Bloodlust vs. Excalibur

[granville t]

I have both swords. I have been using the Bloodlust for quite some time. This sword is awesome. Because of its high initiatives (+6), it allows my fighter to hit two to three times in the beginning of the turn and another two to three times at the end of the turn. On the average, my fighter is hitting around 25 points per swing and that adds up to about 150 points per turn.

When I found the Excalibur in the sea caves yesterday, I was very excited and equipped my fighter with it. But, I was quite disappointed to find out that the total damage per turn was actually a little lower than with the Bloodlust. Even though the damage points per hit were much higher on the Excalibur than the Bloodlust, the initiatives was -4; therefore, my fighter was hitting about two swings fewer per turns. The result was less damage per turn.

Am I missing something? Other than the Excalibur and the Light Sword, are there any swords that are better than the Bloodlust and where do I find them? I hope they are not randomly generated.

Thanks—

Granville

[GenXCub]

Well, the other plus of Excalibur is that it's not a cursed weapon (IIRC), so you can use a ranged weapon like a tripleshot crossbow as an alternate. This benefit is really only for a fighter since SAmurai can use magic as a ranged weapon.

[Annheiser]

Plenty of swords better than Bloodlust. Ivory Blade made from Ferro, Fang you can find at the cellar in SE wilderness, The Avenger, Muramasa Blade, Excalibur, and so on.

I generally stay away from cursed weapons, unless they are polearms, because they completely minimize your options in close combat. Take into consideration you will probably have Haste more than two-thirds of the time you're in combat and you will strike multiple times in one round. If the enemy is in extended range, your character can not switch out of Bloodlust, and his round is wasted.

[armakh]

I didn't have excalibur and bloodlust on the same guy, but I'm really very happy with my fighter and Excalibur. I miss the extra initiative, but I'm hitting for so much more damage. Also, the hex and instant kill is really really handy, IMHO. I had bloodlust on my samurai, and I was thrilled to get fang from the SE wilderness. I used bloodlust with my sam for a long time, and I really didn't like it, but that's one of those personal preference things.

[DeSoya]

Just boost your fighters speed and caste haste. That should enable you to do your full fledge whoop butt with Excalibur. With haste cast I can get my fighter to attack twice w/ two to three swings a turn while using a normal swordish thingy (not bloodlust). I'm not sure he wouldn't do this anyway, but I like haste. : )

DeSoya