Offhand weapon for mages

[Reykam]

I keep hearing all type of things about this so can anyone confirm to me if the offhand for a mage does matter at all? what i mean is, does it change something if i bring a sword instead of a dagger? Half of the people i hear talking about this say dagger gives you more attack speed, while the other half claim that the only stats considered are the ones of your main hand so dagger or sword doesnt matter, so which one is true?

[BluntForceTrauma]

Why would you want a weapon in offhand as a caster ? Go scepter + shield for the extra defense. Unless you're playing some sort of battle mage

[Aurelia]

i think the attack speed would only matter if you plan to melee things to death, in which case, you've got a different problem to solve, which is switching class :P

I figured the only stats that would really matter would be the boosts to magic attack, or attribute points. (if there's even such a thing as an offhand weapon with bonus magic attack)

[Jim]

I believe there used to be different stat bonuses that weapons gave which is no longer the case. The type of weapon only dictates the damage type from melee attacks. Duel wielding two weapons will increase the speed of spells that do not have a cast time. It doesn't matter what two you choose. If you plan to go some type of build that uses sorcery as your main damage ability (which you will want to since its the most over powered caster choice) you are better off with a 1h + shield or a 2h.

[HelhiganM]

shield can save your life