Weapon of Choice Options

[Lord Revan]

After years of gaming and reading up on the subject, I'm curious what y'all think on the subject of fantasy's staple weapons. I encourage you to leave a brief explanation as to what your weapon of choice is. Feel free to mention something I have missed in the poll.

*The swords of Europe tend to have a straight, double-edged blade and a cruciform outline (exceptions like the saber and cutlass exist). Eastern Swords are characterized by curved, single-edged blades optimized for slashing (scimitars, katanas, ect). I am by no means a technical expert in either class, so this definition is nothing more than a cursory way to distinguish one type from the other.

**A better definition for blunt is a hafted weapon. Both axes and various bludgeons are wielded in a similar manner although axes have a cutting edge. For simplisity's sake, they are all classified as blunt weapons.

This post has been edited by Lord Revan: Feb 13 2011, 12:06 AM

[ghastley]

In a lot of games, and I'd probably have to include TES IV, there's not a lot of difference between any of the single-hand weapons. Same animations, similar damage, reach and speed. There will be more difference between types of the same class, than between the classes. So it normally comes down to bow, sword and board, or two-handed, as the three real choices that make a difference. Many games give you no choice but to use all of them (or magic) in different situations. An enemy with a ranged attack that you can't reach needs a ranged response, so blunts or blades aren't going to help, but then tight, twisty tunnel dungeons don't let you use a ranged attack like a bow.

Then there's the usual rock, paper, scissors situation where the best weapon to use depends on the enemy. Bow beats two-hander beats sword+board beats bow (or the other way round with different game mechanics). Any game's going to build that in.

But for looks, a two-handed sword every time!