So I know the basics of weapons already. It's a good idea to practice all the weapon skills your particular class can learn because even if you don't intend to use a certain weapon, knowing how it works helps in your defense against it. This post is more so I can learn the differences in the different weapons. Like if I play a thief or assassin or anti-paladin or whatever. Why would someone choose a spear or staff over a sword and shield? Or dual wielding a sword and an axe? What exactly are the advantages and disadvantages to the different weapons out there?

A couple things that I don't think got mentioned already:

1) Different weapon classes tend to have different weights. For example, it's not hard to find very light daggers, so a weaker race might get some use out of them, especially against opponents who try to sap your strength. It's always good to have one super-light weapon on hand in case things get ugly, and good luck finding too many super-light maces or axes. (Also remember that you can always offhand a shield (barring a broken wrist) regardless of weight, although we've discussed changing that, so keeping a shield on hand is often useful.)

2) Two-handed weapons are also more difficult to disarm by most methods.

3) Different weapons work better or worse against specific defenses. For example, clunky weapon classes tend to be easier to dodge but harder to parry. Some opponents rely heavily on only one kind of defense, and you can try to work against that.

All of the things in the thread are fairly small effects individually, and multiple factors are always in play, so don't feel locked into trying things only one way. If you're having trouble with particular opponents, try a couple different approaches.

valguarnera@carrionfields.com

Some reasons you'd use one weapon over another:

1. Some skills can only be used with a certain kind of weapon. Warrior spec skills are the big one, but also things like backstab, lash, pugil, shield cleave, vault, etc.

2. Of the weapons your class can learn, some probably aren't learned by your opponent. That means they will parry those weapons more poorly and have trouble disarming you when you wield one. So if you're a thief that's going to fight an assassin, wear that mace instead of a sword.

3. Qualities of the weapons in question. Maybe you have maces and axes, and the guy you're fighting knows both. But your maces are mithril while your axes aren't, and this guy's a drow. Use the maces.

The specific classes you mentioned:

Thief- Unless you're a felar, you'll want to stick to mace, sword and dagger. And you'll probably never want to use a dagger as your primary wield, unless maybe you're fighting a paladin. Most of the time mace is preferable, since fewer classes learn it than learn sword. Invokers and Healers are the exceptions to that rule, since they learn mace but not sword. If you are a felar, spear is handy against paladins.

Anti-paladin- There's more variety here, but unless you're a felar, you're still probably going to want to avoid spears. Mostly you'll want axes and maces, though I've seen some anti-paladins make use of whips and flails. Using axe and mace, you can pick a weapon your opponent doesn't know for everyone but warriors, berserkers and other anti-paladins.

Assassin- Unless you're a felar, the prevailing wisdom is to stick with swords. Daggers have limited use against paladins and shamans, but they're light enough that you can carry some around to exploit vulnerabilities for the purpose of assassination. If you're a felar, spear and staff are useful against thieves (staff), anti-paladins (staff), necromancers (either), paladins (spear) and shamans (either).

nt

Obviously, some skills work only (or better) with certain weapon.

Also, parrying with staff is easier than parrying with dagger, other things being equal.

All situation my man. Like you said, knowing the weapons helps with defense, if you an ap fighting an assassin or thief, throw on an axe because they don't know how to use one, or use a dagger vs a paladin as they don't know how to use daggers... Not saying this is what you want to do everytime, but reasons why some people use different waepons. Experiment around with different combos and see what you come up with.