What's the point of dual sword wield?

[Tyrax]

It seems that the dmg gets lowered to be on par with a single sword...is there any benefit from dual wielding, other than extra crit? I thought it would be two attacks...

[Aestrea]

It hits twice with str + each weapon damage on the same attack

[Tyrax]

Originally posted by Aestrea:

It hits twice with str + each weapon damage on the same attack

It doesn't in my game - Andrea did 20 dmg with 1 sword. After switching to dual wield, she now does 11 dmg with the same sword and 9 with the off hand, which is the same total dmg as one sword before...

[BrokenWing]

you get +5% crit for dual wield, but loose the guard from shield as tradeoff

[Jo]

Is it a worthy trade off in your experience?

[BrokenWing]

not really, because you cant rely on crits and i plan my moves without it.
most times you need to attack an enemy with two characters...crits dont change that often.

[kccviva]

It is tricky to use a assassin. Try build it with every physical/combat damage buff possible, unique sword mainhand, +2 dmg sword in offhand, +3 dmg when mounted, the unique accessory, and character and aide skills that add dmg. Then you should be able to one shot some of enemy with your 2 combat skill.

[FormidableWolf]

It can also pretty much bypass guard as the first hit will be blocked but then then the second won't, the each hit has separate crit chance so overall dual swords do more damage but you trade the defence of a shield

[Digitality]

Currently not much point, aside from movement speed. Damage potential is the same, with a loss of mitigation stats on your end. At first I thought perhaps it was the fact that the attacks are both weighted against enemy defense, but I believe it's actually just bugged.

Originally posted by Aestrea:

It hits twice with str + each weapon damage on the same attack

Currently it does not. Either it's function or it's display is bugged, and based on damage output I believe the former. You can see the appropriate number in the menu pages at camp when you equip two swords, but in battle holding left shift on an assassin will show their Physical Attack stat as it would be with only one sword.

Originally posted by BrokenWing:

you get +5% crit for dual wield, but loose the guard from shield as tradeoff

You also lose the defensive stats from the shield, and you don't actually receive any extra crit rate. Try going into a battle with an assassin wielding two swords, watch your crit rate in the preview window when targeting an enemy, then reload and equip a sword and shield then repeat the process against the same enemy. The crit rate will be the same. It never changes in any menu, and the only condition the skill states is dual swords be equipped. (Some of the passives in this game only function while attacking with the designated weapon, which is a bit of obfuscation I'm not a fan of, but this is definitely not one of them)

It needs to be higher than it is currently anyway if it's the selling point of the class. In most cases it won't make the difference of one shotting or two shotting an enemy regardless.

Originally posted by kccviva:

It is tricky to use a assassin. Try build it with every physical/combat damage buff possible, unique sword mainhand, +2 dmg sword in offhand, +3 dmg when mounted, the unique accessory, and character and aide skills that add dmg. Then you should be able to one shot some of enemy with your 2 combat skill.

Fighting while mounted is pretty much a net loss. I typically dismount before engaging if I no longer need the 2 movement, or only spend one turn mounted and fighting. You lose 10 accuracy and 10 guard while mounted, making you more likely to get guarded, and less likely to guard yourself. And Abyssal Whispers will shred you if there's an enemy dark mage in range. The +3 damage comes at the expense of something else in that passive skill slot as well.

Some of the horses give bonus stats to offset this slightly, but you still benefit from the stats just by having them equipped even if you dismount in the field. Vanguards get their 10 block back with a passive after mastering the class, but not their accuracy.

Altogether a bit of a false choice where the cons outweigh the benefits, but useful to use dragoon style. At least slightly better than standing in a thicket for +10 guard only to get set ablaze just about every time.

Could be better if there were more skills gained for increasing horse skill rank that offset or mitigated the drawbacks.

Originally posted by FormidableWolf:

It can also pretty much bypass guard as the first hit will be blocked but then then the second won't, the each hit has separate crit chance so overall dual swords do more damage but you trade the defence of a shield

The offset is definitely that your own crits are being split into two separate rolls. Though this might weight in player favor if enough damage still gets past the guard to achieve the usual two shot kill.

They aren't dealing more damage though.

[daewrythe]

necro'ing an old topic, I know but I haven't played since launch and decided to recently play again since new game+ is still a thing. is dual wield still terribly broken?