4x HCW mace or 6x Perfect morning star and skill/cman/shield checkup?

[Necrodeus]

should I bond to the star and use the HCW mace when/if needed?

also here is the stats/skills of said pally

Armored Fluidity fluidity 2

Available Armor Training Points: 4

Cman skills
Skill name Mnemonic Ranks
Feint feint 3
Cunning Defense cdefense 1
Available Combat Maneuver Training Points: 11

Shield skills
Tower Shield Focus tfocus 3
Shield Bash bash 4
Prop Up prop 1
Block the Elements eblock 1
Protective Wall pwall 1

(at level 28), your current skill bonuses and ranks (including all modifiers) are:
Skill Name | Current Current
| Bonus Ranks
Armor Use..........................| 154 54
Shield Use.........................| 154 54
Combat Maneuvers...................| 114 28
Blunt Weapons......................| 160 60
Ambush.............................| 78 17
Multi Opponent Combat..............| 102 24
Physical Fitness...................| 114 28
Harness Power......................| 108 26
Spirit Mana Control................| 62 13
Spiritual Lore - Religion..........| 40 8
Spiritual Lore - Summoning.........| 15 3
Perception.........................| 74 16
Climbing...........................| 70 15
Swimming...........................| 50 10

Spell Lists
Paladin............................| 28

Profession: Paladin (shown as: Dark Crusader)
Gender: Male Age: 0 Expr: 921,239 Level: 28
Normal (Bonus) ... Enhanced (Bonus)
Strength (STR): 93 (31) ... 99 (34)
Constitution (CON): 69 (19) ... 76 (23)
Dexterity (DEX): 84 (17) ... 84 (17)
Agility (AGI): 84 (22) ... 84 (22)
Discipline (DIS): 74 (12) ... 74 (12)
Aura (AUR): 84 (17) ... 84 (17)
Logic (LOG): 93 (11) ... 93 (11)
Intuition (INT): 59 (4) ... 59 (4)
Wisdom (WIS): 89 (14) ... 95 (17)
Influence (INF): 42 (-9) ... 42 (-9)

[time4fun]

Honestly- you could go either way.

But given you have no blessing lore to bump up your double plasma flare rate, the mace may be your better bet right now.

[Khariz]

I always bond my crit-weighted weapon and use my blessable/permabless as a backup. You will use the crit-weighted one much more often. Unless you are voln and primary just hunt undead.

[Ulkov]

I would have to backup Khariz on that one. The weighted weapon, I would assume, is going to get more use. Bond to that. As for the shield skills, looks like you're headed in the right direction.

[tyrant-201]

I'll back Khariz just for the sake of not backing Vishra

[time4fun]

I'll back Khariz just for the sake of not backing Vishra

Uh.

You may want to read this thread one more time. You're putting the dumb in dumbass right now.

[tyrant-201]

Uh.

You may want to read this thread one more time. You're putting the dumb in dumbass right now.

That hurts!

Use the morning star OP.

[hello]

If you're actively hunting undead, the morning is better.

[Necrodeus]

Main goal is killing as fast as possible while in a group with a wizard and sorc

[Maerit]

I actually don't think the morning star is even a good comparison vs undead. It has the potential to deal puncture damage, and aren't a lot of undead are resistant to puncture damage? Wouldn't that make the mace even better (in general) since you'll avoid the resistance by being crush only?

The only benefit to the morning star is the plasma flares, which don't "generally" out-perform HCW.

[hello]

I actually don't think the morning star is even a good comparison vs undead. It has the potential to deal puncture damage, and aren't a lot of undead are resistant to puncture damage? Wouldn't that make the mace even better (in general) since you'll avoid the resistance by being crush only?

The only benefit to the morning star is the plasma flares, which don't "generally" out-perform HCW.

Hm, would depend. Lots of undead are immune to crit killing, I think it would depend how much average damage the HCW will add to each attack.

And, no the perfect DF/AvD increase and the morning's clear superority in terms of the DF table is also a consideration. And not really sure there are a ton of undead that are immune to punctures?

[Menos]

I would bond to the star. The higher damage factor combined with the 1605 multiplier and the forge multiplier is going to be very effective. They all play very nice together, and with the naturally high paladin AS. You can tack paladin flares ontop of that as well. You would be gaining a better chance to hit at the lower end with the enchant, a passable low end damage chance with the flares and significantly more damage and crits on the high end with the better DFs. The mace would have some edge in the middle, but it would be a relatively narrow range.

I would not worry about the damage types . I find puncture resistance is pretty uncommon and only really seen at levels where you have a myriad of other hunting options. I think if you bond to the star and plan to use the mace when it is better... you will soon find you never use the mace.

Joe/Menos

[hello]

I would bond to the star. The higher damage factor combined with the 1605 multiplier and the forge multiplier is going to be very effective. They all play very nice together, and with the naturally high paladin AS. You can tack paladin flares ontop of that as well. You would be gaining a better chance to hit at the lower end with the enchant, a passable low end damage chance with the flares and significantly more damage and crits on the high end with the better DFs. The mace would have some edge in the middle, but it would be a relatively narrow range.

I would not worry about the damage types . I find puncture resistance is pretty uncommon and only really seen at levels where you have a myriad of other hunting options. I think if you bond to the star and plan to use the mace when it is better... you will soon find you never use the mace.

Joe/Menos

Although I respect Maerit's detailed knowledge on most everything, Menos is pretty much the top guru/expert on all things Paladin I would lean toward his advice on this matter.

[Necrodeus]

K guess I'll bond to the mace u til my star is done, gonna try and get it to 7 or 8x