History AwesomeButImpractical / WesternRPG

** Backstabbing. Sure its impressive to hit for triple digit damage and gib enemies doing it, but it takes a lot of faffing around with limited use invisibility items/spells or running completely out of enemy sightlines to Hide in Shadows, plus thieves' mediocre [=THAC0=] ensures you'll often miss anyway. Not to mention basically everything you'd want to backstab - you know, powerful critters like dragons, demons, most mages and basically every boss - are immune to backstabs and/or see right through invisibility anyway, even with Non-Detection active. Best to focus on the more important thieving skills (Find Traps , Open Locks and maybe Detect Illusion) in a multi/dual class setup and support in combat with much more reliable weapons (fighter/thief) or spells (mage/thief).
*** Ironically the best option for a backstabbing class isn't a Thief at all, but rather the Stalker Ranger kit. Better [=THAC0=] and weapon proficiencies overall, plus they don't have to worry about managing their Thief skill points for other things since they only have Hide in Shadows/Move Silently. They can also dual to a Cleric to get the benefits of that class, though that limits them to Quarterstaves and Clubs for backstabbing (and the best backstabby weapon is a staff, so that works out well). The Shadowdancer kit in Enhanced Edition can also Hide without having to be out of sight at the cost of a lower damage multiplier and only a slight hit to spendable points (20 points per level vs 25); plus they can still Dual to bolster their strengths.

*** Ironically the best option for a backstabbing class isn't a Thief at all, but rather the Stalker Ranger kit. Better [=THAC0=], they can dual-wield and they have some solid fighting skills as a backup, plus they don't have to worry about managing their Thief skill points for other things since they only have Hide in Shadows/Move Silently. They can also dual to a Cleric to get the benefits of that class, though that limits them to Quarterstaves and Clubs for backstabbing (and the best backstabby weapon is a staff, so that works out). The Shadowdancer kit in Enhanced Edition can also Hide without having to be out of sight at the cost of a lower damage multiplier and only a slight hit to spendable points; plus they can still Dual to bolster their strengths.

** Backstabbing. Sure its impressive to hit for triple digit damage and gib enemies doing it, but it takes a lot of faffing around with limited use invisibility items/spells or running completely out of enemy sightlines to Hide in Shadows, plus thieves' mediocre THAC0 ensures you'll often miss anyway. Not to mention basically everything you'd want to backstab - you know, powerful critters like dragons, demons, most mages and basically every boss - are immune to backstabs and/or see right through invisibility anyway, even with Non-Detection active. Best to focus on the more important thieving skills (Find Traps , Open Locks and maybe Detect Illusion) in a multi/dual class setup and support in combat with much more reliable weapons (fighter/thief) or spells (mage/thief).

** In an in-universe example from the series' backstory, Wulfharth Ash-King, the ancient King of the Nords who [[EternalHero has died and come back to life]] at least three times, was a Dragonborn with a monstrously powerful [[MakeMeWannaShout Thu'um]]. It was so powerful that he couldn't be sworn into office as High King of Skyrim verbally. Scribes had to draw up his oaths as a result.

*** The Scoped .44 Magnum breaks down too quickly and its ammo is relatively rare, and the gun itself is difficult to find and is almost always in poor condition when found or purchased. This means you need to find several so you can repair them into a single pristine gun which starts deteriorating rapidly with every shot anyway. It's unique variants (Blackhawk and Callahan's Magnum) pack even more of a punch but degrade even faster. A better use for that .44 ammo is Lincoln's Repeater, a unique Hunting Rifle that can be repaired with its common variants.

** The PC character can acquire immunity from normal weapons, which sounds great... but you get at the very end of the game. The FinalBoss is an EvilSorcerer and doesn't even use any weapon. Same thing for the demons he summons which fight with magic and their claws. When you take your character to ''VideoGame/BaldursGateIIThroneOfBhaal'', ''everyone'' is using magical weapons, making this perk [[PowerupLetdown completely useless]].

** The Amazon's Impale skill is this. It's the most powerful physical attack of her arsenal. At maximum rank, it delivers a whooping +770% physical damage and spears are already very high damage weapons. However, it's painfully slow as Hell and can only affect ''one'' monster at a time. Adding to this, there's a good chance that the weapon will reach zero durability, breaking it entirely unless it's indestructible. And last but not the least, it doesn't receive any synergies from other skills. Fortunately, ''[[UpdatedReRelease Diablo II: Ressurected]]'' made it a little more usable, by adding a slow effect on hit and making the attack uninterrupted.

* ''VideoGame/UltimaVII'' and its sequel [[VideoGame/UltimaVIIPartII Serpent Isle]] have the Firedoom Staff, which sends out explosive orbs of doom at whatever ou target. They have a significant amount of splash range, though, so giving one to your party will usually result in them being reduced to cinders in a matter of seconds once a fight starts. Your allies also tend to shoot each other (and you) in the back with bows and crossbows unless you enchant all their arrows/bolts to always hit their intended target.

