Two-hander Effectiveness

[Sandalphon]

I saw something like this in the "Frequent Suggestions" thread but the link went no where and I searched for a the topic related to this, but came up with nothing, so here goes.

I'm a big fan of using the two-handed mauls and my friend loves using the big ol' two-handed battle axes, but, as we've progressed further into the game, their effectiveness is waning.

Let's say for example, I have three sea raiders bearing down on me and I got a big ol sledge in my hand. Now, which of these scenarios make more sense...

A: I run towards them, swinging with all my might. The first guy attempts to block it with his short sword but the raw power of the hammer pushes it out of the way and knocks him over, causing a little damage. The second guy throws up his shield, and between that and the energy wasted on knocking the other guy over, he is only pushed back a few feet. The third guy is uneffected since the inertia of the hammer's mass has already been diffused.

B: I run towards them, swinging with all my might. The first guy attempts to block it with his short sword and stops all the power of the hammer. I turn into a pincushion.

Now, I'm not trying to turn two-handers into a "game-breaker" of sorts, I would like to see it as a viable option. Right now, I have to use a one-hander and a shield against any more then one enemy. You could also use it to "trip up" a horse. This ties into the knocking a Rider off of a horse suggestion

In closing, I'd just like to see a payoff for carrying around such a heavy weapon and taking to long to wind-up to swing with it.

 

[okiN]

This is an age-old topic, but AFAIK there's been no word on whether this is going to be implemented.

 

[Volkier]

Actually I have noticed that for some reason I do more damage with a 1handed blunt (25b) weapon, than a balanced sword of war (35s I think)
My 2handed skill is around 170, my 1handed is around 50...
With 1 handed, I hit for over 40 easily, and quite frenquently, and almost never see a 0damage hit.
With 2 handed sword, I get 0 damage and low 10's and stuff quite frequently, a 40+ is !@#$#! rare.

I don't know where the problem is, but shouldnt a 2hander do a LOT more damage, ESPECIALLY if your skill is so much more, and the raw damage is 10points more. Its like a blunt weapon can already knock somebody out rather than kill them, a piercing weapon is either ranged or a lance which can do couched lance (so for mounted combat) so wouldnt that leave a heavy 2handed slash weapon to do the most normal damage since thats the only use for it? Apparently not so... (Although I still use it cuz' a big 2handed sword looks nicer :)

 

[okiN]

Volkier, blunt weapons have halved armor penalties. Ergo, when you're fighting someone in heavy armor, you might actually do more damage with a military hammer than with a sword of war, especially if you're on horseback (Penalty for wielding the SOW one-handedly).

 

[Volkier]

But wouldn't it make no sense? I mean blunt weapons dont exactly hurt more with a metal armor on, and blunts are already used for knocking people uncontious. So slashing weapons are therefore officially useless? Since they kill AND do less damage? Just thinking for balance's sake should be somewhat the opposite, or at least this needs to be looked at. Like i said I can live with it, but what is the use for 2hand swords then if a blunt which has half the raw damage, outputs twice as much, with 1/10th of the skill of 2handed? Doesn't really make sense..

 

[DaLagga]

I don't really see how you're dealing more damage with a 1hander over a 2hander, especially with more skill into 2handed weaponry. I regularly do 50 or so damage with my balanced SoW with around 200 skill. 1handers usually do 20-30, but i only have 60 or so skill with them. And when it comes to blunt weapons, after a bit of testing i can almost confirm that they do not halve the armor penalty every time. It seems much more random, possibly due to a fairly complex equation governing its armor negating value. But in response to the original post, i agree totally. 2handed blunt weapons are really no match at all for 2handed swords of any variety. It wouldn't be so bad if it were just the damage that was less, but their painfully slow attack speed is the real killer. I do not however think you should be able to hit multiple opponents with them.

 

[Damien]

Maybe weapons could have a momentum rating increased by your skill.. or Power Strike.. or something. This could be further modified by a 'speed bonus' on a mount. This would making blocking more difficult to almost impossible.. at least.. blocking against swords coming down at you full speed from the back of a charging mount... or pollaxes being swung by the crazy buff guy running at you..



And yeah.. blunt weapons actually -do- hurt more when you're wearing armour.. so I understand that design decision..

 

[Orion]

Well, image swinging a sharp sword at some dude in full armor.

You might dent the armor, or maybe even break through it, then you can cut the bastard.

Ok, one cut. Big whoop. Now...

Imagine you swing a big ol' sledgehammer at a guy in full armor.

You put a big ol' dent in his armor, and that guy doesn't shrink when that happens. He's probably got this 3-inch-deep dent sticking in to his side.

Now, THAT hurts a lot more than a cut.

However, thats why people stab each other instead of swinging their swords around. If you stab some one, realisticaly, your chances of piercing their armor are much higher.

 

[Volkier]

But again, stabbing damage is even less than a swing on the same sword.
And yes, 2handed blunts are worse, but I have no idea why my 1handed blunt weapon out-damages my balanced SOW, with me having a lot more skill on 2handers... wierd...

(I don't want to use the blunt cuz' its a hammer.... makes me look pathetic... grr)

 

[LexXxich]

I think, it's becouse you use your 2-hander on too close enemies and so can't hit them with the blade. Try beeing more far from the enemy, when you swing your sword.

 

[Sahran]

I think, it's becouse you use your 2-hander on too close enemies and so can't hit them with the blade. Try beeing more far from the enemy, when you swing your sword.

Or 'leaning' into the swing. I noticed that the AI always beats me to the punch in slashing a weapon at the same time (Even in the arena) but if my avatar turns in the direction of the slash, it can bring the hit sooner than otherwise.

Whether it was stated or not, you could have a check (Fearful of how D&Dish this sounds) Of your strength, skill with given weapon, and/or power strike (Or whatever the skill to increase damage is) check against the enemies' own.

The skill of parrying a blow is decided by the fitness of the player/AI, but the chance of actually stopping that attack can be decided by stat.

 

[Volkier]

Ok honestly, I am going to par all the damage I do and post it here later today. Tried again yesterday, and actually scored a 53 with my 25b, whereas record highest for 2hander was 51 (35s damage)