1 handed or 2 handed. That is the question....

[Nedus1]

Hey Guys,

First off I would just like to say thanks to the team for making such an awesome mod which I have been enjoying and playing for a fair old while.

That said, I'm going to restart and was wondering what people thought about 1 handed or 2 handed playstyles?

Which one is better, or more OP/destructive , in your opinion?

Truth be told I somewhat prefer the 2 handed axes but I'm interested in your views

My experiences have suggested that 2 handed axes etc DESTROY ppl up close and allow you to satisyingly smash up shields. That said, I never really got into end game and I noticed I was hideous on a horse and made a lovely arrow cushion.

My 1 handed sword and board guy, was amazingly quick but if he got pressed by a group he sometimes got his head caved in...

What are your thoughts? Is 2 handed a viable option mid/late game? It does seem to only work best on foot and then you become a slow tanking tortoise... Or should I stick to quick destroying 1 handed?

Thanks

 

[The_Hound]

when one-to-one, one handeds are better choices especially against faster oponents. Though I've come to learn that morningstars, heavy great hammers and knockdown weapon are just as good, as long as you manage to land first hit.
When surrounded, there is nothing better then a medium ranged powerful 2handers like axes with reasonable speed. Morningstars are good option too, if you got high proficiences in 2 handed. I always use masterwork morningstar in sieges.
Polearms... I only use a lance while mounted. Halberds and polehammers(brilliant for prisoners) are very powerful, but I usually give them to companions, As the distance thing applies to them more than to other weapons and I like to smash my foes up close.

 

[omegaweapon]

my experience in pop is that don't use any melee weapon :S, since u will die too soon to use it that much.

1 noldor composite bow, 3 quiver of noldor arrows = atleast 45 kill.

but if i want to go melee i prefer something like noldor long sword. fast and furious

 

[Nedus1]

Interesting Omega

I have never played as an archer. It might be fun

Do you ride a horse whilst shooting? I tried that once but it was very hard!

Also, how is archery for sieges and in close combat/shields? I always got killed (When practising) if someone got close or had a shield

 

[Shire]

It's a rought start skilling up to decent proficiency and power draw 10 and finding a decent bow, but it's the most efficient way to kill things end game.

You are at range, you are safe, you kill most things in 1 hit, certainly kill in 1 headshot. Lategame stats and bow shatters shields in 2-4 arrows, downs horses in 1-3 arrows (armor dependant) and the rate of fire is great.
Need practice to hit moving targets, especially when rapid firing and even more so if doing it on a moving horse. Extremely satisfying to headshot another horse archer when both of you are going full gallop with a bit of distance between you two.

Early game horse is just used to move from firing spot A to B, because no infantry can catch you, or trotting very slowly ahead of the infantry pack, letting them get close enough so they start to swing a weapon and lower shield, at which point you plant the arrow in their face near point blank. Late game with horse archery skill you can shoot nearly the same in full gallop than stationary.

Definately devastating in sieges as support. Snipe out the archers on the both sides of the ladder/siege tower so your men won't get shot while moving in for melee, saves you a lot of troops. Or you can shoot 3 quivers empty, then retreat, then fight again and solo the whole garrison. Or edit the text files so you can use the inventory button in sieges (because why the hell wouldn't you be able to? You just spent 3 days building a siege tower, surely someone could have dropped your bloody baggage near the siege point...) and use extra quivers in your baggage and kill everything anyway.
In siege defense it's even more silly. Take a spot where you can shoot from the side to the top of the ladder and just keep shooting as enemy walks up. Depending on your stats and bow, your rate of fire will either allow you to land an arrow to nearly every single one coming up if thye come one by one or every second troop.


You can also hit troops in the legs under their shield if the troop has low enough shield skill and/or small shield. Slipping an arrow over the shield into their head is also possible, albeit quite hard. Shooting cavalry in the saddle, where horse ends and rider begins also sometimes slips an arrow under shields, though it's not very reliable.

