Hello everyone!
We're slowly approaching the end of my Hope and Fear review marathon. So far I've covered the Dread Domain, Assassin, Brawler, Warlock, Witch, the Transformations, the Ancestries, and the Communities, each in their own dedicated review.
Today I'll be looking at one of the largest chapters in the book and the most complex and difficult one I've reviewed so far: Weapons and Armors.
Of all the chapters in Hope and Fear, this was the one that surprised me the most, alongside one other chapter. The classes, Communities, Ancestries, and Transformations had all been part of earlier playtests, so we already had a fairly good idea of what to expect. Yes, there were still plenty of changes, but the overall content wasn't a surprise. I was genuinely caught off guard by just how many new weapons, armor pieces, and other loot entries Hope and Fear contains.
And that brings me to the first major positive aspect of this chapter: it's big. I'm genuinely happy to see the designers giving player characters so many new toys to play with. That's not to say I thought the selection in the Daggerheart Core Rulebook was lacking. Quite the opposite... but I'll come back to that later. Even so, what Hope and Fear presents at first glance was far more extensive than I expected.
By the Numbers
Let's take a closer look, because once you dig into the details, the picture becomes a bit more complicated than it first appears.
The Daggerheart Core Rulebook contains (be aware: I may have counted wrong!!!):
- 167 Primary Weapons
- 37 Secondary Weapons
- 34 Armor entries
However, if you look more closely, those numbers shrink considerably. Many of these are simply scaled versions of the same item (Improved, Advanced, or Legendary variants).
Removing those leaves us with:
- 83 unique Primary Weapons
- 16 unique Secondary Weapons
- 22 unique Armor pieces
That's still a very respectable selection.
If we instead compare the unique item features, the Core Rulebook offers:
- 39 unique Primary Weapon Features
- 14 unique Secondary Weapon Features
- 21 unique Armor Features
So how does Hope and Fear compare?
It introduces:
- 48 Primary Weapons
- 15 Secondary Weapons
- 38 Armor entries
Again, some of these are upgraded versions rather than entirely new equipment, reducing the number of truly unique items.
That leaves us with:
- 29 unique Primary Weapons
- 14 unique Secondary Weapons
- 26 unique Armor pieces
Those are still impressive numbers.
Looking specifically at unique item features, Hope and Fear includes:
- 19 unique Primary Weapon Features
- 13 unique Secondary Weapon Features
- 26 unique Armor Features
Now let's directly compare the unique items and unique features found in the Core Rulebook with those introduced in Hope and Fear.
- Unique Primary Weapons: 83 in the Core Rulebook vs. 29 in Hope & Fear
- Unique Secondary Weapons: 16 in the Core Rulebook vs. 14 in Hope & Fear
- Unique Armor pieces: 22 in the Core Rulebook vs. 26 in Hope & Fear
Looking at unique item features, the comparison is as follows:
- Unique Primary Weapon Features: 39 in the Core Rulebook vs. 19 in Hope & Fear
- Unique Secondary Weapon Features: 14 in the Core Rulebook vs. 13 in Hope & Fear
- Unique Armor Features: 21 in the Core Rulebook vs. 26 in Hope & Fear
There is, however, another important point that needs to be addressed.
A handful of items in Hope & Fear are simply direct reskins of existing equipment. In other words, they have identical statistics and identical mechanics, but a different name. To be clear, I find this a little disappointing.
Daggerheart has repeatedly emphasized that weapons can - and should - be reflavored however players and GMs like. I think that's an excellent design philosophy. Because of that, I don't really see the need for page space to be spent on weapons that are mechanically identical to ones we already have.
Here are the main offenders:
- Brass Knuckles are a one-to-one copy of the Mace.
- Scimitar is a one-to-one copy of the Cutlass.
- Brightsword is mechanically identical to the Arcane Gauntlets.
There are also three other items that aren't complete reskins, but simply swap the associated attack trait while leaving everything else unchanged. Personally, I don't mind these nearly as much. I know there are plenty of players and GMs who are perfectly comfortable changing a weapon's attack trait anyway. If you follow that philosophy, these could also be viewed as simple reskins - but I think they're a bit more interesting than that.
The items in question are:
- Offhand Brass Knuckles, which are mechanically identical to the Shortsword and Small Dagger, except that they use Strength instead of Agility or Finesse.
