A6 - Weapon Options

[Serene Tempest]

Given how good dual-wielding is, is it worth having a non-Slith pole fighter? Also, how does the trade-off between dual wielding and swords/shields work out? Presumably it's an offense vs. defense trade-off, but how much offense do you give up for how much defense? Assuming that for a dual wielder you plan on training 4-5 levels of dual wielding (I know you can buy the skill, but I'm usually spending most of my money on spells or skills that unlock battle disciplines in my mages) and that those points would be put into other offense skills (Strength, Melee Weapons, Quick Action, Blademaster, or Anatomy as makes sense) for a sword/shield fighter.

[Lilith]

A non-Slith pole fighter is not a good idea at all. Even a Slith pole fighter will start to fall behind toward the end of the game, although the Jade Halberd makes up for that to some extent: he'll still do less damage than a dual-wielder, but will have somewhat higher defenses.

 

Sword and shield isn't really worth it at all for anyone who's going to be in melee combat: you can basically dual-wield right from the start of the game and consistently do more damage than if you were using a shield. You'll take maybe 20% more damage from physical attacks and lose the stat benefits that some shields can provide, but shields just cripple your offensive power so badly that they're not worth it. If you need more defense, you can use the Bonding Knife as your secondary weapon: you get it reasonably early in the game and the benefits are more than worth the penalties. It's arguably a better defensive tool than a shield is.

[Randomizer]

The only time you really need a shield is for the fighter that you send in for Sorengard's construct tests and that's because you are using him as a meatshield to soak up damage from the constructs.

 

After you reach the Eastern Gallery the quality of swords dramatically increases and you can find other ways to increase defense. Hardiness, parry, resistance, some sword defensive bonuses, and spells will make up for not having a shield.