It's because as you score consecutive strikes, it charges up. If you kill a monster when fully charged it increases in power, meaning that it quite quickly outclasses the base damage of other swords even throughout NG+.
Each charge also increases critical hit chance, so when fully charged it is a guaranteed crit. You can take it to the Rune Wright if you want more from it.
At the end of the day, it's just preference. If the Viper Venomous suits your build/play style, that's fine.
Each charge also increases critical hit chance, so when fully charged it is a guaranteed crit. You can take it to the Rune Wright if you want more from it.
At the end of the day, it's just preference. If the Viper Venomous suits your build/play style, that's fine.
It has a limited increase each character level, so it can only get an increase as long as Geralt is still levelling. Technically infinate(?), but not practically.
It's certainly strong, but I'd argue in the way many weapons in Dark Souls remain strong from early game to late game. It still takes skill to employ it well.
Pros:
Basically, it "powers up" based on the number of enemies you kill without taking damage in return. There are 10 "charge" levels, and you receive a +10% bonus to both damage and critical chance for each level. When you get to +100% damage, +100% critical chance, it maintains its charge (and cool glow-y effect) until:
- you suffer damage.
- the charge counts down over time.
- you level up.
You can upgrade it to have 3 rune slots as well, so it can be used to significantly augment other skills.
Cons:
It's a weapon that requires a very particular playstyle from the player. It almost begs the player invest in Quen and keep their passive shield up at all times, spending stamina / adrenaline points on it almost constantly to ensure they have a buffer if they slip up. In order to take full advantage of it, Geralt cannot ever be struck.
That's quite a challenge...especially against multiple opponents, when it's arguable it would be the most useful. So, in situations where the sword would arguably be most beneficial, it also demands more of the player.
I've only used it on one playthrough, but I felt it was not unbalanced at all. Yes, you're a glowing whirlwind of death when at 10/10 charges, but getting there is still challenging. Also, if you're like I am and try to pace fights according to a tempo, so you can be reasonably sure when you're about to get a killing stroke, having the damage constantly shifting around can actually be a bit disorienting.
So no, I would not say that it's overpowered at all in practice. Plus, it's tons of fun to use.
Since most loot you can find will be under your actual level, Aerondight will have almost always better damage if you keep it upgraded. Technically speaking, the only way to find a better weapon than Aerondight is to wait until you reach max level and then pick a leveled loot with better stats.
PS. In NG+ the level cap is 100 and the crafted recipes can have in theory damage corresponding to higher levels (the level of the recipes is increased by your level from your previous game) outdamaging easily Aerondight once you reach max level.
PS. In NG+ the level cap is 100 and the crafted recipes can have in theory damage corresponding to higher levels (the level of the recipes is increased by your level from your previous game) outdamaging easily Aerondight once you reach max level.