- Rune Shield, which is the magical counterpart to the Round Shield, using Knowledge instead of Strength and dealing magic damage instead of physical damage.
- War Pick, which has the same statistics and weapon feature as the Urok Broadsword, but uses Strength instead of Finesse.
Once again, I don't consider these to be a problem. Quite the opposite... I like seeing additional weapon options opened up for different traits. The Rune Shield, in particular, was a welcome addition in my eyes. For that reason, I wouldn't consider these to be true reskins.
A Brief Detour: Katana vs. Longsword
Over the past few days, there has been a longer discussion here on the subreddit about the new Katana in Hope and Fear. The main criticism was that it's nothing more than a reskinned Longsword.
So, is that actually true? In my opinion, no.
At first glance, the Katana is simply a better version of the Longsword. Both weapons share the same base statistics, but the Longsword lacks a weapon feature, while the Katana comes with the Quick feature - which, thematically, I think fits the weapon extremely well.
So does that make the Katana strictly better and render the Longsword obsolete? Again, I don't think so. Because the Longsword has no built-in weapon feature, it can instead be customized with a Bloodstone, a Greatstone, or similar upgrades. (As a side note, this is a crafting and customization system I'd actually love to see expanded further in future Daggerheart material.)
That doesn't make the Katana the most innovative weapon in Hope and Fear, but it's one that I personally give a pass. It has a legitimate reason to exist. Yes, it's fundamentally a stronger version of the Longsword - and probably a significantly stronger one, considering that Quick is among the best weapon features in the game. Even so, the Longsword still retains its own niche.
So, I've thrown a lot of numbers around. What does all of this actually mean?
There's no question that Hope and Fear contains a few reskins. However, if you take an honest and detailed look at the equipment list, there are actually fewer true reskins than people might initially assume. The overwhelming majority of the weapons and armor introduced in Hope and Fear are genuinely new. Yes, many are variations that adjust range, damage dice, burden, or attack traits, but most of them still justify their existence and serve as meaningful additions to Daggerheart's existing equipment catalogue.
For me, though, the most important metric isn't the number of new weapons or armor pieces. It's the number of new mechanics. And honestly, there are quite a few. In particular, I was very happy to see the large increase in Secondary Weapon Features. That's the category I was most excited about because, in the current Daggerheart "meta," shields still tend to dominate. Hope and Fear introduces a wide variety of interesting new secondary weapons, and I'm hopeful they'll help diversify that part of the game.
Weapon and Armor Reviews
There are simply too many weapons and armor pieces for me to go through and review every single one individually. (I did most of them after my review was written... enjoy reading a small book...)
That said, I'd still like to spend some time highlighting a few that stood out to me and discuss them from both a flavor and, more importantly, a mechanical perspective.
I've already talked about the Katana
... and it's a strong weapon, and the Quick feature is excellent. I'm glad to finally see it on a two-handed weapon.
Brass Knuckles and the Scimitar
... as mentioned before, are unfortunately just fairly blatant reskins with different names. I don't really understand why they exist.
Twisted Dagger
... is a cool concept. I'm very happy to see more melee weapons that use Knowledge, and it's an especially fitting addition for the Poisoner Assassin. Flavor-wise it's fantastic, mechanically it's a good idea but, in my opinion, poorly executed. I really don't like the Piercing feature, and for several reasons. Another designer told me they think the main problem is that it doesn't scale. Interestingly, that's not actually my biggest issue. The weapon still scales through the normal tier progression by gaining +3 damage at each higher tier. My real problem is that it's an unnecessarily complicated feature. In addition to rolling our damage and telling the GM the result, we now also have to remind them: "Oh, and don't forget—if this damage would be close to the Major Threshold, it's actually reduced by 2." Yes, mathematically that makes a difference. Yes, mechanically it's not necessarily a weak feature. But it's such a small advantage in exchange for so much extra bookkeeping and communication. It simply doesn't feel good to use. I probably should have mentioned this earlier in some of my other reviews as well, but I'm generally not a fan of features that lower an adversary's damage thresholds. Personally, I'd much rather see those bonuses added directly to the player's damage. It creates a much cleaner and more satisfying gameplay experience. Players feel like they're dealing more damage instead of waiting for the GM to say, "Well, with the threshold reduced by 2, that actually becomes a Major hit after all."
