Staff Sling skill

General Information

Historically staff slings were constructed much like large, standard slings affixed to long poles. Traditional sling ammuntion was mostly relegated to small rocks and darts, or anything that could easily fit into the palm of a hand. The addition of a pole allowed the sling to be loaded with much larger ammunition while maintaining destructive force. Within Dragonrealms there are two categories of sling weapons: slings and staff slings.

Staff slings are several times heavier than standard slings, usually weighing in at 50-60 stones. This makes them among the heaviest of ranged weapons along with arbalest-type crossbows. Additionally, the damage potential for staff slings is considerably lower than any bow or crossbow-type weapon. Thus, many players consider staff slings to be a black sheep among the weapon classes.

Some players questioned the value of staff slings when the damage model was exactly the same for normal slings, which weigh a mere five stones (as compared to 50 stones). Thankfully, GM Ssra gave staff slings the ability to parry blows, making them the only pure ranged weapons capable of deflecting melee attacks (thrown weapons double as melee weapons). This gives them, at the very least, an interesting niche to fill. However, there have never been any powerful Festival staff slings, and player-made slings are only marginally better than standard store-bought slings, so sling weapons continue to be largely neglected by players.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Advantages

• Capable of parrying melee weapons
• Able to use in conjunction with shields without any penalty or skill requirement

Disadvantages

• Mediocre attack power compared to other weapon types
• Lack of powerful player-made or Festival weapons
• Lack of powerful ammunition
• Considerably heavier than standard slings
• Unable to fit in most belt-worn sheaths. Barring rare containers, they must be worn on shoulder.

Guild-Specific Abilities

None.

Recommended Weapons

• Switching to longbow.