is there any point to using 1 handed weapons when axes/hammers work just as well if not better?

[bearsboi]

am i missing something when it comes to the effectiveness of one handed weapons late game? my termite axe just does more damage even more than other weapons that say they have the same damage. it also swings faster and you can use it for more than just combat obv. i know some of them have unique effects like the termite sword has life steal but it doesnt seem all that great. just not sure

[Flyingbox]

Each weapon has a damage type, a passive, and a potential element unless you go mighty.
There are boons and caveats to each weapon and some revolve around the passive they have.

Raw damage is a thing and any weapon can bring down a monster but you can go with efficiency and play against weaknesses of monsters.

[Jaggid Edje]

If all you use is axes and hammers you only have access to chopping and busting. You don't have stabbing or slashing in your arsenal. So, not only can you not take advantage of those when an enemy is weak to them, but you also will meet some enemies that are resistant to both chopping and busting.
And all that before you take into account the layer on top of that of salty/sour/spicy/minty.

It's very advantageous to take advantage of enemy weaknesses, in terms of how quickly you kill things. It's very dis-advantageous to fight an enemy that is resistant to the weapon you are using. That alone is enough to make carrying a few additional weapons around worth it.

[bearsboi]

oh ok i didnt actually know some bugs had certain damage type weaknesses. i knew there were different damage types but didnt know. makes sense

[haggy409]

scan them with your "binoculars" (default x key) then it will show there weaknesses in the "data" tab

[bearsboi]

Origineel geplaatst door haggy409:

scan them with your "binoculars" (default x key) then it will show there weaknesses in the "data" tab

ive been trying to collect creature cards the whole game and just realized they actually showed weaknesses and resistances lol thanks

[Sharkinbear]

And if you are into collecting then it might also be cool to know that there are gold versions of all the data cards for killing a specific bug over and over. Just cosmetic but some people like to be completionist.

[pcdeltalink]

Also, hammer combo still kinda sucks. It's nice that it even has a combo now but it is way slower than other one handed weapons.

[76561198972294167]

Using a 1-handed weapon has an advantage.

One you can carry a shield and two you can bring a torch, which is pretty needed if you had to go underground.

[Hoodzy]

i really hate carrying a shield, here's why: I swap to my bow a lot and I hate being full bags and can't put my shield away. To me inventory space is horrid in this game, and that error message in combat is infuriating enough to never use a shield. Perfect parry for me only.

[[HdF] Almut Grete]

2-handed weapons seem much stronger, but it only seems to be that way. Upgreaded to lvl 9 and with the right (levl 3 perks) 1-handed outshines 2-handed by far (prolly even on lower levels). Much more atack-speed, still high damage and you get around 22+ attacks before stmina is out. DPS is crazy on 1-handed and you got to use a real shield on top.

Looking at wolf-spiders you will kill one in 4 blows 1-handed, while useing 3 with 2-handed (parks and propper weapon-category ofc). The seeming advantage of 2-handed vanishes with better gear.
I still use 2-handed for the big bosses though, might not be dumb with the bigger hp-pool.

You also get all the weapon-categories on 1-handed (chop, slash, bust and stab) and can add on every secondary-aspect (spicy, fresh, etc.) as you like.
T3-Axe, T3-Hammer and a T3-spear with a fire-ant-shield will get you everywhere fast and safe.

[RequiemsRose]

I personally find myself loving the axe, but I'm also pretty new to the game and was slightly concerned it might not cut it for tier 3 when all sorts of neat new elemental weapons become available. So far though, as long as you are at least decent at blocking it's doing pretty good. I dont even have perfect block fully grasped, though I love it for everything I have figured the timing out on. It felt incredibly awesome to perfect block an ox beetle with a tier 2 weapon and have that anime moment where we both slide back before charging back at each other lol. I'm no expert at this game, but it does seem like you can get away with doing whatever style works for you as long as you can figure out how to use the mechanics to your advantage while doing so.

That said, some things die faster if you kill them a certain way. Like spiders hate spicy (and chopping, which my axe is anyway), so I've thoroughly enjoyed terrorizing them with it. Payback has been delivered you dang wolf spiders! You can match damage types to weaknesses to make your attacks more effective, or just go with pure raw power. Either way it's going to hurt your buggy enemies, sometimes it just hurts that little bit extra, which on critters with massive health might actually be worth caring about sometimes (or if you are on "Whoa!" difficulty, havent played that but I hear you basically need every advantage you can give yourself on that one).

[Jaggid Edje]

Yep, @RequimRose, on enemies with high health bars, particularly on Whoa difficult, the number of hits needed to kill an enemy can be 40+ more if you aren't taking advantage of their weaknesses.

Just as an example, using a Termite Axe against Antlions on Whoa difficulty, took 69 hits to kill it with just a Mighty Termite Axe while it only took 49 hits with a Salty Termite Axe.
Ant lions are resistant to chopping, but weak to Salty, so you can see it's a really significant difference between a weapon they are resistant to, compared to one they are both resistant and weak to. With a Salty Antlion Greatsword, which they are doubly weak against (slashing and salty), it only took 29 hits.
Very significant differences for weaknesses and resistances, it's not minor at all.

Here's the thread where this comparison came from, that has even more comparisons. My takeaway from that thread is that you're going to work twice as hard, or more, if you aren't leveraging weaknesses and avoiding resistances.
I always carry the Club of the Mother Demon also, though, for when I dont' have a weapon that they aren't at least partially resistant to. Seeing as with that, if you leave it as a Mighty weapon, nothing is 'resistant' to it.

(Worth mentioning that those 'hits' figures above involve single hits, no combos, and with 0 combat buffs of any kind from any source. Added this disclaimer so no one gets the notion that Whoa difficulty is outright ridiculous.)

[Mrrshan68]

Hammers and axes also tend to swing much slower than actual weapons (particularly hammers), seriously compare axe swing speed with something like a tick macahuatil. You lose a big chunk of dps right there, especially since its a massive dps boost if you pull off a full 3 hit combo. Obviously you are going to combo more if you swing faster.
The weapons that swing at the same speed as an axe (like the salt morning star) have other benefits like massive stun per hit.
The tools (mostly the axes) are passable as weapons but really the true weapons have many more perks. They can steal life, you can throw spears for massive damage. They swing faster so you gain more combo damage, they stun faster.
I mean you might not think its worth the hassle to carry them but the weapons are objectively quite a bit better than using a tool.