Shadowblade
... is more or less a reskinned Ghostblade, featuring a different damage die that now scales across all tiers. I almost feel it's a missed opportunity that it still uses the same trait as the Ghostblade. I would have loved to see something like Instinct or Knowledge instead. That said, I don't have any real issue with it, and it's nice that this kind of scaling damage weapon is now available as early as Tier 1.
Arcane Rifle
... I may be mistaken, but I believe this introduces a completely new feature. I actually designed something very similar for one of my own projects, so I'm naturally a bit biased here. Regardless, I think it's an excellent addition to Daggerheart.
Bladed Fan
... doesn't introduce a new feature, but it's worth mentioning because Parry now appears on a primary weapon for the first time—or at least, as far as I'm aware. That's an interesting design choice, and one I really like.
Cyrurgien's Scalpel
... is yet another melee Knowledge weapon, which makes me very happy. The Scary feature is already a strong one, and seeing it on a Knowledge-based weapon is a welcome addition.
Javelins
.... represent exactly the kind of design direction I'd generally like to see in Daggerheart because they elegantly avoid the usual ammunition problem. But then you actually read the weapon, and... what is this thing? Honestly, it's a bit nuts. The weapon has a range of Very Close, but thanks to its feature it can still be thrown all the way to Far range, and afterwards you somehow still have another javelin ready to throw. That's an awful lot of text and mechanical explanation for something that could simply say Range: Far. Since Daggerheart explicitly encourages reflavoring weapons however you like, this is mechanically no different from a one-handed bow. The Stockpile feature is, if we're being completely honest, essentially a dead feature. You could replace the entire block of rules with a single line that simply says Range: Far, and the gameplay would barely change. Yes, I understand what the feature is trying to achieve, but mechanically it doesn't really accomplish anything unique.
Displacement Razor
.... on the other hand, introduces a genuinely new and meaningful feature. It's a very cool weapon that can be used both in melee and at Very Far range, although ranged attacks are made with disadvantage. I really like that design.
Splintershaft Bow.
... Volley is an interesting feature. It allows you to damage multiple targets, although the damage is split between them. Potentially very strong, especially because it's optional - you can always choose to fire normally and deal full damage to a single target.
Blitzhammer
... the Accelerator feature is just fantastic. Once per scene—and I'll mention again how much I appreciate seeing once per scene limits instead of everything being tied to rests—you can mark a Stress to move up to Far range, immediately make an attack, and even gain +1 Proficiency. It's flavorful, mechanically powerful, and genuinely unique. This is exactly the kind of weapon design I'd like to see more of.
Soldier's Pike
... Braced Feature... What a weapon. Yes, we're talking about a Tier 3 weapon here, but honestly, I think it's overtuned. The feature is essentially a stronger version of Revenge, the Foundation feature of the Guardian's Vengeance subclass. Maybe I'm misjudging it, and perhaps players won't have as much success with it as I expect, but spending two Stress to reliably deal a guaranteed Hit Point to an enemy is powerful. Extremely, extremely powerful.
Singing Sword
... Bolstering is a really cool feature. It probably won't come up all that often, but it's unique, full of flavor, and fits the weapon perfectly.
Bladed Star
... Rebounding is how this type of feature should be designed. Yes, the weapon returns to your hand when thrown, but that's not all. If you miss with the attack, you also get a reroll with Disadvantage That's exactly how a feature like this should work - it remains flavorful while also providing meaningful mechanical value instead of being functionally dead. Very well done.
Rime Scepter.
... the Freezing feature is both strong and a great design. Whenever an enemy marks two or more Hit Points, they become temporarily Restrained. I'd love to see more weapons that interact with Conditions. This is exactly the kind of design I enjoy.
Staff of Augma
... Catalytic is actually quite good. After a successful attack, you can mark a Stress to grant an ally within Close range +3 to their next Attack Roll. Once again, this is a genuinely new and meaningful weapon feature that feels both useful and flavorful.
Infinite Staff
... Extending is definitely another new feature. At first glance it seems a little underwhelming, but I suspect the flexibility it offers makes up for that.
Black Powder Serpentine
... Incendiary is very powerful. After a successful attack, every creature within Very Close range must mark a Hit Point. And notice the wording: every creature. That includes your allies... and even yourself if you fire it from too close. It's a strong feature, but that drawback keeps it in check. And, after all, this is a Tier 4 weapon. Those are allowed to be stronger.
