What is the best weapon setup and why?

[Exarch_Alpha]

1- single weapon
2- single weapon with shield
3- 2 weapons
4- 2 handed weapon

I ask because overall I´m not very sure about using shields in some classes and even less 2 weapon style

[Brian_the_Brute]

Depends on gear/class.

1- Duellist's Prerogative with Bhaalist armor. Extra attack, crit on 19+, +necrotic, bleeding, double piercing damage. Can use dex or str bonus.

2- Shart with shar spear, adamantine shield and polearm master feat. Protection and maxes out her limited abilities compared to fighter classes in melee and prevents crits on her.

3- Belm and Justiciar's scimitar. good for a max dex character like a rogue. Lot's of extra magical abilities and makes the most of the dex mod.

4 - Baldurian's Giantslayer wielded by a smiting paladin and great weapon master. lots of things go bye-bye in 1 round.

[Pat Fenis]

2-4 all have their uses. 1 is only if the character doesn't have shield proficiency, but then they tend to 2hand their quarterstaff or dual wield stat sticks (e.g. undermountain king and rhapsody)

[Exarch_Alpha]

Ok but what about using other 2 hand weapons than great sword and maul? I feel halberds and glaives shoud come earlier (if they have good polearms that I´m missing tell me, obviously I´m talking act 1 and 2)

[Pat Fenis]

There are good polearms. They roll 1d10 instead of 2d6 for extra reach, nothing wrong with that. They also benefit from great weapon master. 2 of the best are in act 2, the sorrow from act 1 is not too shabby either.

Act 1: Raid/Save the grove - Sorrow glaive.
Goblin camp, Roah Moonglow - Monsterhunter glaive
Goblin camp, Grat the trader - Returning pike
Creche - Skinburster halberd

Act 2: Moonrise towers. Bugbear vendor - Halberd of vigilance
Free the Nightsong - Moonlight glaive
Last Light, Dammon - Harmonium halberd

[guard65]

I always run one Two-Handed Character and a Second Sword and Shield player that run side by side. The One makes them selves a target, usually always using reckless and then the other gets ether a bonus reaction attack, a protection reaction, or a shield bash (prone). The combo works best for my fighting style but you may want to use other combo front line tactics.

[AokiYakumo]

Brian's got the best take here: the answer to your question is going to rely ENTIRELY on your class setup and the gear you wish to take advantage of.

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I've found that BoL + any of the good shields just makes for a really chonky frontliner that doesn't really go down much. I did that for my PLD/WLK setup with Shield of Devotion and BoL, and since SHeart had the Luminous gear, I strapped on some of the Wapira set and Callous Glow to be a wall. I didn't have much issue with damage because I had 3d6+10 per swing regardless while Hex was up, with 23 AC and a minimum +4 to all saves with a bunch of status immunities & saving throw bonuses.

Sword-&-Board also makes a really tanky thrower. Shield of Vigilance on Karlach while she's holding Nyrulna or Lightning Jabber means she has crazy high initiative, crazy high DPR output, good AC, Perception advantage which is clutch for some encounters, etc.

Realistically like 95% of the combinations you do that don't go for the full-auto setups of physical DPSs are gonna be support casters or frontline walls. These will be Abjurer Gales, Radiant Orb SHearts (specifically with BoL and Adamantine Shield), Bladepact Wylls, or even Thrower Karlachs or Buffer Mintharas (with Phalar Aluve and Shield of the Undevout).

Something to point out, despite claims to the contrary: Belm is technically a sword-&-board weapon because its BA attack has no CD. It's tempting toe dual wield with it, but it's redundant unless you want KotUK as a statstick (and at that point turn dual wielding off and go ham with Belm).

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For Single Weapon + free hand setup, honestly you won't really see that fully set up until Act III, because you need the dueling gloves from Act II and the Duelist's Prerogative in Act III. You also are basically locked into Dueling Style with no reliable off hand attacks, making this feel much more like a skirmisher type build than even a dual wielder. Pretty sure the only ones going sword-&-no-board are some niche caster/ranger/rogue setups.

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Now, dual wielding, ho buddy this one's a nest egg.

