Brilliant Energy weapons can bypass shields too?

[Ruvion]

It says in its description that it bypasses all armor bonuses...as of 3.5e shields now have shield bonus to AC as opposed to armor bonus to AC that it had back in 3.0e. Do you think it is an oversight on the part of 3.5e designers or is it strictly designed to negate only body armor and not shields?

 

[hong]

Sounds like an oversight. Brilliant energy is supposed to ignore all nonliving matter, and that should include shields.

Now, should brilliant energy also ignore _force_ effects (mage armour spell, shield spell, bracers of armour), I'm wondering....

 

[Stalker0]

Sounds like an oversight. Brilliant energy is supposed to ignore all nonliving matter, and that should include shields.

Now, should brilliant energy also ignore _force_ effects (mage armour spell, shield spell, bracers of armour), I'm wondering....

It dang well better, how else do I bypass my player's +60 epic mage armor

 

[Hypersmurf]

It dang well better, how else do I bypass my player's +60 epic mage armor

With touch attacks, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry...

-Hyp.

 

[Ruvion]

It would be dang cool if brilliant energy weapons could ignore force effects...but would that not give it the ability to also shear through wall of force and other such force protected areas? As a DM i would only allow the brilliant energy to ignore armor & shield bonuses (but not epically enhanced armor and shield...but that is a house rule matter).

Sounds like an oversight. Brilliant energy is supposed to ignore all nonliving matter, and that should include shields.

Now, should brilliant energy also ignore _force_ effects (mage armour spell, shield spell, bracers of armour), I'm wondering....

 

[Schmoe]

It would be dang cool if brilliant energy weapons could ignore force effects...but would that not give it the ability to also shear through wall of force and other such force protected areas? As a DM i would only allow the brilliant energy to ignore armor & shield bonuses (but not epically enhanced armor and shield...but that is a house rule matter).

Brilliant energy doesn't "shear through" anything except flesh. It *ignores* non-living material. So if you swing your brilliant energy sword at a wall of force, it will pass through it as if it wasn't there. But the wall of force remains there, unharmed.

I'm not sure that it's specified one way or another, but my gut feeling is that a wall of force (and thus, other force effects), would affect brilliant energy weapons just as they do any other weapons.

 

[Saeviomagy]

Brilliant energy doesn't "shear through" anything except flesh. It *ignores* non-living material. So if you swing your brilliant energy sword at a wall of force, it will pass through it as if it wasn't there. But the wall of force remains there, unharmed.

I'm not sure that it's specified one way or another, but my gut feeling is that a wall of force (and thus, other force effects), would affect brilliant energy weapons just as they do any other weapons.

If force effects are ignored by BEW's, then you can make a real mess with telekinetic sphere and a BEW...

So IMHO, force effects block BEW's.