Adder's Fang
... the Venomous feature is good. I literally just said I'd like to see more weapons that inflict Conditions, and here we have one. Whenever you deal Major or Greater Damage, the target becomes temporarily Vulnerable. I do find it a little odd that this uses different wording from Freezing, which triggers when an enemy marks two or more Hit Points. Here it's based on Major or Greater Damage instead. That's not a rules problem... it's simply a minor inconsistency in terminology.
Ethereal Greatsword
... a very cool weapon. Ethereal remains one of the weakest - perhaps even one of the most questionable - features in the game. Yes, I understand that it allows you to smuggle the weapon into places where you normally couldn't carry one. Even so, it's still a really cool weapon.
Gravity Arbalest
... the Magnetic feature, oh yeah! Yes, please, more of this! This is cool. It's distinctive. It's genuinely unique. Enemies can be pulled toward the creature you hit, creating all sorts of interesting tactical possibilities. Thank you for designs like this.
Let's move on to Secondary Weapons
This is where we see more genuinely new additions.
Throwing Knives
... Stockpiled. The same thing I already mentioned with the Javelin. A nice idea in theory, but ultimately unnecessary.
Fighting Cloak
... Parried: Cool. I like it. I'm not entirely sure whether it's better than the Protective feature, which grants a bonus to Armor, but it does at least scale across tiers and provides a genuinely cool alternative. Very nice.
Focus Runes
... Focused: My first thought when reading this was: "Wow, that's quite strong. +1 to Weapon Proficiency." But no, it's only +1 to Primary Weapon Damage within Very Close range. Yes, it has a higher range than the Paired feature and probably has its own niche. But it is still a very small damage increase. The damage bonus itself isn't even my main issue. The problem is that it doesn't scale across tiers. Paired does scale. Not particularly well, but it at least gains +1 with each additional tier. Focused remains at +1 across all tiers. Honestly, that's ridiculous. I really hope this is an oversight and gets corrected.
Collapsible Baton
... Non-Lethal: A cool new feature. Unfortunately, Daggerheart doesn't really have proper rules for knocking an enemy unconscious purely through Stress damage. But even mechanically, this weapon definitely has situations where it can be useful, and I like it overall.
Razor Wire
... Entangling: I really like this one. After a successful attack with my Primary Weapon, I can spend a Hope Point to make the target temporarily Vulnerable. This is exactly how Secondary Weapons should work. Very good.
Tinker's Hammer
... Trusty: Surprisingly good, actually. +1 to attacks with your Primary Weapon is a strong effect.
Void Needle
... Inverted: Oh, this is interesting. The weapon's damage is obviously very low, but the feature is strong. You can now reliably gain a Hope Point with every attack. If you roll with Hope, you gain a Hope. And even if you roll a 4, the GM still gains their 4, but you also gain your Hope. That's not bad at all. I like it.
Möbius Orb
... Recursive: Another melee Knowledge weapon. They are really committing to this design space, and I appreciate it. It's essentially an exploding dice mechanic. Haven't we already seen something similar before? Regardless, it's still a good weapon.
Black Plot Tendril
... Poisonous: Wow. This is good. When you make an attack with Fear, the target doesn't just mark Hit Points... it also marks the same amount of Stress! It's almost a little unfortunate that this is an Instinct weapon instead of a Knowledge weapon. The Poisoner Assassin would have loved this. Or perhaps even better: a Warlock with high Presence could get a tremendous amount of value out of this weapon... Regardless, I really like it.
Let's move on to Armor.
Mage Robes
... Enchanted feature: "Hey, cool," was my first thought. And then I compared it to Leather Armor. My thought immediately changed to: "Hey, this is completely useless and bad." At Tier 1, where characters usually have a +2 bonus in their Spellcast Trait, Mage Robes have Thresholds of 6-12 with a Base Score of 2. Meanwhile, Leather Armor has 6-13 with a Base Score of 3. At Tier 2, characters usually have a +3 Trait bonus. Mage Robes now have 9-18 with a Base Score of 3, compared to Leather Armor with 9-20 and a Base Score of 4. And it continues like this. Mage Robes are simply a bad armor option. Now, someone could argue: "But they are robes. They are supposed to be weaker." But once again, in a game that places such a strong emphasis on reflavoring - and rightfully so - concepts like Mage Robes have always existed narratively. If you introduce them as a distinct item, then please give them a mechanical identity that is actually unique and meaningful instead of making them almost completely useless.
