One handed weapon style

Silvanerian · Post by **Silvanerian** » Wed Jul 11, 2001 5:24 am

I've been thinking for a while about the difference in dualwielding - as most people really enjoy - and just playing with a single weapon.
Now, what I would like to know is if anybody has experienced a big difference in the damage dealt out with a character wielding one weapon compared to one wielding two weapons.

Dualwielding basically lets the "offhand" (too bad you can't decide which is to be the offhand - as all my characters are lefthanded) get you one attack with that weapon. 3 stars in dualwielding is -2 THAC0 to that hand, while 2 stars in one weapons style gets you -2 to AC, critical hits on 19 and 20.

So, all in all a dualwielding character get one more attack per round with a -2 THAC0 and the one weaponwielding get -2AC and double as many critical hits.

Now, which is better stastistically? (Not that I mind all that much - I only dualwield if I'm a ranger not using a bow)

For instance, battling a dragon gets you double damage (critical hit) on 10% of your attacks - that almost makes up for that extra attack dualwielding, doesn't it?

Funny - most of the harder battles allows you to score full point on a critical...(I don't have ToB yet, so this is only SoA wise)

-Silvanerian

Edwin · Post by **Edwin** » Wed Jul 11, 2001 5:35 am

Interesting topic.....i usually choose to dual wield because i like using all the good items i find during the game. But for a kensai (or a dual kensai) the 2 points bonus in AC is great.....
About the statistical analysis you talked about, i really don't care too much about those little differences. I think it's a game, you have to play it carefully but enjoying yourself....and making a lot of stats is not so funny IMO....

Silvanerian · Post by **Silvanerian** » Wed Jul 11, 2001 5:40 am

I agree with you.

As I posted, I usually never dualwield, even though it might give better battle prowers.

I was hoping that some who has gone through the game with one weapon style would reply - maybe with some nice stories.

(I usually wield two-handed swords)

Xyx · Post by **Xyx** » Wed Jul 11, 2001 5:57 am

It's not just a matter of a few AC points and 5% extra chance of critical hits versus one extra attack. A good off-hand weapon brings additional advantages such as Strength set to 25 or an extra attack on top of the off-hand attack.

Silvanerian · Post by **Silvanerian** » Wed Jul 11, 2001 6:01 am

Xyx - you're right.

In my situation, it's a bit less complex, as I only use hammers for clerics, and I never use katanas or other scimitars either. It just doesn't fit into my picture of, say a medevil paladin, to wield a "strange" sword from the east (Kua tua or whatever)

Heh - I suppose I have very strict rules for my characters...

-Silvanerian

Dimensional · Post by **Dimensional** » Wed Jul 11, 2001 6:31 am

Personaly The argument is not dual wield vs single wepons style, because if not using a second wepon the of hand is usualy used to wield a shield so your three options are

A: extra attack ,-2 thaco on off hand
B: -2 ac double chance of critical
c: increased armor class vs missles(-4 I think) + shiled bonus where your shield bonus can be up to -6ac (in TOB) plus other bonuses dependant on shield. Generaly I feel that single weapon style is not worth the points unless you are unable to use a shield for some reason (Thief - there just arn't any realy good buclers out there, monk , role playing reason etc.)

This is all just My own Opinion of course

Silvanerian · Post by **Silvanerian** » Wed Jul 11, 2001 7:34 am

Right.

I'm doing it for roleplaying reasons. I'm soloing, so I wondered if it was very hard to finish the game using only one hand. Anyway, I've just started a new game, and it's worked out good so far. Come to think about it, there's not much of a difference hitting with a D10 or 2D4 - it's usually all the plusses that matter.

-Silvanerian

Christian · Post by **Christian** » Wed Jul 11, 2001 2:28 pm

Dual wielding is far better than using a single hand, because of the special abilities
of the best weapons. Using normal weapons...ok u have a point, but compare your extra critics and AC with 25 str, for examle...

Pebz · Post by **Pebz** » Wed Jul 11, 2001 2:57 pm

Well there are some other disadvantages to two weapon style...

- You have to put in three slots in order to be able to hit anything with the off-hand

- Not all the classes can put in three slots

- It takes one extra slot witch you could have used to become better with the weapons you want to dual

im sure there are more disadvantages, but i cant think of any now...

and i keep reading that one weapon style and sword and shield style works togheter.. is this true?

beaver_cheese · Post by **beaver_cheese** » Wed Jul 11, 2001 8:01 pm

No, single weapon style and the sword and shield style don't go hand in hand; at least, from my experience with the game. I stuck with single weapon style for my character until I got to a point where I found another weapon with great bonuses. I finally ended up using Angurduval(upgraded) and Celestial Fury.

Sojourner · Post by **Sojourner** » Wed Jul 11, 2001 9:01 pm

Another argument for single-weapon style: It really benefits the thief for backstabbing purposes.