1H+ shield or 2H?

[woody44]

<DIV>Im fairly new to the SK (only being level 16) and it seems that they fight differently than my monk.....relying less on weapons and more on procs. I am a solo'er, so I am wondering, is it more beneficial to use a 1H + shield, or a 2H? I've been using my defensive stance as well....is the offensive better? I read that we use int, and it seems that defensive buffs wisdom. hrm. Well, and advice from the veterans out there would be much appreciated. Thank you in advance,</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Oyer</DIV>

[Arieneth]

for soloing you will mostly use Def stance with 1H + shield. Off stance buffs Int because the higher our Int the higher our damage is. The Def stance buffs wisdom because wisdom increases all resists. SK's, and plate tanks in general, rely on gear to fight, not so much weapons. the higher the mitigation/resists, the better you will fare in combat.A shield will increase your avoidance. that is the big difference between plate tanks and brawlers. brawlers rely on avoidance, we rely on mitigation. but still, avoidance always helps. in the end it's all about survivability. use your lifetaps and blessing line to outlast your enemies.also, procs are very unreliable in combat. you can't rely on them to win a fight. chances are you if u can't beat the encounter with non-proc gear, proc gear won't help enough. procs are nice, but really only make a difference in long fights or raid situations.<div></div>

[Vanilla1]

<P>hmmmm... I know I am only lvl 43 atm, but I must disagree a little with the last poster in relation to stances. I have soloed my entire 43 levels, and thus far the Offensive stance is much better for soloing.  My gear is only Handcrafted, and my spells are only App4 with a couple of adept 3 and a couple of masters. I must admit that one of the masters is our Offensive stance.</P> <P>I find killing white or yellow mobs in offensive stance is very effective. Most fights last aprox 30 secs against a single no arrow mob at lvl 43. Blues and greens drop in aprox15-20 secs. With our many procs and life tap blessing i finish on full health and usually 2/3 power.</P> <P>To give you an example.. The other day i was fighting in EL and noticed a same level bruiser engage a mob. I then did the same to a same level mob also. Result: After killing the mob i looked over to the other fight. At this point the Bruiser had his mob to half health, and was at half health himself. His fight continued for another 20 secs, and when his mob died he was on 10% health. So in summary his fight lasted aprox 2 times longer than mine, and he was 90% less health than i was at the end. This was only possible by using my offensive stance and all available lifetaps, procs and blessing tap. I did not check out the bruisers gear but it could not have been too much worse than mine.</P> <P>To me the fact that we wear plate and have lifetaps makes us very survivable. When soloing our main concern is too kill the mob as fast as possible. My advise is try and get at least adept 3 on your blessing lifetap, and also on your offensive stance. Then try some solo play, and I think you will be pleasantly surprised!</P> <P>In relation to 2H or 1H and shield, there are many opinions. As we do 80 % of our damage from spells, I find it not that big an issue. I tend to go 1H and shield and swap to a symbol to fire off my AA ability. However many do use 2H , as 2H weapons seem much easier to obtain over a good 1H weapon. You can allways carry both and play around as you go. You may find that using a shield against tougher mobs works, but when going for lower mobs, swap to 2H. My experience is that the extra damage from a 2H evens out with the extra defence of a shield, to the point where they become pretty much equal. Until you get deep into AA points, maybe go with which you prefer the look of.</P> <P>Anyway hope this helps</P> <P>Vannilla Dark</P>

[Beldin_]

<DIV>I solo mostly in offense stance with a 2-hander, if mobs are a little harder i first switch to 1-hander/shield. And with the actual mitigation changes defense stance looks nearly totally useless to me .. you loose your int and skills, and get not even 3% more effective miti :smileyindifferent:</DIV>

[Mythicman]

I'll chime in here as well.  I do quite a lot of soloing as well as groups.  I'll agree that soloing, I go offensive and use a 2-hander.  Your DPS will increase this way and your survivability against solo mobs will be fine, so long as you don't forget that your blessing spell is an effective offensive weapon as well as keeping you from staring at the dirt.  Certainly, sword-and-board are the way to go tanking for groups.<div></div>

[Littleflame]

I have mostly soloed my way to 56, always have used 2 hander switching between stances when needed. Usually I use defensive stance, but anything that isn't heroic or with up arrows usually gets the pleasure to meet my offensive stance. When facing groups of mobs, I use defensive.