Winning arenas will be challenging since you won't develop much points in 1h/2h or power strike, so you will strike slow and low. Everytime they hand you a bow though, it's free win.

 

[Nedus1]

Wow, it actually sounds fun and a completely different playstyle to what i'm used to

I'm going to give it a go. Thanks guys

 

[omegaweapon]

u are a archer with big head, meaning the only thing u care about is to pick other archers, u should not be in close combat. and that big head is a good place for a arrow so watch it. the only thing u must fear is another arrow. "that's a nice head u have on your shoulder".
yes i use horse, when your weapon proficiency increases to 400 - 450, u have a very good aim, just put 2 point in horse archery, horse was the reason i pick the bow in the first place. (if u remain stationary u will die before u can fire the first arrow)

well i haven't the honor to participate in any siege battle in pop, but i guess it would be a lot harder than native, since archer are deadly accurate now, u must kill them before they can kill u. u need maximum athletics so u can flee as fast as a horse then aim and kill the target. (assassination in night )

the only reason i pick bows was because i have no reflexes at all. so close combat was too dangerous for me (and less fun), and because i hated to get close to infantry to use that, heavy long big axes of mine just to be hit with a arrow, and then get stabbed with the infantry i wanted to kill :S

btw a fast weapon is good because u just spam attack, nothing else. (even if the enemy block u will land the next attack sooner than him.)

 

[Shire]

Word of warning though, archery in PoP sucks donkey balls for a long long time compared to vanilla, but the end game is better. Bows are less accurate, some you can't use on horse back, high armored troops wander around often. I'd recommend practicing on Vanskerry Raiders long enough that you feel you are in no danger against their mix of shields, thrown spears and archers.

Always have plenty extra arrows in your baggage that you can swap in once you run out mid battle, it happens easily, I usually carry anywhere between 12 to 20 extras, because that one or 2 time battle went on for so long. Most of the time 3-6 extra is enough.
Don't be afraid to just spray and pray if it's too dangerous to slow down, eventually you'll hit something and the enemy can run out of arrows too, without a resupply point.

Soloing sieges (have plenty shielded troops just stand in the field to draw fire) is one of the fastest ways to gain skill points once you are able to do it. Just headshot away.

 

[Nedus1]

Thanks Omega and Shire. I'll give it a go.

I'm normally a melee character so it will make a nice change. Plus I can't wait to shoot a Demonic Magus in the head once levelled up

Thanks for the advice

 

[omegaweapon]

18 str is not hard to get, 17 str in lvl 1 and in lvl 2 u can use noldor composite bow, just hire lethaldirane.

1 more lvl + 1 qualies gem and in lvl 3 u can have, ebony platemail (sigy) and composite bow.

money? arena.

7 power draw, 100 archery weapon proficiency (at least). 2 horse archery, noldor composite bow, make early game like breeze. (want more arrow? hire diev)

 

[Shire]

Sure, or you can go grab the 3 free qualis and start out with ruby/sapphire, but you still have to kill a good number of stuff before your prof gets to a level where your accuracy is acceptable enough to rely on in sieges and bigger battles.

 

[Celticpred]

My old save i did two hander. Was good for seiges, slow in the field. My current game im doing 1 handed and shield as my main weapons. Good for taking some hits, saves you from arrows and throwing weapons. 1 handed sword is very quick and long, depending on which on you get. I myself am currently using the ebony knight sword. Will be getting a Emerald or Ruby 1 hander soon.

 

[krisvk]

In seige battles i always pick up the arrows of my dead archers

 

[omegaweapon]

why everyone say 3 free gem?
1 brotherhood, 1 rane, what is the third? or do u mean the Easter egg? with training ground? i thought its like cheating :S

 

[krisvk]

Maybe alaric von brouhaha? or whatever hes called

 

[felixng2011]

No need to buy the special rune weapons. You can buy a Tempered Rune Bastard Sword which is almost as good by opening Quigfen's shop. You can get a free strange ruby rune bow by going near Wolfbode. I prefer to use Qualis gems on stats to be honest.