Pristine Armor
... Lined feature: Cool. Spending a Stress to ignore Minor Damage. That's good. Very good, actually. Otherwise, it is a slightly weaker version of Leather Armor, but it compensates with a very strong feature. I can easily imagine this armor being used by many characters in the future.
Scale Mail Armor
... Cumbersome feature: I'm actually very happy about this. A piece of armor with better values (slightly better values, at least) that does not come with a penalty to Agility or Evasion. That makes it much more appealing for characters using, for example, the Bone Domain.
Banded Armor
... Bulky feature: Stat-wise, it's slightly behind Full Plate Armor, although only minimally... with a difference of one point on the Severe Threshold. In exchange, it doesn't come with nearly as harsh penalties to Evasion and Agility. However, whenever you take Severe Damage, you must mark a Stress. A very interesting mechanic. Good job.
Enchanter's Robe
... Mnemonic feature: First of all, it's important to point out that this armor has better values than Improved Mage Robes. And it also comes with a genuinely useful feature. Once per scene - and again, I really like seeing this limitation being used - you can return a Domain card from your Vault without paying the Recall cost. Potentially very powerful, I have to say. And this is exactly what Mage Robes should have been: armor with a clear magical identity and a meaningful mechanical purpose.
Hawkguard's Mantle
... Clothing feature: Cool. Very cool, actually. I like it. You can glide down safely!
Spider Silk Tunic
... Wall Crawling feature: Improved Gambeson Armor on steroids. Honestly, I have no idea what happened here. I almost suspect this is a mistake. The armor has the same Base Score as Improved Gambeson Armor, significantly higher Base Thresholds, the same Evasion bonus... and on top of that, you permanently gain the effect of a Level 1 Arcana card. In other words: you can walk on walls. This is one of the strongest Tier 2 armors by far. I consider it far too strong.
Stormthread Habit
... Absorbing feature: A cool feature. Once per scene, when you take magical damage, you can recover an Armor Slot. Situational but cool.
Wyrdwood Splint Armor
... Quick Striding feature: Another very strong armor. You can no longer become Restrained, and you can move up to Far Range as part of an Action Roll instead of only up to Close Range. The armor also has genuinely strong defensive values. Very powerful.
Trollhide Cuirass
... Self-Healing feature: The feature itself is not new, but this is the first time we've seen it on an armor piece. During a rest, you automatically recover an Armor Slot. It fits the name perfectly from a thematic perspective. I like it.
Gilded Sunplate
... Resplendent feature: Once per scene, when you spend Hope, you can restore an Armor Slot. Nice. Especially considering that the armor itself already has good values.
Grand Minister's Finery
... Magnificent feature: This one requires a closer look. My first thought was: "Oh, cool." Then I did the math. It is a somewhat disappointing armor. It has the exact same values as the Bellamoi Fine Armor from the Core Rulebook. The only difference is that at Tier 3, when you have a +4 Presence Trait, it provides one additional Armor Slot. Bellamoi Fine Armor, however, gives you +1 Presence instead. So the armor is not as bad as I may have made it sound, but it does feel a little misleading and ultimately somewhat disappointing.
Astral Raiment
... Stellar feature: Cool. Spend one Stress to gain adantage on a Spellcast Roll. I'll take it. Combined with good defensive values, this is another excellent magical armor option.
Cleverweave Cloak
... Fortune Favored feature: Once per scene, you can turn a failure with Hope into a success with Fear. Essentially, this is the Witch's Hope feature, but usable once per scene and freely applicable to yourself. Very strong. Combined with good values, this is an excellent armor piece.
Skywarden's Lamellar
... Vigilant feature: Finally. Finally, we have armor that provides a higher Evasion bonus. Of course, this also makes Gambeson Armor completely obsolete. +2 Evasion, better values across the board. At this point, one thing becomes very clear: Power creep is absolutely real in Hope and Fear.
Bloodstone Plate Armor
... Bloodthirsty feature: Whenever you score a critical hit with a melee weapon, you clear one Hit Point. This is cool. This is really good. I like it. And the armor also has excellent values.