[Thor71457]

<P>Hello </P> <P> I too solo most of my way to 53 now  and most of the time use a good 2 hander  with the off. spell up  But i do carry a shield and a one hander for when the mob. is very tuff </P> <P>at your level try them out and see what you like best and go with that..  </P> <P> </P> <P>                                              Blackice </P>

[Haciv]

<P><FONT color=#66ff00>2H Pros:</FONT> Higher DR</P> <P><FONT color=#ff0000>2H Cons:</FONT> Huge loss of avoidance, Loss of Shield Slam, (usually) Loss of stats, (sometimes) loss of useful Shield Proc</P> <P>I personally can't stand 2H'ers TBH, but that's just me.  If you want/need DPS as a tank, go in Offensive stance.</P>

[Littleflame]

<blockquote><hr>Haciv wrote:<P><FONT color=#66ff00>2H Pros:</FONT> Higher DR</P><P><FONT color=#ff0000>2H Cons:</FONT> Huge loss of avoidance, Loss of Shield Slam, (usually) Loss of stats, (sometimes) loss of useful Shield Proc</P><P>I personally can't stand 2H'ers TBH, but that's just me.  If you want/need DPS as a tank, go in Offensive stance.</P><hr></blockquote>Well like it has been said, this is about solo SKs. Stats on my 2 hander are good enough.As soloers we don't "tank" as such. Also in the rare occasion of teaming so far I have been mostly the rarely needed back up tank, or dps - I am geared for max int and str. (Must also note that in defensive stance my str, int, wis and sta are very close to eachother.)<p>Message Edited by Littleflame on <span class=date_text>11-26-2006</span> <span class=time_text>10:01 PM</span>

[Haciv]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Littleflame wrote:<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Haciv wrote:<BR> <BR> <P><FONT color=#66ff00>2H Pros:</FONT> Higher DR</P><BR> <P><FONT color=#ff0000>2H Cons:</FONT> Huge loss of avoidance, Loss of Shield Slam, (usually) Loss of stats, (sometimes) loss of useful Shield Proc</P><BR> <P>I personally can't stand 2H'ers TBH, but that's just me.  If you want/need DPS as a tank, go in Offensive stance.</P><BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE><BR><BR><BR>Well like it has been said, this is about solo SKs. Stats on my 2 hander are good enough.<BR><BR><STRONG><U><FONT color=#ff9900>As soloers we don't "tank" as such.</FONT></U></STRONG> Also in the rare occasion of teaming so far I have been mostly the rarely needed back up tank, or dps - I am geared for max int and str. (Must also note that in defensive stance my str, int, wis and sta are very close to eachother.) <P>Message Edited by Littleflame on <SPAN class=date_text>11-26-2006</SPAN> <SPAN class=time_text>10:01 PM</SPAN><BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> <P><FONT color=#ff9900>Are you root / nuking the mobs down?</FONT></P> <P>For Solo'ing, I like to push everything to the max.  8-12 Green Mobs at a time for fun or a yellow heroic for a challenge.  I can't do that w/ a 2H, but my 1H Velium Hammer and Vilucidae's Ethereal Guard gets it done every time.</P> <P>2H'ers are for DPS when you have a tank and no need for a back up tank, IMHO, but you'll still see a higher DPS increase by doing 1H + Shield + Offensive Stance than 2H + Def Stance.  2H + Offensive Stance will get you max DPS but the least amount of survivalbility.</P> <P><FONT color=#ffff00>I guess main idea that I am trying to get through here is that <STRONG>Offensive Stance > Using a 2H</STRONG></FONT><FONT color=#ffff00>  for not only Solo'ing or Grouping but also DPS and Survival</FONT></P>

[Littleflame]

<blockquote><hr>Haciv wrote:<BR><P><FONT color=#ff9900>Are you root / nuking the mobs down?</FONT></P><hr></blockquote>I wouldn't call soloing things tanking, since as solo SK I am not working on to keep aggro off dps/heals.I can kill triple up green heroics, and groups of non heroic green and blue are easy. Can kill non heroic yellows and whites without too many up arrows. So I am still not sure what exactly you mean. With my drains I am more than ok and I kill pretty fast. *shrug*

