Is Crom Faeyr worth it? (spoiler)

[Luther]

I liked having the ogre power gauntlets and frost giant girdle separate so two characters can benefit from high strength. Crom faeyr's 25 st is awesome, but the other abilities don't seem too universally useful. They might be if it took out the larger golems too. So is it really worth it to create Crom faeyr?

[nael]

yes...unequivacably...yes.
especially if you continue on to TOB, where there are more strength enhancing weapons nad girdles

[speedball]

IMO, the hammer is only really useful if you plan to use it when you start a game. If you develop your character or take Korgan or Anomen to use the hammer, then it is worth it. Otherwise, forget about it.

Some people like to use it with Viconia (sp?), but I don't think giving up the other items is worth it in order to give a cleric one really powerful attack a round.

Dual-wielding the hammer seems to be popular on this board, but I don't know much about that. I prefer to have all my characters use missile weapons and/or shields instead of dual-wielding.

[seanthony]

speedball: you are a sniper eh? hehe.. nvm.

anyway, I say it's worth it.. i mean, imagine how many golems you'll be facing.. and when u attack them wif ur normal weapons.. you'll deal only.. er.. 2-3 damage??

[UserUnfriendly]

Also according to various sources crom does a bit of electrical damage as well. thus you have a +5 weapon that also will penetrate stoneskin and electrical damage is rarely saved against...this is not mentioed in the description, but various people have noticed it.

I plan to give to aerie, its funny to watch her say faster than chikitta pastpaws, zooming around in boots of speed, with this great big hammer in her hand.

[spork]

I'd say you shouldn't do it. I've tried it both ways, and found it's better for the party to keep the strength devices. Remember that you have 25str only when the hammer is equipped; when you switch to a hurling weapon you're the same weakling you were before.

The difference between STR 21 and 25 is exactly 4 hp of damage. Just the difference in base damage between the hammer and a sword make up 1 or 2 of these... Now if you consider you are probably more proficient in swords already, you might have an extra 1/2 attack if spend you slots there instead of getting a few in "hammer". Well, an extra 1/2 attack will do a lot more damage than the difference btw. the Crom Fayer and a good sword.

In my first go-round I had Keldorn be my super-armored battle tank with Carsomyr, boots of speed, dexterity bracers, all of the best protection gear, and yes STR 21. He charged into combat alone while everyone else did ranged support. If the enemy was tough enough to actually touch Keldorn, he'd let them chase him while the ranged support did all the killing. This is the best combat strategy I've seen, and there is no place in it for Crom Fayer--in fact, it presupposes you DON'T have it, bacause Keldorn needs that girdle.

[Luther]

I agree. I gave Jaheira the gauntlets and the sling of seeking which turned her into a powerful slinger. She did more damage than a crossbow or even some of my warriors. With a girdle, she's like a bazooka.

[speedball]

Something I didn't consider before is the number of golems in ToB. I haven't played the expansion yet, so I don't know if there are a lot or not.

If that is the case, then Crom Faeyr might be worth it.

[Masteraleph]

TOB Spoiler (Items only)

Just to tell you, even with Crom Fayer assembled, it's entirely possible to have 5 characters with at least 19 strength each in TOB (1 with 25, 2 with 22, 1 with 20,one with 19)
So you can distribute strength pretty well

[UserUnfriendly]

A decent amount in watchers keep, not as much in soa after leaving underdark.

The way I see it, lota good arguments for and against, think of it his way...

3!!!! more str enhancing gear in the game!!!


stone giant belt
fire giant belt and

angudisval the flaming sword.

hill giant str and crom, that makes 5 if you assemble, and 6 if you do not.

I don't know about you, but I don't have 5 warriors in my group, and quite frankly, if I get into a situation where my spell cast heavy group needs to get down and dirty, str spell rocks.

lasts literally for hours.

Besides, If I did not build crom, I'd drop the hammer of t bolts, which is a sucky +3 weapon, and I like impressing cromwell.

[Quitch]

Yes, get it. The damage boost, sure, who cares? However Strength also contributes towards your THACO.

This thing makes you a killing machine. Get it.

[Xyx]

Cleric Holy Symbols add to Strength...

I found Crom good for no-brain bashing. Good THAC0 bonuses, slams through Stoneskins (5 points of lightning damage), does good damage because of the high Strength. Dual wield with Flail of Ages or Belm.

But then again, that was whilst soloing, so Your Mileage May Vary.

[Ned Flanders]

You've also got to consider that a str. of 25 yields +14 on damage. For instance:

dual wield belm and celestial fury with four attacks per round and a girdle of hill giant str. - 19 (+7 on damage)/+28 damage per round

dual wield belm and crom with four attacks per round you'll do an additional 28 points of damage per round, not to mention critical hits will really up the damage.

Just another reason speaking in its favor. It's up to each individual player. It also helps in bashing open stuff.

It also frees up girdle/gauntlet spaces for other items like gauntlets of double super secret weapon specialization or whatever it is called and the legendary hanes girdle.

[Ned Flanders]

You've also got to consider that a str. of 25 yields +14 on damage. For instance:

dual wield belm and celestial fury with four attacks per round and a girdle of hill giant str. - 19 (+7 on damage)/+28 damage per round

dual wield belm and crom with four attacks per round you'll do an additional 28 points of damage per round, not to mention critical hits will really up the damage.

Just another reason speaking in its favor. It's up to each individual player. It also helps in bashing open stuff.

It also frees up girdle/gauntlet spaces for other items like gauntlets of double super secret weapon specialization or whatever it is called and the legendary hanes girdle.

[Ned Flanders]

You've also got to consider that a str. of 25 yields +14 on damage. For instance:

dual wield belm and celestial fury with four attacks per round and a girdle of hill giant str. - 19 (+7 on damage)/+28 damage per round

dual wield belm and crom with four attacks per round you'll do an additional 28 points of damage per round, not to mention critical hits will really up the damage.

Just another reason speaking in its favor. It's up to each individual player. It also helps in bashing open stuff.

It also frees up girdle/gauntlet spaces for other items like gauntlets of double super secret weapon specialization or whatever it is called and the legendary hanes girdle.