Your thoughts on Dual wielding and sword and shield style

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I just picked up Throne of Bhaal recently, so I need to decide as to what character i want to use and how...

I think it will be a multiclass fighter/mage, but i'm not exactly sure as to whether I should invest ind sword and shield style or dual wielding.

I would welcome any advice..

But please don't gimme any advice with exact weapon stats from ToB, 'cause I want my jaw to drop in it's proper time

 

Two-handed style only if you're really going to use some massive two-handed weapon. A must have for paladins unless you prefer the bastard Purifier from ToB and only have two-handed sword proficiency for Carsomyr. It's also good for Minsc with his good strength and heavy focus on two-handed swords. Jaheira with two-handed style proficiency and massive spears or staves is also fearsome. Dual-wielding is a must-have for Valygar (two katanas, you know ) and Anomen (Crom Fayr + the super hammer from ToB) unless you really need a shield.

Generally if you're using some shield all the time and don't need slots for various weapons, sword and shield style proficiency is nice to have. Only then though.

Recently I've come to appreciate one-handed style that I didn't pay much attention to, treating it only as +1 AC for Nalia and Imoen. However, my present chevalierised cavallier rocks with it. Doesn't get the second dual-wielding attack, but scores criticals twice as often as normally with one one-handed weapon. Plus he has +2 AC. Isn't this nice?

 

Thx guys, I much appreciate it.

 

for more immunities and effects that wepaons gives...go for dual wielding...
or else a good weap and set up for a fighter\mage is GM in quarterstaffs and max out two handed weapon style and single weapon style...using the staff of the magi or the staff of ram.

if u want more ac go for shields....

a good mage cleric is a dual classed kensai\mage.
decent thac0 and a nice amount of spells.

 

Always depends on the situation for me. Even my fighter types who use two handed weapons are specialized in at least one type of single handed weapon. When I need the extra the AC, I use the single handed weapon and a shield. My dual wielding fighters (The NPC's) never use a shield, I just do not see Valygar using one, it would not be his character.

But in the end, it is up to you to use your characters how you see fit. There are plenty of decent shields in the game to use if you want to boost your AC and I think some of the shields even give other bonuses, but I am not sure off hand which ones they are.

 

In one of the guides to BGII (I'm not sure if it's here on SP or not), there's a statistical analysis with lots of maths in it to try and determine which is better. But I never could be bothered to trawl through it, and so I say this about dual-wielding:
Go for it! F/M is a great combination for dual-wielding, because you can compensate for the reduced AC with spells. The fact that you have two weapons will also compensate for the fact that your warrior won't be getting quite as good at toe-to-toe as quickly as a straight Fighter would - assuming, of course you take the necassary number of points in Two Weapon Style.

 

I use a ranger with two weapon style but i think it depends and on your characteristics. I have 19 strength 19 dexterity meaning i get the job done pretty quick with the strength and all the extras i take from this and with my dexterity i get a pretty good AC that doesn't mind me not to have shield. On the other hand i am scared at the thought Anomen with two weapons because of his low Dex at the minus this motion would have on his hit points every time he entered a battle

 

I like arming Anomen with 2 weapons because he can get 3 slots in it, and some of those blunt weapons are choice! You can get around his low Dex in several ways. One is the gauntlets of dexterity. Another is the dexterity boosting potion. A third is the spell "Draw Upon Holy Might", which boosts not only strength but dex and con as well.It really depends on who I'm fighting, though. For low level beasts, an extra hit is always nice, but for REALLY tough guys, it's nice to have a shield sometimes -- especially certain shields and certain beholders, if you get my drift.

 

I used to be a big fan of dual wielding. In fact, any character who I could give at least two stars in dual weilding would dual wield. My thinking was I don't need a shield if I can do more damage, or that I can do more damage with two single handed weapons than one double handed weapon. However, in ToB, I hardly have anyone dual weild. There are many powerful two handed weapons in ToB, and there are some really good shields as well. The one extra attack per round by using a second weapon really isn't worth it, and you'll probably better off spending profiency points in one weapon class, and then the appropriate fighting style (sword with shild, single weapon, or two handed weapon.)

 

Yes, I think Aldeth makes a good point. Sacraficing AC and proficiency points just for an extra attack does seem silly. But then again I like having 2 types of damage flying around each round. 1 slash & 1 blunt, 1 fire & 1 cold, etc. What I like about dual wielding are the endless combination possibilities available, especially with warriors. Plus, it just looks cool.

