Saint vs Midnight

[Shadow blade]

I'm having trouble deciding which weapon is of better efficiency when it comes to overall gameplay. I'm a lvl 22 cleric and I'm in possession of both the sword of saint admus and midnight, arguably the best weapons for cleric in the game. I was extremely eager to get midnight but when I switched to midnight my dps actually dropped by 0.6, not that it really matter but I excepted it to be better than the sword of admus, also from personal experience there are way fewer enemies with spirit resistance than enemies with death resistance, so in overall saint admus sword just looks more promising.
Now, I know there isn't a clear answer about which weapon is better, since there's no such thing as a better weapon, at the end of the day it all comes down the enemy's resistances in which will determine which weapon will be better suited for the task.
I'd like to hear your opinion about this discussion

 

[stonedwolf]

Overall I take the Paladin's Longsword, even though it does less damage (both directly in terms of brute damage range, and indirectly via a lack of Vicious III, let alone the Paralysis benefit) it does Spirit damage which is more universally applicable than Death damage.

For most of the game and most of the map (there are exceptions, e.g. Trolls) you can equip-&-forget the Paladin's Longsword, Spirit Breaker or Spirit Cleaver. Weapons with Death, Fire or Ice need more management.

EDIT: also be wary of over-relying on DPS. The DPS calculation is based on averages, but it will change depending on the enemy's armour and resistances, plus your own skills e.g. if you have Criticals.

 

[Shadow blade]

Great reply! I applaud your detailed and sincere answer! I'm sure if apocalypse were here he'd manage to take this conversation into a dark, psychotic and unsettling turn, as he usually does lol

 

[Atomos]

IMO Midnight is definitely better. It has few disadvantages, which you can deal with by switching to Justice, and bust those pesky trolls, werewolves, and undead. Midnight can deal with pretty much everything else, penetrates armor well, counters enemy Fury with vicious attribute, and has superior control capabilities. Paladins sword is pretty all rounded, but as the old saying goes: "if it's good for everything, it's not the best at anything."

 

[stonedwolf]

Paladins sword is pretty all rounded, but as the old saying goes: "if it's good for everything, it's not the best at anything."

Spirit Weapons are rounded but shine in some circumstances, e.g. Shadows and Dimensional Parasite.

 

[VDX_360]

Midnight and Paladin's Longsword are a curious pair to compare. Midnight is the far more impressive weapon, but it's death damage can backfire against undead, ghosts etc. In contrast, the Paladin's Longsword is more versatile due to it's spirit damage. Note, neither is viable against Trolls.

There are plenty of dungeons in which the Midnight will serve you exceptionally well.

 

[stonedwolf]

Not that strange really, they are the two strongest pre-Arc Hand weapons for a Cleric.

The next two strongest are Iron Golem Fist (an unreliable drop to put it mildly) and Glacier Stone, neither of which has special attributes.

 

[ajay]

I thought Iron Golem Fist was impossible to get because I didn't see it until SoH on my second playthrough. I am rerunning the game and realized it is farmable much earlier from Wyvern Complex from The Poisoned River quest. Hirge is doing much better now.