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 an enterprising party 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 assumes the party has a minimum level of 5.

The Challenge

The primary obstacles to stealing the silver sword are Kith'rak Voss' 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 scripted to fly away instantly when engaged in combat by any of the following entities:

• The PC or their companions
• Summons of the PC or their 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 equips 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, the party must 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 still leaves.

As far as Voss himself is concerned, these are the relevant bonuses the active party members must 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 active party members also need to avoid the cutscene to begin conversation with his patrol, requiring they stay well-hidden or at a minimum distance.

Be aware that  Lae'zel turns hostile if this is done while she is in the active 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.

One character can 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, the party can grind to Level 6, after which  Elixir of Battlemage's Power begins to show up in select trader inventories. Consuming this sets Spell Save DC to a hard maximum of 22. However, unless specified, the following methods assume the party will encounter 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 party 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 character's 19 DC against his 1d20 + 6 - 1d4 to save, or 72.5% success.

Fear

 Fear can also be used to disarm Voss if that is an available option, one does not want to respec and is not playing in Honour mode. Its success rate is probably less than others listed.

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 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

 Disarming Attack (Ranged),  Disarming Attack (Melee) or  Disarming Strike 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. That said,  Lethargic forces Voss to fail any Strength save. This can be achieved by throwing a  Potion of Speed at him and waiting until the potion wears off. Note that throwing potions directly at Voss may trigger dialog or combat.

Honeyed Paws

Congratulations, this is 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 a party member's Spell Save DC. To truly maximize effectiveness here, a party member 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 one to change an attack roll from a fail to a success. This allows a guaranteed hit with honeyed paws, fully eliminating the risk of a critical miss. A base bear with no buffs requires a die of 15 to hit, but buffing it lowers the required number all the way down to 2 if one has 98% hit chance. The party can take a full or partial long rest to replace portent dice if the relevant character does 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 it is advisable to ensure individual builds have not been too narrowly skewed towards boosting the odds. Once victorious, the sword can be picked up off the ground and thrown 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. For example, early acquisition of this weapon triggers some dialogue with Lae'zel that was intended for the Act 3 (this appears to have no material impact on the game).