The Dagger of Vashna

[SuperNovice]

I mentioned this in a different thread but rather than derail it, I figured I'd start a new thread.

Am I the only one that ditched the Sommerswerd all together? After a few books with it, I started to realize that having the sword actually made the vast majority of the major encounters more difficult. The smaller encounters are generally so easy that +8 CS makes little difference once you figure in the Healing/Curing skills.

Starting around book 6 (and weaponmastery - dagger), I just started taking the Dagger of Vashna with me everywhere and leaving the Sommerswerd at home. Did anyone else do this?

[Relenoir]

I may have mentioned it in the other thread, but in case I didn't. . .
I haven't made a habit of it, but I've actually done the same thing one time through the books. I left the Sommerswerd at home for the Lorestone quest, and went the rest of the way through the series without it. I took Weaponmastery with sword, bow, and dagger, and off I went. I remember that for the most part, it was fairly challenging without being overly ridiculous except for against the Vordaks at the end of book 8 when you have a time limit, and against the Villains of Sommerlund in book 11. For 13-16, I used Helshezag, then a normal sword with the power-ruby (or whatever it was called) in book 17-19, and of course Skarn-ska in 20. For the most part, it was pretty manageable, but Deathlord Ixiataaga still sucks no matter what you fight him with.

[AlbinoChocobo]

Am I the only one that ditched the Sommerswerd all together? After a few books with it, I started to realize that having the sword actually made the vast majority of the major encounters more difficult.

That's more or less the whole point I guess.
Obviously, Joe Dever had to make boss fights easier for people who had just jumped on the series.
On the other hand, he couldn't just put it down as "if you possess so much magical equipment even your underoos glow in the dark, turn to 42" ... The Summerswerd just marks you out as a long standing reader who'll probably have collected a nice stack of CS boosters.

It would have made more sense to link that to Kai rank, such as "if you have reached the rank of Principalin, turn to 42", but writing the adventures of Unlucky Wolf would have been a bit tedious : "drawing upon years of Kai training, you expertly make your way through the dense undergrowth. You however accidently step on a nest of screamee-screamee land grouses (species protected by the preservation council of the Darklands). The ensuing commotion ..."

As it stands, the Summerswerd pretty much became the fizbin of Misfortune. No wonder it is wielded by heroes. I mean, you gotta be able to survive carrying the thing

[Hal]

Starting around book 6 (and weaponmastery - dagger), I just started taking the Dagger of Vashna with me everywhere and leaving the Sommerswerd at home. Did anyone else do this?

As I mentionned elsewhere, I did too. Vashna rules !

[Storm Dancer]

Where do you find out the bonuses for his Dagger? When I picked it up it didn't say anything...

[SuperNovice]

You don't get any for most fights. It's simply a magical weapon that seems to come up an awful lot. Many of the big fights have something like:

If you are carrying the Sommerswerd, turn to page 1...
If not, turn to page 2...

Then page 2 says, if you have the Dagger of Vashna, turn to page *whatever*

Carrying the Dagger never left me in the 'You can't hit the monster, you die' situation. And I never had to fight a monster with +20 CS just because I had the Sommerswerd.

For example, in the Dungeons of Torgar, there's a fight against Baron Shinzar. (It's avoidable but it's the first example I found.) If you have the Sommerswerd, he is a 40 CS, 50 EP enemy. If you don't have it, you fight a 23 CS, 60 EP enemy. That's a 17 CS jump because you have a +8 CS weapon.

Another example is everyone's best friend, Zakhan Kimah. With the Sommerswerd, he is 44 CS, 50 EP. With the dagger of Vashna, you have two options. You can: a) throw it at him with a slightly above 90% chance to instantly kill him if you have weaponmastery: dagger and circle of fire (you fail on a zero, even a 1 wins with those bonuses) or b) melee him with it, in which case he becomes a 34 CS, 40 EP enemy. Even with the melee, it's a 10 CS jump AND an initial 5 EP hit for using the Sommerswerd.

I can understand why the fights are harder with it. I just found that it was easier without it because the enemies gained a lot more CS than I did. To be honest, I didn't realize how big the jump was until I actually made this post and flipped back through the books.

[deiseach]

Boo! Lone Wolf without the Sommerswerd is like Diet Coke. It's good, but it ain't the real thing...

Seriously, I couldn't part with the Sommerswerd. I accept the logic that it actually makes life more difficult, not less. You should be well able to defeat the various Giak, Drakkarim and Vordaks that pepper Magnamund without resorting to the biggest knife in Aon, and the Chaos master and Zakhan Kimah are all-but-invincible when you wield the Sommerswerd. But the idea that Lone Wolf would say "I think I'll just leave this on a pedestal in the Monastery on the off-chance that I'll be able to pick up an even better weapon for the really big rumble with AsYetUnknownFoe" is a narrative stretch too far for my taste

[jimy]

i just took the sommerswerd with me and used it every time. the boss's might have been harder, but fighting them to the almost death and then hoping you don't run into any other enemies is part of the fun

[Storm Brow]

I always take the Sommerswerd with me. The roleplayer in me can't bear the thought of leaving my favourite toy at home, and I manage to stagger through the tough fights (ironically, in my latest replaying I managed both the Zakhan and the Chaosmaster the first time through, using the Sommerswerd, with some absolutely incredible luck backing me up - and then fell down a chasm in Darke to my death...)

[Ghost Bear]

I'm the same as deiseach. There's just no way in my mind that Lone Wolf would leave the Sommerswerd at home.

'Hey, I might fight someone with 20CS extra if I take the Sommerswerd.'

just isn't a thought I imagine Lone Wolf having.

-GB

[deiseach]

In addition, the Ironheart Broadsword is a pain in the arse. No sooner than you've used it to clinical effect than they're asking you to put it back where you found it

[deiseach]

Hey, I can say 'arse'! Can I say 'ass'? Yes, I can. How come I can make reference to backsides but can't say the name of that guy from Nazareth who they nailed to a cross?

[Sarra]

For the most part I thought the DofV was a real pain in the butt. You have to carry it around FOREVER before you get a real chance to use it.

[deiseach]

A lot of people seem to have some manner of SuperMagnaGrandIncredibleStupendousKai powers which allows them to retrieve it from the Monastery at the start of the adventure at which they'll need it. Useful if you know how

[Sarra]

Yeah I know exactly what you mean. But you can't really MAKE anybody follow the rules now can you?