Ras, The Dancing Blade or simply Ras, is an enchanted longsword +2 which can attack on its own for 4 rounds. The weapon has a speed factor of 3, weighs 3 lbs and it offers the wearer a THAC0 bonus of -2 and it deals 1d8+2 slashing damage. This item appears in Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn and Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition. It can be bought in Trademeet after finishing the Dealing with the Trademeet genies quest.
Description[]
| “ | Beroalf was a barbarian who traveled from the cold north in search of adventure. He sought treasures and glory, but soon all he wanted were companions to share in the excitement of battle, much like those he had left behind in his faraway village. Unfortunately, his coarse remarks and rudimentary hygiene repelled most travelers he met, until he expressed his thoughts to a sympathetic mage. The mage, for a price, constructed Ras, the dancing blade. Though not quite what Beroalf had in mind, he was thrilled nonetheless, and wielded the sword for many years. How they were ultimately separated is not known. | ” |
Gameplay[]
- Ras has a "Sword Dance" ability. This is an item ability which means it can be used as long as Ras is equipped even if another weapon is currently held.
- Using "Sword Dance" will summon Ras in the form of a flying sword for four rounds, very much like the Mordenkainen's Sword spell.
- Using the ability unequips Ras so you cannot use both the Sword Dance and the weapon itself. When the duration of Sword Dance ends Ras will be returned to your inventory, not to the weapon slot.
- You can summon Ras once per rest. As a summon, Ras cannot explore the fog of war, open doors or containers or pick up items.
As a creature Ras is similar to the Mordenkainen's Sword. Notable differences are: slightly worse ThAC0 (12 vs 10), a lot less damage (Ras wields "itself" so its enchantment is +2 and damage 1d8+2) and no it has no Greenstone Amulet.
On the plus side, unlike Mordenkainen's Sword, Ras has 100% resistance to magic and is equipped with MINHP1.ITM which means that it is immune to just about every status effect in the game {despite lacking the Greenstone Amulet) and the only way to destroy it is either Death Spell or stat drain - the latter only in vanilla BG2 as MINHP1.ITM prevents death from stat drain in Enhanced Edition. In fact, the only damage that can affect Ras, is Magical Energy (like a Magic Missile or The Victor produces), and even if it is damaged by magical energy, the MINHP1.ITM will save it from destruction from that damage.