Enchanting Sasha's Singing Scimitar

[Natures Bounty]

Hey guys,

I've read several recommendations to enchant the Scimitar with "Refreshing Finale" to get the empower point back plus 3 phrases. But I am not sure why people seem to not choose "Encore" instead.

I am currently running a POTD non-upscaled party with SC Troubadour, Pallegina, Eder, Aloth and Xoti, Lvl 15 atm. I do not really need to empower (mostly Eld Nary) in every single fight, I don't need that in "average" encounters. But I want a good bonus in the tough fights, and it seems like "Encore" would just give me that: does it not allow me to both summon instruments of death plus empowered eld nary right right away, whereas with "Refreshing finale" I would have to wait 12 sec (with BR on) to do the same? The empower point seems kind of useless to me in a game that does not impose any restrictions on the number of rests...

Yet there are many people here who know the game much better than me...so I wonder: am I missing something here?

I should mention that my playstyle is build around controlling, positioning etc. mainly at the start of encounters, quite heavy on micro.

Thx! NB

 

[thelee]

I don't think you're missing anything. I am personally a bigger fan of Encore in my typical chanter setups.

If you're doing a no-rest or Eothas challenge run, Refreshing Finale might be more of a pain.

But personally I find that having to rest every 3 major fights (not counting insignificant fights where I don't empower), or 4 with great soul, is not a big deal at all, even with Rymrgand's challenge enabled (which causes food to decay as time passes). Maybe other people covet specific resting bonuses and don't want to lose them.

[dgray62]

I agree with thelee completely; Encore is clearly the superior upgrade, unless you are doing a no rest run or simply prefer not resting very much. But if you rest regularly to enable more party members to empower abilities aside from the chanter, it is clearly the best option.

[Elric Galad]

Encore is the superior upgrade. Consider that a SC Skald Can spam 4 Eld Narys in a row with it.

Refreshing Finale is simply funnier to use.

[Boeroer]

That toally depends. Refreshing Finale turns the "x per rest times Empower OR refresh resources" into "1 per encounter Empower AND x per rest refresh resources".

Also Refreshing Finale might lead players to actually use Empower frequently instead of saving the use of Empower points for later and then not using any until next rest.

Also the difference in phrases after using Encore or Refr. Finale isn't that blatant for a good part of the game (where you don't have a big max phrase count anyway). Only later in the game (once you get access to invocations with 6 or even 7 phrases it will make a bigger difference).

Because of those points I believe Refreshing Finale is the better enchantment for the majority of players, especially the ones with no or only a little meta-knowledge.  

Edited December 2, 2020 by Boeroer

[Kaylon]

If you want the most powerful MC then you have to do a no rest run in order to keep the one time bonuses as long as possible. Thus Refreshing Finale becomes mandatory because it also allows using items with abilities that trigger on Empower every fight.

[dgray62]

2 hours ago, Boeroer said:

Also Refreshing Finale might lead players to actually use Empower frequently instead of saving the use of Empower points for later and then not using any until next rest.

Very true. Even though Encore is superior, I always upgrade it with Refreshing Finale, as I dislike resting and tend not to empower abilities otherwise. I also like to keep the one time bonuses as long as possible, as Kaylon noted.

[Natures Bounty]

Thank you all for the insights! Really appreciate the discussion.

I decided to roll wit Encore, as it fits better with my playstyle. I simply want to rest from time to time. Maybe it's the false hope that Durance or Grieving Mother pop up and and bring up some weird discussion ;-). Jokes aside, I just don't have the meta knowledge to go for specific bonuses in a no rest run. My party members get injured from time to time, plus I seem to have a good grasp of when to use empower.

But I see the argumentes for Refreshing Finale now and may try it in a future playthrough (with bonus shenanigans).

Edited December 5, 2020 by Natures Bounty