[Beldin_]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> woody44 wrote:<BR> <DIV>I am a solo'er, so I am wondering, is it more beneficial to use a 1H + shield, or a 2H? <BR> <HR> </DIV></BLOCKQUOTE> <P>Ok.. everybody read this ? !!</P> <P>No question that as MT you should use normally a shield .. but for soloing .. 2H is normally what i use .. shield only for mobs where i might have trouble, and i would always prefer shield/offense-stance over 2h/defense stance. I used however shield AND defense for soloing Nest for the 2nd and 3rd named .. however .. this all has changed since EoF and i think i can't solo them anymore at the moment :smileyindifferent:<BR></P>

[Kryptonix]

<div><blockquote><hr>Vanilla1 wrote:<div></div><p>To give you an example.. The other day i was fighting in EL and noticed a same level bruiser engage a mob. I then did the same to a same level mob also. Result: After killing the mob i looked over to the other fight. At this point the Bruiser had his mob to half health, and was at half health himself. His fight continued for another 20 secs, and when his mob died he was on 10% health. So in summary his fight lasted aprox 2 times longer than mine, and he was 90% less health than i was at the end. This was only possible by using my offensive stance and all available lifetaps, procs and blessing tap. I did not check out the bruisers gear but it could not have been too much worse than mine.</p><hr></blockquote>I have never killed anything even con faster then a brawler, unless I used HT. I am a level 70 SK, if me and a simlarly skilled and geared Bruiser each got the same even con mob and raced to see who could kill faster. 9 times out of 10 theres a good chance I would lose. Not taking anything away from the SK class, but  Bruisers have DPS out the poop shute. I can say this though, in a multi encounter fight, not just a group of mobs but several groups of mobs, I would own that bruiser. Now back on the OP's subject. I never use 2 handers. Never found the need to use a 2 hander. When I solo, I dont just pull 2-3 mobs at a time. I will pull at least 5 so the shield really adds to my survival rate. The only time I see myself ever using a 2 hander, is if I get one that procs off hostile spells and I am in a purely ranged fight. But that is kinda rare. When I solo and most of the time when I group, I sit in off stance. Well that used to be the case till the combat changes took effect. Now I HAVE to group tank in def stance. But when I solo, I never go to def stance unless I am trying to solo a blue con heroic mob, which is not that often. Off stance works wonders when you solo because of the added INT and skills. But if you have gear that adds a butt load of INT then I would say solo in def stance because then you wont be sacrificing so much DPS.IMO stick with off stance when you solo. Besides, stances dont have any recast or casting time. Just double click and your in a new stance. If you find yourself getting too much damage switch, if your not killing fast enough then switch. Just 2 quick clicks. </div>

[Norrsken]

<DIV>What is this? Sks figting single solo mobs? Huh?</DIV> <DIV>We have our peak performance when there are lots of mobs around us. </DIV> <DIV>Best time I have is pulling 2 groups of heroics. (3 or 4) and just bashing the snot out of them. <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> This is also nice due to the despoil line. The more targets I have, the more mit I get.</DIV> <DIV>For solos, I do whitecons 3-4 at a time. More than that, and I end the fight with too little power to just roll on to hte next group.</DIV> <DIV>Sometimes, to show off or just have some plain fun, I go find linked solo mobs wiht 3-4 in each group, pull 3 groups and drop the AoEs on them. Its quite fun.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I just start off fights in off stance to see if I can make it, if my taps outheal the mobs, I stick with it. If not, I go defensive.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Using my AoE's with just one target is a waste of power, and I have 5 open AoEs. </DIV>

[MrDiz]

Almost 99.9% duo my SK with my Dirge. Tend to be blue/green heroics but I have to admit I have an easier time of it in Def stance with shield/1her. Not sure why, perhaps fighting blue/greens means i dont need the offense skills up high, but cos they are heroic the avoid/mit seems to help alot.

