Hello all. Well, I'm very close to finishing the game (maybe even tonight) and I was thinking about using a fighter with dual weapons
next time around. Thing is, my current level 25 fighter hardly ever
gets hit with 100 shield. So my question would be, is dualing worth it?

Thanks

Helix

i like dueling... get more attacks a around, and if your using a fighter/valk/lord etc there is a kickass 2ndary weapon lying aorund, diamond eyes. add haste, buff your dual weapon & close combat skills and watch him clobber

I find duel wielding is definitely worth it. Sure, your fighter may never be hit while having a shield (Esp. a *Light* *Shield*) but that doesn't make up for the fact that he's missing out on HUGE damage potential by having a secondary weapon. Besides, fighters have such enormous hit points that I have NEVER had my fighter die from running out of hit points in an incredibly long time. They are just too tough as nails, and if anyone dies from lack of hit points, it won't be them ;) Instant-death spells though.. are another story..

With the diamond eyes your fighter will get several more strikes, doing up to 50 damage with each Diamond Eyes blow, plus a nice chance of knocking the enemy out or paralyzing. And whats more, they get this nifty little +15 communication bonus! (Okay, thats pretty useless..) It was better in Wizardry 7 when you got a personality bonus..

But anyways, I have never seen a situation where you wouldn't want a character to dual-wield, except for non-staff-wielding support characters like certain spell casters and bards. A shield can really help keep them alive, in that case.

Remember though that until your fighter's dual-wielding skill is at least in the 70s or so, you're going to be suffering quite a bit for using two weapons, ESPECIALLY if the second weapon is of a type you are untrained in (Mace/Flail, for Diamond Eyes). Try to boost up your duel-wielding every level, instead of things like Close Combat, or your primary weapon, as these things raise fast on their own. As there are no other secondary mace weapons (that I know of) available besides the Diamond eyes, you may want to train with a secondary dagger like the main gauche early on, or switch to a mace primary weapon to get your mace skill up from time to time.

Hope that helps ya

[ 04-30-2002, 08:21 PM: Message edited by: Charmy ]

hammers work in the secondary slot.

yep - you can buy a hammer from the rapax guy in Arnika - I had Vi dual wield a disruptor mace and a hammer - both bought in arnika.

GodSlayer

I haven't used a shield since I found my first hammer. I really built up dual wield with my fighter with demonsbane and that hammer. I wasn't able to get a lightsword, but I stopped dual wielding when I found excalibur. Then I found diamond eyes, but didn't have a good primary. Even after I got the ivory blade, I still found that I did more damage with excalibur. But a lot of that is personal preference. Some people really don't like two-handed weapons, or the -5 initiative. But I've never used a shield, and none of my front-line guys have had ANY problem staying alive since the Arnika road outside of the monestary. (I'm just heading to Ascension Peak tonight) Just be sure to have that full-powr magic screen and armorplate up at all times, and you should be ok, and dealing a significant amount of damage.

Thanks for all the good info. You've convinced me. I'll set up my
next party tonight. Got to place the final artifact and have a
little chat with Dark Savant first.

Helix

don't make my mistake. I was useing 6 bishops, boy is that a long
job.