As for the Sword & Shild style, no cleric/mage should be without this one. In fact, I wouldn't worry about it unless you are a spellcaster, as it doesn't give you any melee combat bonuses. Basically all this does is add to your AC vs. missile weapons (1 slot +2, 2 slots +4) which is invaluable to spellcasters. If your AC vs. missiles is low enough, you won't ever have to waste a spell slot or casting time in battle on "protection from normal missiles" or anything similar. If you have the Travelers Robe, Bracers of AC3, and the Fortress Shield, that alone will give you a normal AC of 0, and -9 vs. Missile Weapons (10AC -1 -7 -7 -4 bonus. Someone correct me if this is wrong.) Since a cleric/mage shouldn't be in melee anyway, this seems to be a great way to go.

 

On my last run through, other than my Cavalier Sorceror, all of my characters Dual Wielded. There are So many great 1 Handed Weapons in the game, many of which give great protective effects or spells, it was hard to rationalize using just one weapon... and I was fine without the extra AC I would have gotten with a shield.

My last run through I played Multi-Player mode and created my party with a HU berserker/wizard, Elf Ranger/Cleric, HU Kensai and a HU Swashbuckler (and of course my Sorcerer and Cavalier). All of these characters were extremely powerful dual wielding. BG2 almost makes dual wielding too obvious a choice in my opinion. I would have prefered to have a bit more variety (a couple of shield slingers, a couple of dual wielders, a 2 handed wielder and a ranged person, for example)... but in BG2 I didn't want to give up the advantages of dual wielding to achieve this balance.

 

Actually, I think you duel-wield not because there are too many good one handed weapons, but because there are too little. So one weapon you feel is not enough, you need a second one. Duel-wield is not solely for an extra attack, but for extra magical powers. (protection, resistance etc) Shield though, is very limited.
I was surprised to see there are no good one handed weapon in ToB. (except an axe) In my own opinion, Forbane is the only better one. The rest are just ok, but not great.
Anyways if you think the weapons are not powerful, you should duel wield. If you think they are very powerful already, then you don't need to.

 

As I've mentioned elsewhere, I dislike sending my PC into melee, so for him (unless he's an archer, of course, or can't use a shield) I have using a shield. Clerics with shields are sweet, as against all logic they can use a sling with a shield.

One of these days I'm going to try a Wizard Slayer with 5 points in Darts. Why? He'll get 4 attacks per round, and each one (IIRC) has an extra chance to screw up a mage. My slayer will have a big frigging shield that's he'll hide behind, and enemy mages will be toast!

 

One interesting thing, later on in TOB, have all the points in shield you want, and the best shield in the game... they are still going to hit you. It's funny when playing against actual people that they think a shield is going to stop my wizard/fighter dual wielding whatever I pick up... Guess again people... Shield is good if you have low hp and can rely on 1 weapon. Best Ac i've ever been able to get is -20 suttin to -30 suttin... Not too helpful against beefed up enemies... They still hit me on natural 2's... If going shield, be careful.

 

For kensai, berserker or stalkers, I go for dual-wielding.
For the other classes, I also don't go for sword and shield as I always prefer to use long-range attack first before letting the enemies near me. So the shield will go to npcs instead. Oh yeah! For cleric, I will go for blunt weapon and shield.

 

That's in Dan Simpson's FAQ, and it determined what all of you have said using mathematics. Dual-wielding is better.

 

Sorry, it doesn't always pay off and it's not what Dan Simpson's FAQ says. I haven't checked the calculations myself, but as Eathlon (who wrote part of the dual-wield analysis in Dan Simpsons FAQ) writes:

"As we all can see from the amount of calculations involved (I've not nearlydone a full analysis) that making a full analysis would be quite large andthat the calculations probably would have to be redone for each fight. So I guess we should just play the game and "get a feeling" for when dual wield pays off. Hey! It's more fun too... =)"

Besides, there are a lot more factors than avg damage per round involved in making an optimal choice.

EDIT: Typo removal.

 

Sorry. I seem to remember someone writing a mini-program to test it that was mentioned in that FAQ.

It's been three years since I've read that, anyway.

 

THACO of ToB baddies is so good, you are going to get hit no matter if you use a shield of not. Extra immunities are worth more than a few extra AC most of the time.

Use a really nasty main hand weapon like Foebane or Axe of Unyielding, then use an offhand weapon like Belm, Kundane, Scarlet Ninja-to for the extra attack with the main weapon. That's right, either of those 3 weapons used in the offhand will allow an extra attack with the main hand weapon in addition to normal off hand attack they allow themselves. One more swing with Foebane or Axe of Unyielding is worth more than any shield in my opinion.

Still I usually have 1 character set up to use a shield, and 1 or 2 set up to use 2 hand weapons like Ravager or Ixil's Spike. That still leaves 1 to 3 characters which can be configured for 2 weapon style.

I personally like Mazzy dual wielding Foebane and Kundane. I also like Valygar using Ixil's Spike (too bad you can't backstab with spears )