[Eluzay]

<div><blockquote><hr>woody44 wrote:<div>Im fairly new to the SK (only being level 16) and it seems that they fight differently than my monk.....relying less on weapons and more on procs. I am a solo'er, so I am wondering, is it more beneficial to use a 1H + shield, or a 2H? I've been using my defensive stance as well....is the offensive better? I read that we use int, and it seems that defensive buffs wisdom. hrm. Well, and advice from the veterans out there would be much appreciated. Thank you in advance,</div> <div> </div> <div>Oyer</div><hr></blockquote>defensive stance in pvp is where it is at, I can take an assasin 3 levels above me and not break a sweat, but when I go off stance he wtfpwns me.as for weapons, I prefer sword and board.</div>

[Nocifer Deathblade]

<DIV>I solo alot with 2h in offense stance cuz I'm a Vampire Cavalier (almost fully AGI line + INT line + reaver line) so defensive isn't that important cuz lifetaps can sustain me just fine plus I trample alot so I shine very good against group of mobs even with 2h and in offense stance. Just hit Death March and groups of mobs just cry and die.. <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> I even train up to 12 green non-heroic mobs and they all die less than a minute with 2h+off stance...</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I only used 1h+shield in def stance to solo against toughest mobs tho. </DIV><p>Message Edited by Nocifer Deathblade on <span class=date_text>11-27-2006</span> <span class=time_text>08:00 AM</span>

[woody44]

<P>Thank you all for the information. It seems that there is no definitive answer, but all of you made good points. At this time, I've decided to go with 1H+Shield, as it seems I can pull more that way. Again, thank you all.</P> <P> </P> <P>Oyer</P>

[Nocifer Deathblade]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> woody44 wrote:<BR> <P>Thank you all for the information. It seems that there is no definitive answer, but all of you made good points. At this time, I've decided to go with 1H+Shield, as it seems I can pull more that way. Again, thank you all.</P> <P> </P> <P>Oyer</P><BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> <P><BR>Eh? Why do you need to choose?  I carry 1h+shield AND 2h to fit ANY situation I am in. Limiting yourself to 1 style is too restricting on yourself. To be a good SK is to be able to switch any weapon styles to fit any situations to fit any roles that SK needs to be in.  </P> <P>No reason to limit yourself to 1h/shield all the time. <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></P>

[Zanix]

<P>2h all the way. </P> <P>There aren't many mobs you will run into that require 1h+board. Only times i will swap into def mode and sword+board is against tough names, some PvP vs. healers, and when the healer in my group stinks. </P> <P>2hs = more dmg = more hate = mob dead faster</P>

[Haciv]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Zanix wrote:<BR> <P>2h all the way. </P> <P>There aren't many mobs you will run into that require 1h+board. Only times i will swap into def mode and sword+board is against tough names, some PvP vs. healers, and when the healer in my group stinks. </P> <P><FONT color=#ffff00>2hs = more dmg = more hate = mob dead faster</FONT></P><BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> <P><FONT color=#ffff00>Are you forgetting our most powerful taunt?  Venomous Slam.</FONT></P> <P><FONT color=#ffff00>A good 1H like Cudgel of Pain, Shadow Axe, or even a Velium have a high enough dmg rating on it to do essentially what a 2H will do.   A SK's MAIN source of damage comes from INT based spells, NOT from melee attacks, auto attack, or weapon procs. </FONT></P> <P><FONT color=#ffff00>Offensive stance, Offensive stance, Offensive stance...</FONT><BR></P>

[Nocifer Deathblade]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Haciv wrote:<BR> <BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Zanix wrote:<BR> <P>2h all the way. </P> <P>There aren't many mobs you will run into that require 1h+board. Only times i will swap into def mode and sword+board is against tough names, some PvP vs. healers, and when the healer in my group stinks. </P> <P><FONT color=#ffff00>2hs = more dmg = more hate = mob dead faster</FONT></P><BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> <P><FONT color=#ffff00>Are you forgetting our most powerful taunt?  Venomous Slam.</FONT></P> <P><FONT color=#ffff00>A good 1H like Cudgel of Pain, Shadow Axe, or even a Velium have a high enough dmg rating on it to do essentially what a 2H will do.   A SK's MAIN source of damage comes from INT based spells, NOT from melee attacks, auto attack, or weapon procs. </FONT></P> <P><FONT color=#ffff00>Offensive stance, Offensive stance, Offensive stance...</FONT><BR></P><BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> <P>Slam even gotten better with EOF slam AA that adds nice 20% to its damage AND its taunt. </P> <P>You would need 1h+shield as a MT against difficult instances or whatever and let your group do the dps part. 2h as a MT isn't wise at all unless the group run is pretty easy to handle or get 2 healers to sustain etc.   2h is nice for soloing tho and damage supporter etc. </P> <P>Like I said,  It's wise to use both 1h+shield AND 2h to fit any situations.  Anyone who said 2h all way or 1h+shield all way actually are not maximizing their potential as a SK to fit any roles.. I say 1h+shield AND 2h ALL the way! <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /><BR></P>

