I have played a 2-handed warrior for many levels (beyond nobility) and feel that there are many things that aspiring low level warriors need to know about 2H combat. The reason that I write this is that I hope to encourage a little more variety in Elanthia. I find it very ho-hum that about half of the older warriors that I see are heavy <insert color here> vultite falchion swingers. There were some great weapons at the last Juggernaut, but about all that I see being used are the falchion and the heavily spiked vultite morning star. I'd really like to see someone swinging that "gruesome imflass war mattock" or the "heavy tempered battle axe". I understand that roleplaying is how we are to differentiate between all of these template warriors, but it isn't a bad thing to add variety to combat.

MAGIC: ***The first thing to know is that as a 2H warrior you are at a severe disadvantage to other warriors with respect to magic defense.*** Understand this and accept it! Too many warriors get past the hill trolls and try titans only to find that they cannot handle magic. The combat system used in GSIII is heavily biased towards shield use, and those of us who don't use shields have a hard row to hoe. Shields add to your Total Defense (TD - effectively this is DS for spells), and with a little training a vultite shield will add more than 50 to your TD/DS in full offense. On the other hand, magical helms, bracers, and greaves, which are available to 2H warriors, have no effect on your TD. As a result, a 2H warrior with good reflexes (90+) will have a TD in the range of 20, regardless of stance, while a weapon and shield user will have a TD of ~70 or better (assuming a vultite shield). That's quite a difference.

2H warriors have two alternatives to try to increase their TD. The first, purchasing magical armor, is not really a viable option as enchanted armor is outrageously expensive. Yet another way in which 2H warriors are disadvantaged. The only thing which you can wear that increases your TD is beyond your price range (at least until you are ~15th level). (Perhaps we could get a little help here from the game designers... They did an admirable job of getting the cost of pocketed items into the realms of sanity with the last Juggernaut; maybe they'll do something for armor...) The other option is to get a lot of spellcasting friends to help you out. Get those massies! Blurries and Guards III together add 35 to your DS/TD. If you are lucky enough to get Colors with it, that is another 10 to tack on to your DS/TD. And there are a whole host of other spells that are cast on individuals. (BTW, I would suggest that you build a mutually beneficial friendship with these spellcasters or you'll be re-rolling somewhere around 15th level. No one likes parasites. Bring them wands, learn to mana share, take them on hunts, etc... They'll often times be more than happy to help you out. At higher levels you will learn that this game requires teamwork, and warriors probably need help the most after 25th.)

WEAPONS: Now you need to learn a few things about the weapons. At low levels round time (RT) is not really that important. Most 2H warriors are killing or stunning their opponents on the first swing, so nothing ever gets to swing back. This is especially true in the rats/gnomes/hobgoblin areas. When there are 5 people waiting in a room, no one gets to swing more than once anyway, so who cares if your RT is 12? ;) This is why there are so many 2H warriors at the low levels. They get the best crits, and everyone likes to be the big damage dealing brute. Once you get to titans though, you'll be in for a surprise. Titans shake off stuns and attack anyway and frost giants are not able to be stunned (by weapons). Oops. At this point a fast RT becomes paramount. Getting the stance dance down (Stance off, attack, stance def, wait for opponent to attack, repeat as necessary) will keep you alive. However, if you have a high RT you will die anyway because your opponent is faster than you. This is why there are so few high level 2H users. Between high RT and low DS/TD we get creamed. In fact, of all of the titled warriors that I adventure with, I only know of 4 that predominantly use 2H weapons. And I know about 30 that use shields.

RT is more important than damage dealing at higher levels. That claidhmore is really nice IF you hit the titan in a vital spot. BUT, if you take off his left hand, you're either gonna eat that mattock or chew on a lightning bolt. A 6 second RT will save your life. Most 2H warriors are looking to be the biggest, baddest thing in seven counties, and so they go for the monstrous 2H weapons. Well, you may be surprised to find that there are several 2H weapons, and only most of them are the Conan-type weapons of massive damage and grievous wounds. These include the great/battle axe, claidhmores, and two-handed swords. These all do incredible damage and have great chances of doing crits, BUT they also all have 7 RT's. On the other hand, there are only a few 2H weapons with 6 RT's. These are the flail and mattock. The 6 RT weapons do slightly less damage than the 7 RT weapons, but the trade off is worth it at higher levels. At low levels I would stick with the 7 RT weapons, as you're most likely going to stun the creature anyway and there are a lot of slow creatures for you to fight. If you can get one, the Heavy Golden Flails from the recent Leukos and Mularos invasions or the Massive Wooden Flails from the High Orc invasion are even better. These are crit weighted weapons with 6 RT's. That will give you the best in AvD, best in RT, good damage, and the crit effect of a claidhmore, all with no DS penalty! Lots of fun. Expect to pay 10-20K for one of these though, as good invasion items tend to be pricey.

Understand that I am not saying to not use a claidhmore. These are exceptional weapons with crit weighting, although they do impose a -10 DS penalty on the weilder. What is essential in any combat is that your RT is faster than your opponent's. If your opponent has an 8 or 9 second RT, then by all means try out the claid, for it is a great 2H weapon. Learn which opponents are fast and which are slow. The primary problem is that at higher levels virtually every creature is fast or medium speed, and all it takes is a one second lag and you're a goner.

BTW, I mentioned AvD and you may be wondering why. AvD stands for Attack vs Defense and is an indication of your attack type vs your opponent's defense. For example, rapiers tend to do very well vs unarmored opponents, and will have a high AvD. On the other hand, they are very poor vs armored opponents and will have a low AvD vs these foes. Your total attack strength is determined as follows: Attack = Weapon Skill + Strength Modifier + AvD + Magical Weapon Bonus + Magical Spell Bonus - Defender's DS. If your Total Attack is >100 then you will hit. AvD can outweigh enchanted metals in some cases. For example, a flail typically has a +6 AvD advantage over a mattock, so a normal flail will hit more often than a mithril mattock.

- from Zanteal's personal library.
Documents and manuscripts gathered since 1996.