Archery is actually pretty op. On over 100% difficulty I can easily kite mounted troops. Mounted troops without shields and infantry units without shields are easy prey. I can kill over 100 troops in sieges with archery and in siege defenses as well. With my Nolder Spirit Horse no one can catch me. Sometimes I dismount and just rambo and chop up the enemies with my Tempered Rune Bastard Sword. I love going behind enemy archers and chopping them up when their backs are turned. Easy prey. I also love charging archers when they are in a straight line and doing charge damage and slicing them at the same time.

X      --------------------------      X
^Me              ^Archers

 

[Celticpred]

No need to buy the special rune weapons. You can buy a Tempered Rune Bastard Sword which is almost as good by opening Quigfen's shop. You can get a free strange ruby rune bow by going near Wolfbode. I prefer to use Qualis gems on stats to be honest.

Archery is actually pretty op. On over 100% difficulty I can easily kite mounted troops. Mounted troops without shields and infantry units without shields are easy prey. I can kill over 100 troops in sieges with archery and in siege defenses as well. With my Nolder Spirit Horse no one can catch me. Sometimes I dismount and just rambo and chop up the enemies with my Tempered Rune Bastard Sword. I love going behind enemy archers and chopping them up when their backs are turned. Easy prey. I also love charging archers when they are in a straight line and doing charge damage and slicing them at the same time.

X      --------------------------      X
^Me              ^Archers

Actually as of 3.5 you only get a Strange rune bow now, still better than a noldor composite bow. but weaker than Ruby.

 

[Donkerman]

I prefer using a shield to keep arrow out of my face as opposed to dodging them, so I almost always use a one handed sword. But in order to add the option of using a weapon 2 handed I use swords in the bastard sword category. My favourite weapon is the runed bastard dropped by heretic mobs or purchased from quigfen.

 

[Yozzer]

This is an interesting thread, nice to know the style of other people.
I just looked, and as expected, my skill with a bow, (I use the one taken from the D'shar King), is 461, and I thought 1h + shield would have been second, but it is the lance at 376, the shield and 1h is 326, 2h is down at 214. I also tend to use the gems to up stats.

I too like to ride and shoot, but instead of carrying two quivers, I cheated and increased the noldor arrows to 60, the only cheat I used, it seemed fair for a Lord using a bow. In sieges I pick up the quivers of fallen troops, so use my 1h + shield for close up.

There is no doubt in my mind the best battles I have ever had is in POP, and in 3.5 it just got better, and I have played a lot of mods 

 

[No idea]

In my humble experience, I think horse archers are, in the long run, the ones that really have the best of both worlds: security (you fire from a safe distance) and killing power (once you get at least a noldor composite bow).

However, since this thread is about one handed vs. 2 handed I will give my opinion. I think one handed is more versatile, so, for general day to day business, wielding a one handed weapon with a shield is your best choice, IMHO. First of all, it protects you from archers (good luck charging some archers with no shield). Second of all, it allows you to ride a horse and attacking with no penalties to damage (you are aware that wielding a 2 handed on horseback provokes a 35% penalty to damage, aren´t you?). The point here is that wielding a 2 handed weapon on horseback is pointless, as damage is INFERIOR to a one handed weapon. So, you can forget about a horse, BUT then, having a horse gives large advantages, which I won´t state here, so, again, there is not much point about wielding 2 handers for the day to day business. In SOME situations they come handy, but not for everyday. Problem is that if you don´t use them, your proficiency will be low, and with a low proficiency they are even more useless than other weapon types.

PS. I think it would be nice if one handed weapon damages would be toned DOWN, so that using two handed or polearms weapons would be a good choice in the day to day.