Two-handers or Weapon + shield?

[Sloul Des Tucs]

Initially I made an Armmaster, and was aiming to get him a two-handed axe.
But after some thoughts, I wonder if medium weapon + shield wouldn't be better?
It seems that the dodge that you get from the shield can get quite impressive.

What works best in your experience?

[HoHoHO]

high defense doesn't matter if you can't taunt an enemy

[Mikeavelli]

The AI just attacks whoever is nearest so you dont need taunt.

2H weapons are generally better, but RNG loot doesnt drop as many 2H weapons, so you might want to mix it up. One party member with a 2H, another with sword and shield.

[HoHoHO]

again, no taunt so high defense doesn't matter.

Surround a boss with melee units (e.g. tank, armmaster, and thief) and the boss will prioritize the non-tank units first and killing them. Ranged units? No taunt so non-tank melee units will die if they have no defense. Enemies overwhelm you with numbers? Tank will have 2-3 enemies on him, but so will the rest of your melee units so non-tank will die first while the tanker does poor damage.

so your non-tank melee units must have high defense too. And it they need high defense too, then there's no point making a dedicated tank.

and by the time you get access to good shields, you'll also have access to good two-handed weapons.

[Chemical Games]

Hate to revive a 2 month old conversation, but I just bought the game recently and am already sort of regretting going for a Champion who specializes in 2-handed/heavy weapons.

Cleared out the starting areas, lighthouse, wrecked ship and got the cleric (Driina) from the first town. Haven`t found a single 2-handed weapon or heavy weapon in all the treasures and vendors available. Not even a crude one.

Roland started with one, so I gave him my fine shortsword so my character could use his 2-hander, but since you lose all your starting equipment after you crash, i lost it. Luckily, Roland got to keep the fine shortsword I gave him. Haven't seen a single heavy or 2-hander since.

I feel like the starting vendor should carry at least one crude version by default or something.

At least I`ve been lucky with what I have been finding though. Already rocking full plate mail with magic enchantments as well as a magic helmet of +1 healing and a decent shield and mace. Still... would really love to utilize my character to his fullest...

[gallaghan2000]

Unfortunately, I think that you're intended to give Roland everything if you want to keep anything.

Frankly, at this point I'm ready for the ability to skip the effing prologue.

[listless]

I don't know, watching Roland cut his way across the battle-map cleaving multiple enemies in a row in one turn is pretty satisfying. I wouldn't mind having two characters like that.

Don't you get all your equipment back when you trade in the telescope?

[Chemical Games]

Originally posted by listless:

I don't know, watching Roland cut his way across the battle-map cleaving multiple enemies in a row in one turn is pretty satisfying. I wouldn't mind having two characters like that.

Don't you get all your equipment back when you trade in the telescope?

I did not. I got some random equipment. A fine knife, some armor and I think some gold.

[Chemical Games]

FINALLY found one! After 7.7 hours of gameplay...
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3342076399

[Chrisme]

Turns out that getting a greatsword (or any weapon you like really) isn't all that difficult once you reach the refugee camp. It's mostly a matter of having enough coins. Just by running the roads up and down you often run into an arms trader who sells several randomly generated weapons of a specific type (e.g. bow, mace, ...).

There is also a trader in the pirate cave who regenerates his inventory regularily. By saving outside the cave you can savescum your way to the weapon of your dreams. Having enough money is the main problem really.

Edit 1: always make sure to buy/sell with the character who has the highest diplomacy skill
Edit 2: with free weapon choice two-handed weapons are the better pick in general in my opinion. The shield skill tree offers very little that is actually useful (phalanx is extremely irritating even) and the dodge bonus is also of questionable value as dodging does not occur very often. You often take less damage by dealing more damage yourself (panicking enemies, etc.). Having a dedicated defender for strong opponents can still be useful but there aren't so many.