GameBanshee Forums

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

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....

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)

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.

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

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

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

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...

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?

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.

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