S-Rank weapons: potentially impractical?

[FluffyWarlock]

Okay, let's put it in perspective:

• Hakagure: S-Rank katana, halves strength after the battle
• Suisha: S-Rank naginata, same thing
• Aurgelmir: S-Rank axe, see Hakagure
• Oboro: S-Rank shuriken, -5 Defense and Resistance, +5 to the enemy's ability to double
• Zanshin: S-Rank yumi, -5 defense, -3 resistance, +5 to the enemy's ability to double
• Excalibur: S-Rank tome, see Oboro

Is it me, or is there just no incentive to use the S-Rank stuff in this game?

[Azz]

It depends. While their debuffs are immense, they are extremely powerful and more often then not, guarantee a kill. If you are unsure about killing a boss, they will certainly help.

[Time the Crestfallen]

+7 forges are easily better if you can get them, but otherwise the S-Rank weapons have their uses. Hagakure gives +20 Avoid for example.

EDIT: Suisha has +20 crit evade as well as +5 def and res and Hagakure gives +20 avoid, which are pretty good incentives. Generally, I don't think they're meant to be your 'main' weapon, but rather something you break out against a particularly tough enemy.

Edited February 18, 2016 by Phillius

[astrophys]

To my understanding, the STR halving doesn't stack.

Also, in some cases, if you're using a good hybrid character in the class, you can circumvent this somewhat… you can alternate between S-rank and magic weapons….

[CocoaGalaxy]

Suisha is fairly nice defensively, it might not be a god, but it does it's job well .Hagakure revolves around dodging, which depends on the player and circumstances. The other four are straight up just about smashing the enemy into oblivion. Oboro/Chakram has some pretty nice debuffs that said

Somewhat off topic, but I kind of preferred the original names. Oh well

Edited February 18, 2016 by CocoaGalaxy

[Ownagepuffs]

The S rank Lance/Axe/Sword are good for making things explode. Even with the half strength penalty, I've found that really high strength units with appropriate boosts still do respectable damage since the Mt of the weapons is so high. Have availability issues though. Will most likely just be used to fight last bosses or be sold for 5k.

S rank Bow is absolutely ridiculous. 22 Mt, no Penalty except for a def/res reduction (but archers tend to avoid counters anyway), and swallow strike effect makes it ideal for slower units. Basically, it has Takumi's name all over it. Too bad it's not around long and you need to give your bowman of choice 2 Arms scrolls since S rank bows isn't happening.

S rank Shuriken is also nice. High mt for its weapon type and swallow strike effect. Strong debuffs. Saizo is the only ninja with the bulk to take the Def/Res penalty and swallow strike effect works great on him. As usual availability issues.

S rank tome is pretty ridiculous. 25 crit, 12 Mt hitting res (for reference, Leo's prf is 10 Mt), def/res penalty isn't too nice on mages. Swallow strike effect is great. Only problem is that anyone who is a Dark Mage would rather be a Dark Knight.

[Shadow Mir]

As far as I'm concerned, I look at the S rank weapons, and see dollar signs instead.

[Aidil]

I'll vouch for Excalibur and say I really like it over other tomes. 12 Might is not too bad, and it has great accuracy for a tome as well as 25 base crit. On top of that, it is the only wind magic in the game, which also means it's effective on flying units. I use this on a Witch Ophelia and when she attacks she is usually around 70%+ crit rate and at around 62 base attack before res reductions, and 90-100% accuracy. Of course, this makes her a glass cannon but she will easily one shot most things in the game, and she is a huge help with killing other things by having her as the support unit for attack stance, since she'll still have that 70%+ crit.

[sirmola]

I heard that the attack halving only lasts one battle and is only applied if it has not already been applied that battle, which means that it alternates between being on and off.

[FEF]

I heard that the attack halving only lasts one battle and is only applied if it has not already been applied that battle, which means that it alternates between being on and off.

Correct. And unlike Silver weapons and similar debuffs, the attack-halving effect (also seen with the mighty bow and other mighty weapons), applies during attack stance, too. Which means that you can use any attack-halving weapon, get the debuff, and then just pitch in with an attack stance backup-hit for somebody else and you're good as new. This also means that you can accidentally debuff yourself through attack stance too, but that's generally less of a problem.

[Tooru]

Correct. And unlike Silver weapons and similar debuffs, the attack-halving effect (also seen with the mighty bow and other mighty weapons), applies during attack stance, too. Which means that you can use any attack-halving weapon, get the debuff, and then just pitch in with an attack stance backup-hit for somebody else and you're good as new. This also means that you can accidentally debuff yourself through attack stance too, but that's generally less of a problem.

If somebody attacks with his puppet in Attacks Stance, will his Mag or Str be halved?

Edited February 19, 2016 by Tooru