Yes, I have been having GREAT luck with this weapon. dkid1574 is right - you MUST equip the pally with it, and the pally MUST accompany your nobleman, but I have been conquering villas in only 3 trips (except the time the loyalty reduced to EXACTLY 0 (aaarrggghhh!!) (and to add insult to injury I did NOT - as promised somewhere on the Wiki - get the shiny award) *sniff* LOL!).