This is a page about a combat tactic. For other uses, see Two weapon combat.
Two weapon combat, also referred to as dual-wielding, is the practice of fighting with a weapon equipped in each hand.
The benefits of fighting with two weapons are quite obvious — the PC gets to strike at the opponent twice in the one turn, potentially killing it more quickly than if fighting with one weapon. Fighting with two weapons also poses significant drawbacks, which are explained in the manual.
Drawbacks of dual wielding[]
To-hit penalties[]
- PCs that are not Rangers will firstly get a penalty of -6 to-hit for both weapons, due to the complications of handling two weapons at once.
- All PCs get a further to-hit penalty depending on the total weight of the weapons wielded. The manual gives the formula for the weight penalty as:
MAX(0, (Weight of the two weapons / 10) - 6)
There is no penalty if the combined weight of the two weapons is 60s or less; otherwise, penalty is 1 per 10s over the 60s cutoff.
The second penalty is adjusted slightly for level 32+ Rangers : see Special cases.
Note that attacks with the left hand get an additional to-hit penalty as alluded to in the Weapon Skills section of the manual (it seems to vary by Class).
Increased energy cost[]
Fighting with two weapons requires an energy cost of
800 + (energy cost for attacking with weapon with less skill marks)
e.g.: For a PC fighting with a sword and an axe, with a skill level of 12 with swords but unskilled with axes, and without the Two weapon combat skill, energy cost for melee is 1800 energy points.
The extra cost can be quite a significant one, as it often allows the opponent to get in more attacks in the same turn as well as the PC. The extra cost applies even if the PC managed to kill their opponent on the first strike, thus only actually using one weapon. This extra energy cost can be reduced by up to 400 points by the corresponding skill.
Special cases[]
- The Two weapon combat skill adds +1 to-hit per 20 skill points, and decreases energy cost of dual-wielding by 4 per 1 skill point.
- Rangers get reductions on the to-hit penalty via class powers — essentially doubling the previous weight limit each time.
For level 32+ Rangers, this is reduced to
MAX(0, (Weight of the two weapons / 20) - 6)
For level 50+ Rangers, this is reduced to
MAX(0, (Weight of the two weapons / 40) - 6).
- Needle and Sting: when the twin daggers are wielded together, the PC receives a to-hit (and damage) bonus of +50 to both daggers.
- Using two whips requires far more energy than normal, depending on PC's Dexterity. At Dx:10, the penalty is an additional 920 energy. The penalty goes down by 40 energy per 5 dexterity points — reaching 200 at Dx:99.
Two weapon combat as a tactic[]
The energy cost alone of two weapon combat makes it a risky tactic... in certain situations.
When choosing whether to fight with one weapon or two, the main things to consider are the PC's health situation, how many hits would be required to kill an opponent, and how many opponents the PC is facing at the one time.
After attacking a monster with two weapons, the added energy cost usually means that each opponent that the PC is facing will be able to take an increased number of actions in one turn. On the other hand, attacking twice with one weapon is likely to cost more energy points — though the PC has a break in between the opponents' turns to change tactics.
If the PC is well protected against monster attacks, and has powerful weapons, dual-wielding certainly is ultimately more cost-effective — especially in situations where the opponent would survive one hit but not a second, saving the PC from an attack. In any case, the PC should be still be cautious trying this against fast and strong monsters like the cat lord, since whether the opponents attacks are spaced out or all the same turn can make the difference between life and death for the PC.