So... Vicious Trident +3

[Narkon27]

Is it worth keeping? Merisiel was too happy to pass this on Valeros after she opened a chest and found many goodies (including a Deathbane Crossbow - Woo–hoo). The 1 unpreventable damage hurts, but I consider replacing a regular Bastard Sword I have on Valeros with this one, and considering he usually has 2+ weapons on him at any time (hand size of 6), I can choose to use something else if I want to avoid the discard. That is until a villain or a tough henchman appears. I will probably keep it for now and see how the next game goes.

[Nightfind]

Just my preference, but I don't use this weapon.

My Melee combat fighters generally have a smaller hand size and generally don't have a lot of healing options. Having to discard a card after using the weapon gives my smaller hand size less options if I want to explore again.  Another reason is as you go from Adventure Deck 3 and higher, you come up against a lot of things that do damage before or after you act - not using this weapon keeps the character healthier longer.

 

 

Nightfind

[elcoderdude]

I would only use a vicious weapon if the character has a way of preventing the damage. I've never carried one in my deck.

[Borissimo]

I would only use a vicious weapon if the character has a way of preventing the damage. I've never carried one in my deck.

 

Alas, the card states that the force damage cannot be prevented, so I'm afraid you're in for a rude surprise following this tactic.

 

In a live game, I tried keeping this card for Ezren. I figured Ezren didn't want to keep the weapon in his hand anyway and 2d8 + 6 is way better than what most backup weapons can provide. And even then ... I never wanted to discard a card to use it. And when i did need to use the weapon (because I lacked a combat spell), I felt awful needing to discard a card. In the end, I realized I had made a huge mistake.

 

My verdict: the card is a trap. Ditch it!

[Namyra]

I agree, this card is a trap. It generally costs you two cards for a slightly better combat check than most other melee weapons, which cost you zero cards. Keep in mind you not only have to discard a card to use it at all, you also take 1 unpreventable damage afterwards. And 1d8+3 isn't that much better than, say, a Longsword +2 at 1d8+2. The discard effect for another 1d8+3 is pretty strong, but three cards (unless the card you discarded to use the Vicious Trident and the trident itself were your last two cards) for 2d8+6 are still a steep cost.

[Narkon27]

Yeah, I played a few games with it because, as I said, I had a Bastard sword which didn't have the magic trait, but I didn't like the weapon. Discarding an extra cards if a big hit, even to a 6-card hand Valeros. It did however give me a win against the stone giant villain in 3-5. It was epic. Rolled 7 dice, got 4 aces, but still won thanks to the trident. Despite the help though I will replace it as soon as I find something better.

Edited May 30, 2016 by Narkon27

[Longshot11]

I believe the single purpose of this weapon is to be used by a solo Ezren against the AD5 boss.

[trashcondor]

I'm not an expert on PACG by a long shot; but with cards such as the Vicious Trident one should also consider that there may be existing (or future!) card interactions that can actually make the drawback a desirable feature. In Magic: The Gathering it is quite common to find a card that is weak in most context - but can be extremely potent when the right card interaction comes along.

 

Something like:

 

"When Hero is dealt damage recharge a random card from your discard pile."

 

or

 

"Whenever Hero is dealt force damage, add 1d8 to all checks until end of turn."

 

So even if no positive interaction exists yet, that doesn't preclude favorable interactions existing in the future.