[Zanix]

<P>Well, from my experience, I disagree. </P> <P>When I am parsing the highest DPS in the group and taunting, I never loose the mob's hate...Even with master Ven slam</P>

[._Jammer]

<P>I think you 70s in uber gear forgotten how it is at lower lvl, going offensive stance + 2hander is NOT an effective way to solo. Spend to much time regening mana after a fight this way, and dont kill much faster, get an add or groups and you might be in trouble.</P> <P>Either 1 hand + shield : offensive stance OR 2hand :defensive stance. Seemed to do best with the 1 hand + shield option,  Going 2hand + offensive stance was terrible. This is in quest armor(dof), legendary weapons and adept1s + m2 blessing.</P> <P>The better gear the easier it gets naturally, for people trying to lvl, i guess most have what I have, use my advice.</P> <P>oh btw, Just soloed all the trials, including the group encounters for the training is a shield quest(lvl 40 heritage) at 45, I can safely say that I know how to solo pve as a tank. </P> <P><SPAN class=time_text></SPAN> </P><p>Message Edited by ._Jammer_. on <span class=date_text>12-01-2006</span> <span class=time_text>05:09 AM</span>

[Xanoth]

i've always prefered 1h+shield and off stance, just seems like a better blance.i guess for leveling up though 2h and defencive might work if your low on money / rares. obviously takes two rares to get a good 1h and sheild, so a 2h is more economical <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

[Nocifer Deathblade]

<P>nm. Didn't realize that I already said in other post and this was a repeat..</P><p>Message Edited by Nocifer Deathblade on <span class=date_text>12-01-2006</span> <span class=time_text>06:47 AM</span>

[JoarAddam]

totally depends on your situation.  i'd start out in off stance and then change if you're at 50% and he's at 80<div></div>

[Toastic]

<DIV>I can't remember the last time I used a 2-hander. Got a fabled scythe rotting in my pack but don't use it anymore.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Main reason: Damage shield. Adornment on shoulder and shield slots, I'd lose half my DS going 2H. Don't have the level 60 DS adornments yet but working on it, think they are 45 damage each. (Spiked Struts for shields and Spikes Straps for shoulder if you want to look for them)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I'm also weird in my AA picks, right now Int 4/4/8 (Duh), Wis 4/4/8/8 and Sta 4/5. 5th Aoe and while the melee crit was nice when I had it I feel like I get more from the 60(? forget exactly) group health regen and the skill bonus from battle leadership cancels out the penalty from defensive stance with a little left over. Also makes being in offense stance rock, no trouble hitting stuff with +50ish to melee skills, groups seem to like it too. Currently maxed reactive damage/heal shield (Says 35% better heal on AA screen but spell info says 49%) and working on maxing the 2 lifetap resuse speed ones, then going to the hate tree. May get reaver, dunno yet.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Anyway I found that I did just fine without ever needing to swap from sword & board, just changing stance as needed works just fine. Need that slam for groups to help gain agro and hold it, solo the extra DPS from 2H is offset fine by the damage shield for large easy groups and the extra avoidance is more helpful for single/small group heroics.</DIV>

[Legaroth]

the guy is lvl 16, i doubt he has to pick between having or not having a 45 dmg shield :p<div></div>

[pawnipt]

I would never solo with a two hander, i would never tank with a two hander, in EOF to solo or tank with a two hander is stupidity, avoidance is very important, block is the best type of avoidance there is for plate tanks.Two hander for DPSingOne hander for TankingSIMPLE AS THAT!<div></div>

[Seolta]

<P>Ok...when soloing it's pointless to solo anything other than heroics or huge ae groups. In both cases sword+board+def is the win. Especially since the EoF miti changes...mobs hit us alot harder now. </P> <P>If you go wis aa line the skill hit from def stance is minimized anyway.</P>

[Darktong]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Seolta wrote:<BR> <P>Ok...when soloing it's pointless to solo anything other than heroics or huge ae groups. In both cases sword+board+def is the win. Especially since the EoF miti changes...mobs hit us alot harder now. </P> <P>If you go wis aa line the skill hit from def stance is minimized anyway.</P><BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE><BR>Im not so sure that at 16th lvl it would be wise for him to try soloing heroics O.o