Why use slashing weapons?

[csouth1]

My understanding is that slashing weapons do more overall damage but much of it gets blocked by armor.  Well, since crushing and piercing weapons seem to do a fine job of killing unarmored opponents themselves, is there a reason to use slashing weapons in this game?

 

[Ringwraith #5]

Hmm, reach and speed? Piercing weapons are either spears, which are slow and suck at short range, or various morningstars, picks, and the like, which have very limited reach. Not to mention that you can stab with most swords, doing piercing damage, so there's really no reason not to use them.

 

[Toffey]

Slashing weapons work fine when you're going full speed on a horse. Plus, you can't thrust well with a sword on a horse, blunt weapons are usually short and couching a spear takes a while.

 

[Durandal]

My understanding is that slashing weapons do more overall damage but much of it gets blocked by armor.  Well, since crushing and piercing weapons seem to do a fine job of killing unarmored opponents themselves, is there a reason to use slashing weapons in this game?

Slashing and piercing weapons also tend to have a slightly higher base damage to begin with. So against unarmored opponents, they do great.

 

[Uther]

Yeah slashing weapons do fine against leather armor.
If you are a cavalry unit with decent power strike and weapon specialty you can get by with a sword anywhere.

Military picks are nice if you are in a siege, trying to kill many armed opponents.

 

[AWdeV]

A decent axe with a decent powerstrike wouldn't, no. Quite a lot of damage, and most enemies aren't armoured enough to deal with blows like that.

But yeah, slashing works best if you have a decent speedbonus, or against unarmored people. Never mind that it still is fun to axe your armoured foes.

 

[Momaw]

The only slashing weapons that are kind of pointless, IMHO, are the one-handed cut-and-thrust swords.  The thrust takes too much fiddlyness to execute and the slash does too little damage. Sabres don't do so well on armored opponents but they are very quick and you can wade through conscripts and bandits like a chainsaw through butter. One-handed axes are very effective owing to a high base damage combined with short reach (you only do maximum damage at maximum reach, which means shorter weapons, once you can hit, are more likely to hit hard) . Two-handed anything is just brutally effective. Well, okay, maybe not the voulge and cheapest axe.

 

[Archonsod]

The voulge is devastating once you know how to use it

Slashing weapons tend to be quicker than blunt weapons, and less fiddly to employ than piercing weapons. Swords often combine slashing and piercing, making them useful if you don't know what you're likely to be facing, or are up against a mix of armoured and unarmoured opponents.

Axes get bonus damage against shields too, which shouldn't be underestimated, particularly for infantry.

It all depends on how much higher the cutting damage is to the equivalent piercing or blunt weapon. The higher the armour, the more useful the pierce or blunt damage is. Against most enemies it translates to around 5-10 extra damage

 

[Momaw]

The voulge is devastating once you know how to use it

Perhaps you'd explain the proper use of the voulge then?  I always found it a very poor weapon, as the axes and bardiche do more damage without being slow, and the two-hander swords are quicker.

 

[DaveDaDude]

i used to always use swords since theyre cool and i see them alot in movies 

but recently i was captured, lost my equipment except a military pick that was in my inventory and i used that

ITS AWESOME! Im never going back to a sword, i can actually one hit kill armored knights now when i ride past them 

I recommend every at least try it for a few battles.

 

[Berpol]

In most games I used either morning star or battle axe. Against the heaviest troops the morning star had better results, against lightly armored troops the axe was better so I often carried both. I haven't found a good twohanded blunt or piercing weapon so I usually use the great axe here, I often need only one hit for a knight to leave his horse (unless they get the same grave ).
The same applies for my companions, I tested them with different weapons but I got best results by using these weapons.

 

[Weren]

My axe has never had any issues of killing armoured enemies.

mine neither.

 

[Gerin]

The voulge is devastating once you know how to use it

Perhaps you'd explain the proper use of the voulge then?  I always found it a very poor weapon, as the axes and bardiche do more damage without being slow, and the two-hander swords are quicker.

I believe a balanced voulge is 51c on the damage scale.  The regular voulges are just plain weak, agreed.

 

[Berpol]

The "Balanced" does not change that much. But as Momaw said above:

...you only do maximum damage at maximum reach, which means shorter weapons, once you can hit, are more likely to hit hard...

So even if the voulge has a high base damage it is only so high when the enemy is at maximum range. Because of their weapon length most will be nearer, at normal melee range you get better damage with the short one- and twohanded axes. And if your troops use these weapons they get closer to the enemy thus decreasing his damage while improving their own - in a duel between AI fighters with great axe against great sword the axe usually wins.

 

[Ringwraith #5]

i used to always use swords since theyre cool and i see them alot in movies 

but recently i was captured, lost my equipment except a military pick that was in my inventory and i used that

ITS AWESOME! Im never going back to a sword, i can actually one hit kill armored knights now when i ride past them 

I recommend every at least try it for a few battles.

Yeah, that's because it does piercing damage, loads of it. And what's even better, unlike the morningstar it requires NO strength to use. If you're low level, or focus on Int skills, it's an ideal weapon for dealing with armored foes.

 

[csouth1]

Ah...the heavy morningstar.  Great piercing damage and 98 reach.  What's not to love?  If you say speed then you just havent gotten the timing down yet

 

[Momaw]

Ah, I see the point of confusion:  there are two "voulges".  I am talking about the "old" one, which has a wide rusty brown blade with a curved sabre-like tip.  The "new" voulge, which you never see because nobody carries it, has a square blade with a spike tip... That one looks like it's on par with the bardiche and I have no objections toi it.

 

[Sporky]

The only time slashing weapons frusterate me is when I'm on foot, and have like 5 people chasing me and it keeps getting blocked by their armor. Otherwise if you're on a horse it's fine. It's personal opinion. Whatever you're best with use.

 

[Dragonspawn]

I use a lance in mounted combat, couched damage will one shot anything

I used an axe in sieges

 

[insomniac]

I don't use one handed swords. I prefer military pick. It has bonus against shields even it doesn't say so in game.

But great sword is one of my favorite. With a power strike skill something like 5, armored opponents are not a problem plus it is much more speedy than axes which makes you survive against multiple enemies rushing.