Top Offensive Gear Items in the Core Game and Gen 1 Expansions: Part 7 (Patreon)

Hey hey hey.  We're here at part 7 and that means we're getting towards the crème de la crème; most of the stuff you're going to see here is high end and requires planning, work or specific resources.  There are very few early game weapons coming up, these are the big showy pieces that turn survivors into monsters.

Sky Harpoon - Sunstalker

The Sky Harpoon is the first of the Sunstalker weapons in the top part of this list and it's personally my favourite Spear in the entire game right now.  

It is a (2/5+5/Reach 3/Savage) Spear/Thrown weapon with the ability that once per showdown if the monster is within range you can 'skewer' it on a 6+. Dealing an automatic wound (no HL drawn) and pulling it up to 3 spaces closer to you.  

In addition the Sky Harpoon has bonuses on the superb Sky Fishing hunt event (requires the Sky Lure and Hook), improving the quality of the prey you catch and reducing the chances of dying to a bad roll.

It's a potent weapon that is just missing more strength to be top tier (but that is what Cyclopian Armor is for) and could become even more powerful if we get a Thrown Weapon mastery in the future.

Rib Blade - Gorm

The Rib Blade can be gained during the LY1 hunt if you immediately go after a Gorm.  This Grand Weapon boasts the best statline of any early game weapon (1/6+/5/Slow/Deadly) and has a very potent right facing blue affinity, meaning that it combined with Rawhide Armor and a Luck Charm perfectly to create a very efficient and cheap build that will be viable all the way into the best part of the mid game.   If you compare it to the Zanbato it has one less strength and no way to gain devastating, but it isn't frail.  Meaning that in a campaign with The Gorm, there is little reason to craft a Zanbato unless you can calcify it.

Grand Weapons are an amazing weapon type, one of the top two early game offensive weapon types and having access to a Rib Blade this early on means that you can hit the Weapon Specialisation by LY5 and that is an incredible boost in power for a hunt party.

Ink Sword - Sunstalker

More Sunstalker Goodness here with my personal favourite Sword in the game (it's not the best, but it is the most fun), the Ink Sword is a wet dream for any people who like to attack with critical hits, it's a (4/4+/4/Reach 3/Deadly 3) sword with the downside that you can only attack while in Darkness.

In order to create Darkness you require the Sunspot Lantern from the Sunstalker on another survivor, they will cast a single point of darkness in the space behind them (away from the monster) and you can stand in that with the Ink Sword and attack.  The sword's Reach 3 means that this isn't too much of an issue, you can even stand behind a typical Reach 2 spear user and attack.

However the other issue with the Ink Sword is the cost and rarity of the item.  It requires a 3,000 Year Old Sunspot, 4 Hide, a Shadow Ink Gland and an Iron to make..  The Sunspot can only be gained from beating a level 3 Sunstalker, which means that it's not an easy thing to get. 

Once set up however, the Ink Sword is the most powerful crit farming weapon in the game apart from True Blade survivors (who are a nightmare to get).  

Denticle Axe - Sunstalker 

We're still with the Sunstalker again, this time for what I feel is the best axe in the entire game.  In exchange for a 1000 year old sunspot, 1 salt, 1 black lens (Black like a doll's eyes), 1 iron and 1 bone you get a phenomenal offensive weapon.

The Denticle Axe (Denticle means covered in small teeth or teeth like projections, like the skin of a shark) is a (2/6+/5) axe with a Blue(P)/Blue/Red affinity ability that gives the Denticle axe +2 Strength and Devastating 1 on the first wound attempt made.

This weapon is perfect in combination with the Sunstalker's Cyclopian Armor because that armor set is designed for attacking from the blind spot, making the Denticle Axe the perfect rogue weapon for someone who enjoys playing an assassin/backstabbbing style character because the Cyclopian Sleeves give Sharp for "backstabs".

Add onto this the natural bonuses of axe specialisation/mastery (ignore a failed wound attempt once per attack and reroll it/turning wounds on persistent injury locations into critical wounds automatically) and you have a weapon that will carry you all the way into the very late game.

Black Sword - Gorm

Without Sword Mastery the Black Sword is a pretty solid weapon, it's a (3/5+/10) Sword that gives you +1 Survival on a perfect hit, meaning that it hits hard but doesn't really do anything spectacular. 

But in the hands of a Sword Master the Black Sword is the single most powerful weapon in the game.  It becomes a (4/4+/31) weapon (taking into account the bonuses from being a Sword Master).  There is no monster in the game that can withstand attacks from the Black Sword when it's fully unlocked.

There's also one more piece to this puzzle.  The Vagabond Armor set (which I have written about before; see the bottom of this article for links), gives you access to Sword Mastery.  So you have a quick and simple route towards getting an absolutely ridiculously powerful offensive attacker for the mid to late game.  You just need to get the Gormite and a Handed Skull to craft it.

Left to Right: Ink Sword, Rib Blade and Sky Harpoon equipped survivors.

There is just one part left to this list; 5 more pieces of gear to come.  I'd love it if you guys would take a look back through the previous articles and take a stab at which ones you think will turn up in the top 5. 

If someone gets all absolutely right I'll try and come up with some kind of reward for them.

Vagabond Armor Articles: 

https://www.patreon.com/posts/top-10-armor-in-13025161

https://www.patreon.com/posts/vagabond-armor-13519152