Dual Wield Quesiton

[Moeror]

What is the rule of thumb for dual wielding in this game? Should it be a fast weapon main hand and slow offhand? I'm a harbinger if that helps.

[nathrakh]

It takes the average speed of the weapons.

[RJFerret]

I prefer two fast weapons. Realize as Nathrakh pointed out, the DPS listing just an estimate, and vastly "wrong" when you dual wield.

As has been noted elsewhere, which weapon you strike with is random, so plan accordingly when you are using attack skills.

[accelerator]

I'll probably need to confirm this in-game but I had built up the impression you do attack more often with the main hand weapon. IF this is true, then a faster main hand weapon with a maximum damage per swing in off-hand (read slow weapon) will increase your real DPS due to the dual wield procs on the alternate hand ignoring attack speed.

Thats is if the cornerstone of my hypothesis isnt pure BS

[nathrakh]

Your cornerstone is crumbling....

As I said.. it takes the average speed of the two weapons. Weapon hand doesn't matter.

Dual wield -talent gives a chance to use BOTH weapons same time. If you zoom a little you can see the different animations of tumult, cross cut and dual wield.

[BlueCrayon]

I haven't used any of the dual-wield skills for my conqueror yet. I just basically maxed out the good bashing skills. I would love to get people's thoughts on dual-wield. I know it looks cool, but is it better than the classic weapon and shield combo???

[nathrakh]

For conqueror. Style-wise? Maybe. Damage+defence -wise? Absolutely no.

[RJFerret]

I totally agree with nathrakh, shields are really powerful, blocking 100% of their rated damage (including piercing).

Don't get me wrong, I love dual wielding and doing all that extra damage. I've said it before and will say it again, in this game I really believe the best defense is a strong offense.

That being said, more often than not you find me carrying a shield rather than another weapon. (Shields frequently have great bonuses too, like strength, or resistances.)