Two Hander?

[Payneal The Great]

<p>So my dwarf zerker is a solo quest/leveling dps build and i would love to run with a 2h axe, but i hear dual weild is moe dps, is this true? I always have the MC armor so the gear is equal, and im willing to adjust spec for the weapon, but in the end whats more dps and by how much, 2h or dual wield?</p>

[West]

<p>Get yourself two master Crafted duel wielding weapons. I like the 4s delay because they hit hard. make sure to have the str and agi master crafted rings as well and your auto attack will rock. good luck.</p>

[Xalmat]

<p>I can sum up my response in one sentence: There is no two hander out there that would net you more DPS than a dual wield build at any pretty much any given level.</p><p>At lower levels the difference isn't significant as the difference between dual wield and 2-hander weapons isn't that great, but at high levels it becomes<em> </em><em>very</em> significant. This is especially true at level 80 when your Epic weapon comes into play (especially when you're talking the Mythical epic weapon).</p><p>Stat wise, a two hander usually falls somewhere between a single weapon and two weapons. Two weapons (or a weapon + shield) almost always wins out.</p><p>The ideal spec for a 2 hander build, and a dual wield build, is identical in every way. The only difference is the weapons of choice.</p><p>One advantage that a good long-delay two-hander (we're talking a 5 or 6 delay weapon) has over dual wielding is a larger spread in the damage, resulting in much larger crits. It also makes you hit by reactives that a mob has less often. The disadvantage is that a two hander's damage output is <em>very</em> streaky, meaning if you get a series of misses it will cripple your damage output.</p><p>While the same can be said about dual wielding, faster delay dual wield weapons (ideally 3 or 4 delay; the epic weapon is 3 delay so ideally you will be using your epic + another 3 delay weapon) also swing more often, resulting in, on average, more hits over the same period of time (resulting in less streakiness and more steady damage output).</p><p>Dual wield weapons are also much more available than two handers, meaning you'll have an easier time finding a dual wield weapon than a two hander.</p><p>Since a Berserker's job is to tank, I don't recommend tanking with a two hander simply <em>because</em> it's less damage overall, and more steaky. A large portion of your aggro is generated thru auto-attack, and you'll get more aggro thru dual wielding than using a two hander. Besides, it's easier (and safer) to switch between dual-wielding and sword and board, mid-combat, than it is to switch between sword and board and a two-hander.</p>

[Xalmat]

<p>Addendum: The one exception is when you're using Open Wounds or the AGI spec (prior to getting your Mythical). While Open Wounds or AGI spec is going, against a large number of mobs (specifically around 4) you'll do much more DPS with a 2 hander than dual wielding, as long as you have a large number of mobs around you.</p><p>On the other hand, tanking multiple mobs with a 2 hander is downright dangerous; I much prefer to use a shield in those situations so I don't <em>die</em> as easily, and if you're using a shield, you aren't using a 2 hander.</p>