First off, like MOST combinations of any two light weapons (or any two one-handers with Dual Wielder) are exceptional on paper. Justiciar Scimitar + KotUK is a really baller opener into Act III until you get either Bloodthirst or Rhapsody. Thorn Blade + Shining Staver on someone holding an "until long rest" conc. like PfE&G, PfE, Stoneskin, etc., is a crazy damage amp. Once you unlock Dual Wielder, the best buffer setup outside Menthol's preferred builds is Phalar with the Staff of Arcane Blessing.

It's even good for some casters, too: Dual Wielding two staves with Arcane Battery, or two staves that amp Save DC, or hell even Mourning Frost/Spellsparkler and Markoheshkir for cold/lightning builds. Staff of Cherished Necromancy with Woe while wearing Balduran's Helm, Robe of the Weave, and Ring of Regen is a self-healing powerhouse of a caster capable of unleashing hell with necromancy spells.

Trick here is: you REALLY want 3 levels of Rogue for Thief's Fast Hands. That 2nd offhand attack, or the ability to make an offhand attack while still itemizing other BA stuff like Hex, Hunter's Mark, Cunning Action, Misty Step, Healing Word, Sanctuary, Aura of Vitality, etc., is just SOOO good, too much so to pass up. This allows Thieves to have 3 attacks by 3rd level as well, which can allow them to keep up with other martials save for MNKs.

Bearing that in mind, you may want to plan your class progression to snag those 3 ROG levels at some point for that 2nd BA. BRD 8 / CLC 1 / ROG 3 is I think unironically the best healbot in the game with Warden of Vitality (4d6+17/20 with the full Wapira Set per turn for one minute using only a single 3rd level spell slot can be a CRAZY amount of heals and is super slot efficient. Won't beat potion spam which is easy to plan around given how easy it is to get potions in BG3, but it's DAMN close), and they can hold Phalar and Arcane Blessing to moonlight as a buffer.

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Two-handed weapons are honestly the generic beatdown setup. 1d10 to 2d6 + 15 + weapon bonuses, 2-6 times a round, with Hexes, Hunter's Marks, and Smites, pumping all the juice into as many damage buffs as possible while making sure they are layered with attack buffs and targeting opponents with advantage to kill em ded. These are your Battlemasters, your BRBs, your PLDs, your Witch Knights (PLD/WLK), and some RNGs.

One really funny build is using Skinburster with Rippling Force Mail, which comes online at early Act II. You take massively reduced physical damage and depending upon your attack count you can pulse with force damage in a wide AoE to add to your overall DPR. Just be careful that other allies are not in line of fire, you may end up breaking friendly spells that way (if you trigger a CON save enough times - like 20+ - one of them's bound to f*ck you, it's why Magic Missile' my go to conc. buster).

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However, it really does come down to personal preference, playstyle, class progression, and item availability. There's no one right answer, a thousands good answers, and a hundred funny answers. Pick which suits you and gun it.

[RamboRusina]

2 weapons early, two handed mid and late game. For ranged titan string bow early, 2 hand xbows mid to late game. Early game reliability is bigger issue for consistent damage. Mid game getting +10 damage to two handers or hand xbows creates far bigger damage while you are at point you can mitigate accuracy loss.

[Pat Fenis]

Originally posted by AokiYakumo:

I've found that BoL + any of the good shields just makes for a really chonky frontliner that doesn't really go down much. I did that for my PLD/WLK setup with Shield of Devotion and BoL, and since SHeart had the Luminous gear, I strapped on some of the Wapira set and Callous Glow to be a wall. I didn't have much issue with damage because I had 3d6+10 per swing regardless while Hex was up, with 23 AC and a minimum +4 to all saves with a bunch of status immunities & saving throw bonuses.

You playing with mods? Or do I misunderstand something? BoL is what, blood of lathander? It does 1d6. Hex does 1d6. You aren't getting 3d6 out of that unless you count on always critting. If BoL is some other 2 handed weapon then you aren't using a shield. I see nothing in warlock or paladin kit to give an additional damage die. There is also no wapira set. There is a crown but that only affects healing, not damage.