vs. vs.

First let me just say that in my honest opinions the .357 Magnum is one of the best, most devastating weapons in the game. Why, you ask? First let me number my choices: My first choice would obviouly be .357 Magnum. My second choice would be the .45 Automatic and my third choce would be Carbine Rifle which falls way left behind the other two weapons in terms of power level. Now let me explain: The weapons that exhaust and give a one-time bonus to a single combat checks are nice and all, but it happened to me way too many times that I couldn't get kill the target in one roll even with the almighty Brazier of Souls. That is way, in my opinion, the .357 Magnum is the best single-handed weapon in the game. 1$ when you need to refresh it isn't all that much if you ask me and it worth the +1 over the .45 Automatic. It might be overpriced a little, but for a **** good reason.

Older Great Debates:

The Great Debate #4: Fetch Stick vs. Brazier of Souls/Flamethrower vs. Elephant Gun

The Great Debate #3: Ally vs. Skill

The Great Debate #2: Dread Curse of Azathoth vs. Spectral Razor

The Great Debate #1: Shotgun vs. Tommy Gun

As you might guess from my spell thread, I would always take the .45 instead. The extra die is nothing, and the requirement to exhaust a weapon is a major drawback. Physical weapons are awesome because they don't exhaust, don't cost anything to use, and can be used to kill multiple monsters in one turn. Weapons that exhaust, have a cost to refresh, and so forth are losing these advantages for one extra die? No thanks!

Most monsters can be killed with just the +4 bonus of the .45. If it's a stronger monster, you'll need another hand worth of weapon, not just a +5 bonus.

Not to mention the $8 cost instead of $5. Plus another $1 per turn? Yikes.

I concur. The .45 doesn't have an upkeep cost, is cheaper to obtain, and the +1 bonus isn't worth the extra $3. I wouldn't complain if I got the .357, but if I had to choose the .45 would win out just about every time. I've played far too many games where I have run out of money, and wouldn't want to have to figure out a way to get my $1 to refesh the gun.

If Jenny Barnes is in the game .357 Magnum, otherwise .45.

For the price, I'd take a Carbine Rifle. The .45 is very good, but the carbine is slightly superior in the majority of circumstances. Heck, it rounds off to +3 dice against Physical Resistance, making it the equal of Wither without requiring a spell check. I would say that overall, the .45 and the Carbine are pretty equal when you factor in how awesome the .45 is against groups of enemies. The fact that the Carbine costs less money is what puts it over the top as the best draw in the common item deck while shopping.

The .357 is easily the worst of the three. I'd rather get either of the other two on a free random draw. When it comes to shopping, the .357 is worth only a laugh.

-Frank

Frank said:

Mmmm... Agreed. I think one round combat is more typical, and I prefer to maximize my odds of not having any failures (the best way to do this is having a max number of dice). Also, I agree with the point on resistances and cost, and of course the counterbalance. I typically go for powerful items and characters. A Carbine Rifle contributes to a stronger character than a .45. But in reality this question is typically moot as I'll usually get them both whenever I can ;') and give them to the same player.

The .357 Magnum suffers from the same problem as the Carbine Rifle, IMO: You can't kill more than one monster a turn with it. Sometimes that isn't a problem, but sometimes it is. I wouldn't say that the ability of the .357 to keep adding combat dice if you boop up the first roll is worth its price being doubled over the carbine rifle. Still, I'd probably take the .45 Automatic over either of them.

Its gotta be the .45 for me, same reasons as have been said.

Nothing swats critters dead than Harvey Walters packing two .45s.. Except perhaps Harvey Walters with two Shriveling spells blazing.

Daisy with two Shrivellings does not take any sanity damage. And she may choose to obtain a Shrivelling right off the bat if she desires.

Not that this is a good thing

Guess I'm alone here

Well, now you know that almost no one here wants to spend money to reuse a weapon, and everyone uses Focus regularly.

It’s simply my experience that far too often characters must deal with multiple creatures on the same space. Weapons that can only be used once a turn put their users at a huge disadvantage, particularly as street sweepers.

.45 all the way for reasons already given. Multiple monsters have been a real issue for us on numerous occasions and the .45 is one of the most effective ways of dealing with this. Any weapon that costs money to refresh is a pain in the a** as far as I'm concerned and one-shot weapons can leave you high and dry at the most inopportune moments.

Confused.

Regarding the Magnum, I assumed that because the text on the card reads 'Upkeep: .357 Magnum does not refresh unless you spend 1$', that it could only be refreshed during the Upkeep Phase, otherwise why doesn't it read read 'Any Phase'. Am I missing something? I assume that I am otherwise it would clearly be an overpriced drain on resources compared to the carbine rifle.

Forgive me this digression but it reminds me of Find Gate which has 'Movement:' on the card. Now I always play this that you have to be in the actual movement phase to cast, so the turn AFTER you first enter an other world. Am I wrong and if not why doesn't my reasoning hold true for the Magnum?

Sulphurea, you're correct on both points.

The only advantage the Magnum has over the Carabine Rifle is that it works for a whole combat (which might consist of several combat checks) and not just a single one.

Ah it all becomes clear! End of combat v combat check.

Thanks Crimson.

I'll take the fourty-five. Paying to upkeep a weapon has a knack of finding you with $0 at exactly the wrong upkeep. One less thing to keep track of.

Got to agree with the majority here, I think... mainly because after the initial expense, the upkeep cost of the .357 is just a slap in the face. As a beginning-of-game draw, however, I'd be happier to have the Magnum. In my experience, it's rare for investigators to use a turn simply to get money - so your starting funds are about all you're ever going to get. And that's okay - there are more important resources. What I'm trying to say is that if you draw a .357 and say "Well, I guess my initial $X are going to the use of this weapon," I'm not going to say "But that's such a huge waste!" I feel that the most important use of money is to gain combat power - to get a weapon (for investigators who start with none). If you start with something like the Magnum, then I think it's a legitimate use of your money.

EDIT: Plus, having played Half-Life 2, the thematic feel of the Magnum is just awesome