GameBanshee Forums

Is the off-hand pretty much just a worthless hand? Is dual weilding worth it? This has probably been discussed many times before, but, for an off-hand weapon, should I just equip a weapon with nice abilities.
For example: My barbarian can dual weild flails, hammers, axes and B swords nicely, but I'm only hitting most of my attack with the main hand. I have Frost Reaver in my main hand and the Searing Blade (from underdark) in my off-hand. Of course, I the two damage from Frost Reaver a heck of a lot more than the one fire damage from the sword. Anyway, for the off-hand, should just a weapon with nice special abilities be equiped (i.e. Defender of East Haven). Thanks.

Most people simply dual0wield to utilize the strength of one weapon and the abilities of the other, like Crom Faeyr and Mace of Disrtuption, Blackrazor and Daystar, Celestial Fury and Dakkon's Zerth Blade.

Dual-weilding is a very worthwhile pursuit, not only for the special effects, but because you basically get an extra attack. The caveat is that it only pays off if you load up on the two-weapon fighting style (3 spots are the best), or you will face major penalties.

That's the best part about playing a ranger: you automatically get two proficieny slots. Plus, when you get to ToB you can get Montolio's Cloak which will essentially wipe away any penalty for weilding two weapons.

If you're not going to spend the slots on two-weapon fighting style, stick with sword and shield and get the AC bonus. I went through almost all of SoA with the Blade of Roses +3 and Celestial Fury and dual-weilding paid off big time.

I have my main character (Alyeth D'Etheraim: Bounty Hunter level 29) dual wielding Short Sword of the Mask +4 and Dagger of the Star +4. Her THAC0 is 4 on her main hand & 8 on her off hand still, she does killer damage (equipped boots of speed, cloak of mirroring, white dragon scale, ring of Gaxx, that Ioun Stone that raises AC by 1, belt of Stone Giant Strength, and gauntlets of weapon expertise). Her AC is -11 while dual-wielding. She's pretty cool when she backstabs because she gets 4 attacks in that round. I only wish I could add more specialty to 2 weapon proficiency. Oh well, I'll just have to settle for killing practically every mage I meet in the first round.

My kensai has equaliser (5 star main hand) &
Crom Fraere (3 star off hand) with 3 star in two weapon. His THAC0 is -17 & -15 or something like that. He can kill 4 to 5 fire giants elite before bad things happen to him. A very powerful fighter indeed with 5 attacks per round + 25 strength.

the most effective way to use dual wielding is just as you've said. use a weapon w/ a usefull immunity / ability, and put the "best" weapon in main hand. remember the off hand only gets one attack, so a weapon like the celestial fury only gets one (or less) chances each round for the specials to take effect vs the defender of easthaven which is always active.

i like to use the off hand as the "learning" hand, i.e. when i find a really cool weapon i'll have a char usually minsc or pc off hand wield it and put points into that weapon as i level up, if the weapon is good enough then sometimes it'll make the jump to main hand.

put an extra attack weapon (e.g. Belm) in the off hand. That way you get an extra attack with the main hand - 2*celestial fury?

Same is true with Crom Faeyr Strength bonus.



[ 07-09-2001: Message edited by: Gruntboy ]

The game is full of uber +6 weapons with tons of special abilities and extra damage.

What do we get for shields?

If there were shields with comparable statistics, I'd dual wield shields if I could

Originally posted by Xyx:
<STRONG>The game is full of uber +6 weapons with tons of special abilities and extra damage.

What do we get for shields?

If there were shields with comparable statistics, I'd dual wield shields if I could </STRONG>

I've got a +5 shield, but I don't remember where I found it(maybe Cespenar).

I found 2 good shields in ToB. There the shield of the Order which gives +5 AC and +1 all saves and Darksteel which also gives +5 AC and 20 or so resist to all elements. I had Anomen switch between these shileds depending on the battle and between his shield, armor, gaunts of dex and Aura of Flaming death he was unhittable and became my main damge absorber.

so a weapon with good fighting attributes wouldn't be suited for the off-hand as something with nifty special abilities? I think this is kind of a shame because my barbarian can use all these neat weapons from ToB, but only one gets the most use. OK, I'll stop whining now. Just wish those hands shared attacks or something. Think that's programmable? (not that I could, but I'm sure someone could)

Originally posted by Meerlight:
<STRONG>I found 2 good shields in ToB.</STRONG>

Good ToB shield: +5, +1 saves.
Good ToB weapon: +6, 10% insta-kill, +1 Con, +1 AC, regeneration.

No contest.

and that +6 is what?

That would be the Axe of the Unyielding, I believe. It's on display in the Equipment section.