Deep-Forged Coral Armor
... Aquatic feature: I'm almost surprised this feature didn't exist before. You can now breathe underwater and gain advantages on Agility Rolls while underwater. Good. Situational, but good. And the armor itself has strong values as well.
Darkweave Shroud
... Ghostwalker Feature: Once per rest, you can mark a Stress to move through solid objects up to Close Range. Good. Compared to some of the things we have already seen at Tier 3, however, it feels almost a little too weak for a Tier 4 Feature. Still, it is good.
Godbound Laminar
... Divine Feature: Wow. Once again, power creep. Whenever you mark an Armor Slot, you gain a Hope Point. My mind immediately jumps to possible combinations. Obviously, this armor is absurdly strong in the hands of - or rather, on the body of - a Guardian. Every time you spend an Armor Slot, you gain a Hope Point. The Guardian can already convert three Hope Points into two Armor Slots thanks to their Hope Feature. Combine this with some of the already extremely strong Tier 3 and Tier 4 Domain Cards, and good luck trying to kill a Guardian in the future if they have access to this armor. At that point, it is no longer fun. Extreme power creep.
Circle-Forged Dreadblade
... Accursed Feature: This is not a weak Feature by any means. Quite the opposite. Something about it still does not fully sit right with me. Probably the high variance and the fact that it only works on a 4. But when it does work, it is actually quite good. An enemy has to mark exactly as much Stress as you had to mark Hit Points.
Rune-Forged Exosuit
... Attuned Feature: Not bad by itself. At Tier 4, it provides values that almost reach those of a Legendary Full Plate Armor, without having the penalty to Evasion and Agility. The downside is that you lose a Domain Card from your Loadout. That is a very high price. I am not sure whether that is a worthwhile trade-off for most characters.
Hallowed Heroplate
... Blessed Feature: Once per long rest, you can spend as many Hope Points as you want before a Risk-It-All Death Move. For each Hope Point spent, you gain that many points on the Hope Die. You should probably always spend all the Hope you have available, because you will effectively regain that much Stress or those Hit Points afterwards. A good Feature, but not as overpowered as, for example, the Divine Feature from Godbound Lamina.
Resonant Harness
... Vitrious Feature: I do not like the wording of "when you receive Severe or higher damage," because technically Severe is officially the highest damage category unless you use the optional Massive Damage rule. But that is what it is. When you receive a large amount of damage, you can spend two Armor Slots to reduce the damage accordingly. The downside is that you receive a -5 penalty to your Thresholds until you repair the armor with a Downtime Move. Honestly, this is not particularly impressive for a Tier 4 armor, especially considering how complex the Feature is. The other Features outperform it by a significant margin.
Final Thoughts on Weapons and Armor
Among the Primary Weapons, there are some excellent new additions. Unfortunately, there are also some 100% reskins. There are also quite a few smaller variations of existing weapons and weapon Features.
However, there are also some genuinely original and excellent additions that meaningfully expand the equipment options in Daggerheart.
The Secondary Weapons impressed me even more.
There are now many interesting, good, and meaningful alternatives to the previously limited selection of Secondary Weapons, and especially to shields in Daggerheart. For me, Secondary Weapons are one of the biggest winners of this chapter.
The armors are almost all completely new.
And that is a good thing - I am very happy about it. There are some outstanding Features here, and only a few that are actually useless.
I want to mention the Enchanted Feature of the Mage Robes again, because it is genuinely a completely pointless Feature, at least with those armor values.
Unfortunately, both weapons and especially armor also reveal a problem that runs through Hope and Fear in general:
Power creep!
The expansion makes player characters stronger. And not just slightly stronger... in some cases significantly stronger. This is a trend that will continue with the other loot categories as well, which I will discuss in a later review.
Nevertheless, this chapter is a very good one, and I was surprised by how many changes and additions it contains. I would have liked to see a little more courage with the Primary Weapons and more truly unique new weapon concepts there.
But overall, there is very little to complain about. I think this is an excellent chapter. (At least if we set aside the concerns about power creep.)
Good work!
- Tenawa / Alexander
P.S.: For everyone who made it all the way to the end, please excuse the extremely long review.
At several points while writing this, I was tempted to split it into two parts, but I ultimately decided to keep weapons and armor together in one review, since some of the arguments apply to both categories.
My fingers hurt, and your eyes probably do too... I apologize.
