or set up to lean
Behind difficult, hazardous, or unreachable terrain
Can switch targets easily
Can sometimes stay multiple Strides away from slower creatures
Can continue attacking while backing off from melee, spreading incoming damage to allies, allowing you to keep fighting
Costs:
Either reduced damage, a need to reload, or a returning rune (or thrower’s bandolier)
Cannot benefit from flanking (mitigated by melee thrown weapons)
The value of a Free Hand#
Gains:
Interact actions don’t require additional actions to get back to “normal” (regrip 2-handed weapon, redraw offhand weapon)
Better adaptability to more unexpected situations
Easier consumable usage
Easier to spread consumable usage across 2 turns without interrupting flow
Strike-Strike-draw + Strike-Strike-drink vs. Strike-Strike-release-draw + drink-regrip-Strike
Stride-draw-feed an elixir to a downed ally
All attack options that require a free hand are available to you
Many feat synergies (Snagging Strike, Combat Grab, Dueling Dance)
All athletic maneuvers and Dirty Trick
Easy access to Battle Medicine
Costs:
Less damage
Sometimes mitigated by the action and feat cost of gaining stances (see: monk)
Weapon conclusion#
Within the context of weapons, we see the ability to trade some damage for some versatility and vice versa. Dual-wield and two-hand weapons pay for their damage increases with action penalties to engaging in versatile behaviors that require a free hand. That price may manifest as the character going down more often, having weaker turns spent recovering, and/or having someone else in the party sacrifice actions to support.
If we treat longsword as the baseline, it scales from 1d8+4 to 4d8+13 in the hands of a strength martial, with possible extra 3d6 from property runes. For a raging dragon barbarian, that’s 1d8+8 to 4d8+29 (+3d6 property runes).