* ''VideoGame/UltimaVII'' and its sequel ''VideoGame/UltimaVIIPartII SerpentIsle'' have the Firedoom Staff, which sends out explosive orbs of doom at whatever ou target. They have a significant amount of splash range, though, so giving one to your party will usually result in them being reduced to cinders in a matter of seconds once a fight starts. Your allies also tend to shoot each other (and you) in the back with bows and crossbows unless you enchant all their arrows/bolts to always hit their intended target.

* ''VideoGame/UltimaVII'' and its sequel ''VideoGame/SerpentIsle'' have the Firedoom Staff, which sends out explosive orbs of doom at whatever ou target. They have a significant amount of splash range, though, so giving one to your party will usually result in them being reduced to cinders in a matter of seconds once a fight starts. Your allies also tend to shoot each other (and you) in the back with bows and crossbows unless you enchant all their arrows/bolts to always hit their intended target.

*** Fallout 3's Sniper Rifle falls under this umbrella too -- fantastic range, power, accuracy and a high crit multiplier at the cost of having a rare ammo type and degrading extremely fast. It's second to none for picking off distant enemies, but it's a very costly investment if you want to snipe with any degree of regularity. (Its two unique variants -- Victory Rifle and Reservist's Rifle -- aren't much better than the base model either.) Most players opt to use a Hunting Rifle instead, which has much more common ammo, is far easier to repair and degrades much more slowly (and has two quite good unique variants in Ol' Painless and Lincoln's Repeater, though the latter uses relatively scarce .44 ammo).

*** Fallout 3's Sniper Rifle falls under this umbrella too -- fantastic range, power, accuracy and a high CRIT multiplier at the cost of having a rare ammo type and degrading extremely fast. It's second to none for picking off distant enemies, but it's a very costly investment if you want to snipe with any degree of regularity. (Its two unique variants -- Victory Rifle and Reservist's Rifle -- aren't much better than the base model either.) Most players opt to use a Hunting Rifle instead, which has much more common ammo, is far easier to repair and degrades much more slowly (and has two quite good unique variants in Ol' Painless and Lincoln's Repeater, though the latter uses relatively scarce .44 ammo).

*** The Scoped .44 Magnum breaks down too quickly and its ammo is relatively rare, and the gun itself is difficult to find and is almost always in poor condition when found or purchased. This means you need to find several so you can repair them into a single pristine gun which starts deteriorating rapidly with every shot anyway. It's unique variants (Blackhawk and Callahan's Magnum) pack even more of a punch but degrade even faster. A better use for that .44 ammo is Lincoln's Repeater, a unique Hunting Rifle variant that can be repaired with its common variants.
*** Fallout 3's Sniper Rifle falls under this umbrella too -- fantastic range, power and accuracy at the cost of having a rare ammo type and degrading extremely fast. It's second to none for picking off distant enemies, but it's a very costly investment if you want to snipe with any degree of regularity. (Its two unique variants -- Victory Rifle and Reservist's Rifle -- aren't much better than the base model either.) Most players opt to use a Hunting Rifle instead, which has much more common ammo, is far easier to repair and degrades much more slowly (and has two quite good unique variants in Ol' Painless and Lincoln's Repeater, though the latter uses relatively scarce .44 ammo).

** Wild Mages also have a special spell, the Nahal's Reckless Dweomer, that allows them to cast literally ''any'' spell they know, instantaneously, [[MyRulesAreNotYourRules without having to have it memorized or even being at the level required to cast it]]; this allows them to be some of the most versatile spellcasters in the game, and potentially the most powerful. The downside is, the spell required to do so is pretty volatile and has only a ''one-in-a-hundred'' chance of being cast correctly, much much less than regular spells, with a variety of effects if you don't; some are harmless, some are beneficial, but if you [[LuckBasedMission get particularly unlucky]] with the die roll you can end turning yourself to stone.
** Moreso if you use a mod to play wild mages in the first game, before the Enhanced Edition; higher-level Wild Mages have methods improve their chances of successfully casting an unmemorized spell or making it more powerful. Low-level ones don't. So while you ''could'' try to [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill cast Cloudkill at level one]], it would most likely backfire and kill ''you''.

** Wild Mages have a spell that allows them to cast literally ''any'' spell they know, instantaneously, [[MyRulesAreNotYourRules without having to have it memorized or even being at the level required to cast it]]; this allows them to be some of the most versatile spellcasters in the game, and potentially the most powerful. The downside is, the spell required to do so is pretty volatile and has only a ''one-in-a-hundred'' chance of casting the spell correctly, with a variety of effects if you don't; some are harmless, some are beneficial, but if you [[LuckBasedMission get particularly unlucky]] with the die roll you can end up summoning a pit fiend or turning yourself to stone. Moreso if you use a mod to play them in the first game; higher-level Wild Mages have methods improve their chances of successfully casting an unmemorized spell or making it more powerful. Low-level ones don't. So while you ''could'' try to [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill cast Cloudkill at level one]], it would most likely backfire and kill ''you''.
** Wild Mages in general. The increased versatility of wild mages is generally offset by the fact that their spells can go wrong to various degrees. You might accidentally end up changing your character's colors instead of casting Magic Missile. Or you might summon a bunch of squirrels instead of dropping a fireball. That Lightning Bolt spell might be cast with an effective level that's three levels higher than your wild mage, doing more damage, or three levels ''lower'', doing less damage. Or, if you're really, ''really'' unlucky, [[https://youtu.be/tglcxuqfgLI?list=PLtTEtQRfZ0Vh_L1AZEsalXozCeWRsgmxq&t=2010 you can try to cast the Mage Armor spell, critically fail and cast a Gate spell, which summons a high level demon that will then kill your level 4 party that doesn't have protection from evil.]]

