Guide:Early Silver Sword

Legendary githyanki warrior Kith'rak Voss is equipped with the Silver Sword of the Astral Plane when initially encountered at the Mountain Pass in Act One. Though he cannot be damaged by any means during this scene in the game, it is still possible for enterprising players to steal his prized silver sword, obtaining one of the strongest weapons in the game (and arguably the strongest for any gith character) before even finishing the first act.

This guide will assume the party has a minimum level of 5.

The Challenge

The primary obstacles to stealing the silver sword are Kith'rak Voss's, Saving Throws, Armour Class and, with more recent patches to the game, the high probability he will appear equipped with a Githyanki Crossbow instead of the sword.

If Voss appears with a crossbow instead of his Silver Sword, the first challenge becomes getting him to equip the sword (so he may then be separated from it). A salient issue here is that Voss is normally programmed to fly away instantly when engaged in combat by any of the following entities:

• The PC or his/her Companions
• Summons of the PC or his/her companions
• Familiars and other allies affiliated with the party

However if Kith'rak Voss is immediately engaged in combat, by an entity in or near melee range that meets none of these definitions, he will equip his Silver Sword to fight this opponent. To date, the only known entity that meets this requirement is the Spectator that is freed as a result of throwing the Iron Flask (and acquiring the Flask is a task all by itself). This is because the Spectator from the Iron Flask is an independent entity, hostile to everyone and not under the influence of the party. Should the Flask be used, it is advisable to throw it from the bridge, out of sight of the gith gathered below, so party members are not immediately drawn into the conflict. Be sure to have it land close enough to Voss so he starts melee combat with the Spectator as soon as his initiative allows.

Once the Spectator is freed, you will have to act quickly. After taking (up to 3) swings at the Spectator, Voss may turn invisible soon after, greatly reducing the chances of success with any of the steps listed below. Regardless of the outcome, whether or how he fights, once the Spectator is defeated, Voss will still leave.

As far as Voss himself is concerned, these are the relevant bonuses that the party will need to overcome, by one method or another:

• Strength saving throw +8 on Balanced, +9 on Tactician
• Wisdom saving throw +6 with Advantage
• Constitution saving throw +7
•  Armour Class 17

The party will also need to avoid the cutscene to begin conversation with his patrol, requiring the party to stay well-hidden or at a minimum distance.

Be aware that Lae'zel will turn hostile if this is done while she is in the player's party; leaving her at Camp is recommended.

Methods

A lightly-obscured platform, from where these methods can be executed.

Spells

Characters can overcome Voss's impressive bonuses by raising their Spell Save DC and, in a more limited fashion, lowering his saving throws. Though casting Bane or another save-reducing effect directly upon him would normally trigger combat, one can achieve the latter effect by getting him within range of an Invisible character bearing the  Phalar Aluve: Shriek aura. Notably, this only reduces his Wisdom save, making it only useful for one spell here.

One character will be able to maximize their Spell Save DC within Act One using the following items:

• Melf's First Staff
• The Protecty Sparkswall
• The Shadespell Circlet

Assuming a Level 5 character with a spellcasting ability score of 18, with these items equipped, the Spell Save DC will be 18. One can go further to get an ability score of 20 with an ASI and Auntie Ethel's Hair, increasing Spell Save DC to 19.

To fully maximize DC, one can grind to Level 6, after which Elixir of Battlemage's Power begins to show up in select trader inventories. Consuming this will set Spell Save DC to a hard maximum of 22. However, unless specified, the following methods will assume the player will be encountering the patrol at Level 5 to shave off grinding hours.

Command: Drop

This seems the least tantalizing option at first blush, owing to Voss's innate advantage on Wisdom saves. The player can cancel out this advantage by using a multiclassed Sorcerer 4/Paladin 1 and using  Metamagic: Heightened Spell. Combined with the Phalar Aluve debuff, this pits the player's 19 DC against his 1d20 + 6 - 1d4 to save, or 72.5% success.

Heat Metal

Voss does not get advantage when his Constitution saves are targeted. However, being able to cast  Heat Metal with Heightened Spell requires at least Level 6 for a Sorcerer 3/(Bard or Druid) 3 split (additionally sacrificing a feat, so no ASI bonus). This requires significantly more grinding in order to gain that juicy Disadvantage, otherwise with a Bard or Druid Level 4+ it's a flat 19 DC against his 1d20 + 7 to save, or 55% success without disadvantage, or 75% with a heightened spell and 18 DC.

Attacks

Disarming Attack (Ranged)

 Disarming Attack (Ranged) has to clear two obstacles: first it must hit Voss, then he must fail a Strength save. Hitting him can easily get up to 99% with hiding or being Invisible on a character with 20 Dexterity. Unfortunately, there is no way to additionally boost the battle manouevre DC beyond the raw bonuses from proficiency and ability scores, making this a straightforward 16 DC against 1d20 + 8/9, or 35% (30% Tactician) without factoring in the potential to critically miss the initial attack.

Honeyed Paws

Congratulations, you have now reached by far the best option to get an early Silver Sword. Sorry for burying the lede.

A level five Beastmaster can summon an Ursa Major companion that knows the ability  Honeyed Paws. This ability results in an automatic disarm if the Attack Roll hits and, though it requires melee range, summoned creatures can entering kissing distance without initiating the cutscene. Unlike all the other options, this requires no saving throw, making Voss's armour class the only layer of defense. With the bear's raw stats, completely unbuffed, this is already a 45% success chance.

There are relatively more, and more powerful, ways to boost the bear's Attack Roll, compared to boosting the player's own Spell Save DC. To truly get the most bang for the buck, the player can:

• Turn the bear invisible for Advantage
•  Bless the bear for +1d4
• Throw an Elixir of Heroism on the ground and have the bear consume it for another +1d4
• Trail the bear with an invisible character using  Phalar Aluve: Sing for a third +1d4
• Prebuff the bear with Bardic Inspiration for an additional 1d6, if needed
• If taking the grind to Level 6, a totally unnecessary but flexworthy +10 bonus from a War Domain Cleric's  War God's Blessing

Even casting aside that last one, the odds to steal the sword with a buffed bear skyrocket to 98%. Even so, critical misses exist and sometimes the sword will despawn when dropped seemingly at random.

However, not even these corner cases can stop us. The Divination Wizard passive feature  Portent allows you to change an attack roll from your party from a fail to a success. This allows you to guarantee a hit with honeyed paws, fully eliminating the risk of a critical miss. A base bear with no buffs require a die of 15 to hit, but buffing it will lower the required number all the way down to 2 if you have 98% hit chance. You can take a full or partial long rest to replace your portent dice if you do not have one of a high enough number.

Consequences

• Once the sword is dropped, the party will still have a fight on its hands with the remainder of the githyanki patrol, so make sure their builds haven't been too narrowly skewed towards boosting the odds. Once they emerge victorious, they can pick the sword up off the ground and throw it on Lae'zel (or others who are disguised as Githyanki) for outrageous boosts that are typically gated behind many, many more ability checks, boss battles, and many hours of raw gameplay (and also some specific narrative paths).
• Be aware that acquiring the Silver Sword of the Astral Plane so much earlier than intended in the story-line may have impact on the game with unintended consequences. On the other hand, if you've read this far, with no significant problems reported (aside from the developer's repeated efforts with patches trying to stop this early acquisition) why not give it a go? After all: a challenge is a challenge...