Infernal Behemoth Hand2Hand v.s. Weapon

[FelledFlames]

Hello all, I am a fairly new player to the game. I am looking into making the build for my second character, who will be becoming an IB. I was wondering what the trade-offs will end up being in picking the h2h or the weapon tree. What are the two different versions good at?

Thanks much!

[Lady_Slaughter]

Hi,

I play a H2H IB. I think the biggest advantage is gaining pretty powerful innate weapons at T2. Blood claws match swords for damage, and only a few melee weapons (which you may not have much success finding) do more damage than the claws. Unholy damage also bypasses armor. So if you plan on raiding or hunting at all during T2, the claws are definitely an advantage.

Also keep in mind that your melee weapons will degrade with use, whereas an innate weapon won't. That means you either take Hold Bladed Edge or rely on your faction mates to keep it sharp.

Now the T3 Whip of Torment is unholy damage and the Tailwhip isn't, so that would be an advantage. I'm not sure how much of one though, because some angelic types can become immune to it, like conduits and advocates.

Another question is what your plan is with healing. I will say as a fully maxed IB with a small faction, I haven't bothered to heal myself in quite some time. You can get healing from food, and if you max out the additional HP options, then healing yourself just isn't necessary unless you're in active combat. And even then, unless you're very outmatched blood taste will usually do a decent job of keeping you alive. As the breath is getting quieter, active combat is becoming less common as well.

If you're in the right faction, healing can be an effective way to gain XP, so some of the trade-offs depend on your context.

[tremor3258]

Weapon can get an edge thanks to enchantments in total damage; and IBs can use the big weapons like sledgehammers very well. You'll do a bit more damage.

On the other hand-to-hand (sorry) you don't have to worry about maintenance, either from yourself or a faction, and if you take the damage-boost skills, claws remain decent at T3. Really recommend rend flesh and enervate as well for soak-reduction.

[Kharn]

EXCUSE ME I HAPPEN TO BE >>THE<< EXPERT IN INFERNAL BEHEMOTHS IN THIS FORUM (and possibly the world)

tldr melee for big damage with big maintenance, hth if you just want to KILL and worry less about getting someone to repair your toys

The main thing you need to worry about with IBs is the CP cost for all their very important toys. You need an aura to tank (90 cp), you need some bulk to go with that (60/120 cp depending on how hard you want to go), you need at the very least Elite Attack and Infernal Combat (60 cp) and you want wings (30 cp)

That's 240/300 tier 3 cp spent on NEEDS only, leaving you with 170/110 CP (if you levelled properly spending your T1 and T2 CP and got all exploration badges) to spend on something you might want, like bloodlust or the innates (definitely want that if you're hand to hand)

with that explained let's talk about your options

HtH is
+ Cheaper CP-wise
+ Less maintenance than melee
+ Good healing source that doesn't force you to buy an irrelevant skill
- Weaker damage and accuracy than melee (the accuracy part is the big deal)
- No enchants (this is enormous)
-levelling up without boxing in this late game environment is going to make you want to punch your face in, not that you'll do any damage lul
-you need tailwhip. that's non-negotiable, blood claws damage is negligible against anything soakier than a mortal and its accuracy is laughable

on the other hand, Melee is
+ """Loads""" of damage at acceptable accuracy
+ Enchants give you a lot of flexibility if you're a brainy gamer
- Have to rely on a small guy on your faction to keep your shit topped off and enchanted or, and I shudder to think of that option, buy the blacksmithing tree
- Requires more skills like strength and fiendish bulk, aka chitinous armor's tiny ugly brother
- Getting blood taste means you need to get blood claws and that's like haha what are you even doing man
- (+?) your innate weapon sucks. seriously just get an unholy battleaxe and save yourself 60 cp

So basically it boils down to what your setup is, what your goals are and how hard you want to grind. Playing IB is a grinding simulator so don't feel bad about it, it'll get better next breath, here's to hoping.

If you have a faction that is willing to give you twenty different swords and warhammers and chainsaws, all with different flavors of damage, and keeping them all pristine for your leisure then sure, by all means go for it. If you just want to play a feral/are in a small faction then you might want to go HtH

ALSO EXOTIC DAMAGE IS A LIE, ANYTHING WITH EXOTIC DAMAGE CAN BE IMMUNIZED AGAINST WITH ONE SINGLE POTION. DO NOT FALL FOR THE EXOTIC DAMAGE MERCHANT'S LIES

MUNDANE DAMAGE IS KILL ALL HAIL TAILWHIP
_________________
IF WE LOOK AT ROME AND SEE OUR HOME, THE END IS ON ITS WAY

[Dissident]

These guys already told you what you need to know.

I'll just add that you should talk to your faction too. Build Synergy is a big thing in this game. It makes the difference of clearing a faction with 3 dudes and failing a raid with 10.

Example: Check if you have an enchanter. If your faction have none, then, getting enchanted weapon (especially aligned damages) might be harder.