Opinion:

Which is better for offense or defense? Is there one specialization that's kind of in the middle?

I've tried alot of warrior specialists, except these two. What are your suggestions for a race when wielding a spear? Do you need a really quick race like arials, or felars with spears? Or should you go for the giants when using spears? Also, when I get weakened one time as an arial spear specialists, am I just going to stop the spear because my strength only starts out at 19? In thinking that should I load up on +str eq?

In theory, I think a quick race with a spear would be great. Quick races learn faster, and are quick enough to dodge, parry, and defensive spin alot, and be very annoying. What is your opinion on spears?


Same with polearms? Are giants just better with them because they are so heavy, and giants are already very big, and strong? Is it easy to get in on a giant when he's wielding a polearm? Just curious, because if the dagger specialists doesn't turn out as I hope, then I'm going to switch again.

Any help is appreciated, thanks.

>Which is better for offense or defense? Is there one
>specialization that's kind of in the middle?

It depends on what you mean by "defense". Spear/Staff generally lets you avoid blows better, but polearm gives you chargeset and cutoff, which can dissuade some people from ever attacking you in the first place.

>What are your suggestions for a race when wielding a spear?

Felar has the advantage of allowing you to dual-wield your claws, meaning you should do more damage than other spear/staff wielders. Felar are also weak, though, so you'll have to wear more +STR gear than a non-felar spear/staff wielder might.

>I get weakened one time as an arial spear specialists, am I
>just going to stop the spear because my strength only starts
>out at 19? In thinking that should I load up on +str eq?

Dropping spears works like dropping any other weapon due to strength loss. The weapon has a weight. Your current strength determines the max weapon weight you can carry. When your strength is lowered past the point at which you can wield your spear, you drop it. Some spears and staffs are lighter than others. Also, not all classes have the ability to significantly lower your strength.

>In theory, I think a quick race with a spear would be great.
>Quick races learn faster, and are quick enough to dodge,
>parry, and defensive spin alot, and be very annoying. What is
>your opinion on spears?

The main problem is that, while you're hard to hit in melee, you don't do a ton of damage, and you have limited ability to lag people. Basically you're stuck with the innate warrior skills (bash/trip) then legsweep (which lags like trip) and misdirect (which, iirc, lags like pincer). You also have limited ability to maledict, compared to some other specs (dagger, mace). While being able to avoid melee hits is nice, it doesn't help you avoid targetted skills and spells. At high ranks, depending on who you're righting against, you may be taking more damage via targetted skills (e.g. flurry, wrath, geyser) than you are from melee hits.

Assassins also tend to have an easy time with spear/staff wielders, since they learn spear/staff and can remove yours via kotegaeshi. Of course, that's why you get a second weapon spec.

>Same with polearms? Are giants just better with them because
>they are so heavy, and giants are already very big, and
>strong?

I'm not sure what influences distance and cutoff, but giants definitely seem to do more damage w/ the "chop" skill. I've never been certain whether it's size or strength related. All I know is that my felar's chop damage wasn't as high as a cloud giant's who was wielding an inferior weapon and had a lower damroll than me. He was both larger and stronger than my felar, though, so I'm not sure which one made the difference.

>Is it easy to get in on a giant when he's wielding a
>polearm? Just curious, because if the dagger specialists
>doesn't turn out as I hope, then I'm going to switch again.

Giants don't dodge very well, so your defenses are based on distance, parry, and a really crappy dodge. A non-giant spear/staff spec will tank much better w/ regard to melee. But, like I mentioned above, you miss out on chargeset and cutoff.

You'll need to restrict yourself to one character only, as many at time are more time-intensive. So, pick one character, focus on learning that class and having fun. After you've picked your main character, delete the other characters and don't reroll after they are gone. Keep only one character at time. This will allow you to better focus on that character and improve the RP quality, as other characters aren't blending with your main character any more.

This restriction will increase the fun of playing that one character and will also give you more time to work on your master thesis and other homework you said you were neglecting. Also, I suggest that you do your homework at the University premises or in a library(unless they need a computer) so that you can't just start playing CF and this kind of arrangement allows you to better separate worktime and playtime. If you have Zmud, MUSHclient or other client at University computer, delete it and play from there no more.

There's the help you need more than warrior spec specifics. Empty page is scary, I know, but all you need to do is write something on it and it is no longer empty. Good luck with the Master Thesis.

After reading your last couple posts, it's obvious you're still in the beginning stages of Carrion Fields. That's not a bad thing, of course. But you are looking way too far into the little details that really don't matter in the grand scheme of things. Any race warrior with any specialization (except maybe a Felar taking sword, axe or mace) will do just fine at hero. Some people say Giants are the best for polearms because they're size strength based. But I played a Svirf polearm spec, and did just fine. There's been successful Felar and Arials who took polearms. It's all about the flavor you want, and not necessarily what the most powerful is. There used to be "power-combo's", but I personally don't think those are as evident today as they used to be. There has been a lot of balancing over the years, which in turn, has led to some unique and unexpectedly strong characters.

In general, polearms are made for the bigger, stronger races.

In general, the weaker, more dextrous races are better suited for spear/staff.

Felar tend to be better for two-handed specs because they still get free claw attacks. The draw back is their low str (17) which means +str gear is a must, and for polearms even that won't cut it a lot of the time. Your max wield weight won't be enough to wield a lot of polearms. Light -and- hard hitting polearms are rare. Which is okay, the killer skills are cutoff and charge. Think 'backstab' with a polearm. Chop is good damage, entrap is very handy indeed and chargeset is an amazingly good defensive skill. Those who attack you (with 'close' skills - there are numerous exceptions) have a chance of simply running onto your weapon instead. Great for stopping blackjacks, ambushes and strangling.

Staffs aren't too offensive but have pugil (high damage) and are great at parrying as well as spin.

Spears are a bit more offensive than staffs (and consequently less defensive). Impale is an excellent skill (-str, -dex, long bleeding). Crescent adds another damage skill.

I would recommend 'giant' for a first time polearm. Being dexy helps but Spears/staffs can go with whatever, spin is more skill based than stat based. Same goes for distance

(though rumour has it, distance is effected by a size vs size check. Sounds silly but who knows whats true!).

Glad to see you've relaxed Enjoy your next char!

Yhorian

But if you are a polearm or spear/staff specialist, and you lose your weapon due to strength loss, you've just narrowed your defenses down to dodge. And even then, dodge likely won't be overly useful if your strength is low. Yes, strength has every bit as much of a role in dodge as dexterity does. If you can carry 250 pounds of stuff and are carrying 175 at the time, and someone drops your strength maybe 6 points, which might lower the maximum weight you can carry to only 150, your dodge will suffer.

So, gear for strength. Watch how much you carry and its overall weight. And if you do lose your primary wield (polearm, spear/staff), have a back-up plan to either wield a lightweight weapon (silver rapier comes to mind) and shield, or to just simply retreat/quaff.