** The PC character can acquire immunity from normal weapons...which you get at the very end of the game. The FinalBoss is an EvilSorcerer and doesn't even use any weapon. Same thing for the demons he summons which fight with magic and their claws. When you take your character to ''VideoGame/BaldursGateIIThroneOfBhaal'', ''everyone'' is using magical weapons, making this perk completely useless.

*** The Scoped .44 Magnum breaks down too quickly and its ammo is relatively rare, and the gun itself is difficult to find and is almost always in poor condition when found or purchased. This means you need to find several so you can repair them into a single pristine gun which starts deteriorating rapidly with every shot anyway. A better use for that .44 ammo is Lincoln's Repeater, a unique Hunting Rifle variant that can be repaired with its common variants.
*** Fallout 3's Sniper Rifle falls under this umbrella too -- fantastic range, power and accuracy at the cost of having a rare ammo type and degrading extremely fast. It's second to none for picking off distant enemies, but it's a very costly investment if you want to snipe with any degree of regularity. (Its two unique variants -- Victory Rifle and Reservist's Rifle -- aren't much better either.) Most players opt to use a Hunting Rifle instead, which has much more common ammo, is far easier to repair and degrades much more slowly (and has two quite good unique variants in Ol' Painless and Lincoln's Repeater, though the latter uses relatively scarce .44 ammo).

** The Amazon's Impale skill is this. It's ''the most powerful physical attack'' of all the classes. At maximum rank, it delivers a whooping +770% physical damage and spears are already very high damage weapons. However, it's painfully slow as Hell and can only affect ''one'' monster at a time. Adding to this, there's a good chance that the weapon will reach zero durability, breaking it entirely unless it's indestructible. And last but not the least, it doesn't receive any synergies from other skills. Fortunately, ''[[UpdatedReRelease Diablo II: Ressurected]]'' made it a little more usable, by adding a slow effect on hit and making the attack uninterrupted.

** The Amazon's Impale skill is this. It's ''the most powerful physical attack'' of all the classes. At maximum rank, it delivers a whooping +770% physical damage and spears are already very high damage weapons. However, it's painfully slow as Hell and can only affect ''one'' monster at a time. Adding to this, there's a good chance that the weapon will reach zero durability, breaking it entirely unless it's indestructible. And last but not the least, it doesn't any receive to synergies from other skills. Fortunately, ''[[UpdatedReRelease Diablo II: Ressurected]]'' made it a little more usable, by adding a slow effect on hit and making the attack uninterrupted.

** The Amazon's Impale skill is this. It's ''the most powerful physical attack'' of all the classes. At maximum rank, it delivers a whooping 770% physical damage and spears are very high damage weapons. However, it's painfully slow as Hell and can only affect ''one'' monster at a time. Adding to this, there's a good chance that the weapon will reach zero durability, breaking it entirely unless it's indestructible. And last but not the least, it doesn't any receive to synergies from other skills. Fortunately, ''[[UpdatedReRelease Diablo II: Ressurected]]'' made it a little more usable, by adding a slow effect on hit and making the attack uninterrupted.

** The PC character can get immunity from normal weapons...which you get by the end of the game. Once you take your character in ''VideoGame/BaldursGateIIThroneOfBhaal'', ''everyone'' is using magic weapons, making this perk completely useless.

* In ''Undertale'', [[spoiler:during the Genocide Route,]] Mettaton [[spoiler:debuts [[RevelingInTheNewForm a new body called Mettaton NEO, which supposedly has advanced human-eradicating features.]] In reality, the body does nothing and can be killed by a single hit from the protagonist.]]

* In VideoGame/{{STALKER}}, pretty much any explosive weapon besides hand grenades. In the first two games, rifle-launched grenades are hard to come by and typically limited in use without farming them from a specific faction, often have a pretty pathetic blast radius, and the launchers themselves are also often hard to find [[GuideDangIt unless you know specifically where to find them.]] The RG-6 Bulldog revolver grenade launcher is definitely this -- it's damn heavy, you can't sprint with it out, it takes forever to reload, but you can launch six grenades at something within a matter of seconds, so if you decide to raid the Freedom base on your way north you can get one and a load of grenades for it, and it's hilariously effective inside the CNPP where the grenades are incredibly dangerous to Monolith troops, and once you run out you can just drop it. The RPG is even more into this trope, as one rocket from it can kill virtually anything you come across, but in the first game you're only guaranteed to find one or two rockets in the entire game, and it's even heavier than the RG-6. In the third game, they edge more towards DifficultButAwesome, as some traders will stock the weapons and grenades after a certain point, and you can upgrade your carrying capacity more easily.