Should I use a 2 handed wep all the time?? (Confused =/)

[Tiluviy]

On my swash, I have grouped with many paladins, and they almost all used 2 handed weps, a few with shields here and there.  My question is, are 2 handed weps just better?  And another, does using a shield REALLY matter? <span>:smileyindifferent:</span> <div></div>

[trout]

Im sure many will disagree but I only use the sword and board for really difficult Mobs, epics mainly, or if my group is stuggling and I need to make sure Im the best possible meat shield.

[Korpo]

Depends on the situation. If you are tanking, the shield helps with avoidance and lets you use your shield bash combat arts, which are just another kind of stun. If you're not tanking, you could be doing better damage with a 2h weapon. It kind of depends on your playstyle. I usually use the sword and board when tanking, and the 2h when offtank or soloing. <div></div>

[MeridianR]

<span><blockquote><hr>korpo53 wrote:Depends on the situation. If you are tanking, the shield helps with avoidance and lets you use your shield bash combat arts, which are just another kind of stun. If you're not tanking, you could be doing better damage with a 2h weapon. It kind of depends on your playstyle. I usually use the sword and board when tanking, and the 2h when offtank or soloing. <div></div><hr></blockquote>I agree with the above to a point....normally when the heroic mob is white or higher to me (L47) then I will Sword and board it, but if the mob is blue or green I will use the EBBC to add some damage. Last night I was using my EBBC for anything other then L50 heroic mobs in LS, but that was mainly because I had 3 healers...lol (the guild loved druids....lol) </span><div></div>

[Titali]

<DIV>if you want to be effective and at the same, time keep things simple. as the MT, use shield; gives extra avoidance/stats and those bash combat arts are your third taunt (only single taret) so keep that in mind. when you arent MT, switch to 2hander. obviously lower con mobs have a harder time hitting you, but when it comes down to it, they still can and more avoidance still makes for better tanking.</DIV>

[SanJ]

<P>If I'm MT, I use a sword and shield in almost every situation.  Although I parse very well on dps, it's not my job to dish out the dps, it's my job to manage the aggro as MT.  Likewise, if I'm fighting with a good group and we are on yellow and orange ^^ mobs, the extra shield for our defense score is important and the additional hate generated by the shield "bash" is as many call our "third taunt."  Likewise, if our dps is reduced during the combat revamp currently in testing, a few 100 points per swing is never going to compare to a 1K-3+K hit from the dps classes.  </P> <P>If we can raise our defense easily by equipping a shield and picking up another aggro management tool--that's the practical path to helping our group the best.  Especially, if we are conserving valuable mana the healers need over an extended duration of a lengthy battle.  I'm speaking from the concept of a full or near full group attacking yellow and orange ^^ mobs.  I know some uber elite legendary/fabled gear exists that makes your defenses and ability to avoid hits appear on first glance to turn the Paladin into a semi-mortal/semi-demigod and I know some guilds and buddies have healers that handle damage better then a hospital, but I believe our original poster is asking from a general perspective regarding Paladins.</P> <P>My suggestions are as follows:</P> <P>MT/Solo - one-hand/two-hand, who cares it's just you and as long as you aren't dying constantly have fun<BR>MT/small group/white or less ^^ mobs - possible two hander, but I would still sword/board unless we really need more dps based on group make-up.  The concept of a tank is aggro management not dps (even though ours is very good).  If you want the elite dps consider creating a Warlock or similar dps profession.<BR>MT/large group/yellow-red ^^ mobs - always sword/board for me and I would be disappointed even as OT for our MT to be duel wielding or using a two-hander, but hey I've been disappointed before <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /><BR><BR>OT/small-large group - go two-hander and I recommend you always have a good slash and crush weapon that you mix to keep skills capped each level in case you find mobs resistant to one damage type.</P> <P>The only time I've gone sword/board as OT is when I'm in a 2 or 3 man group and we are fighting a mob we probably shouldn't with the concept of exchanging aggro during combat when one tank is damaged badly (usually near the end of the fight) and healer mana is low if we are even lucky enough to have a healer (not enough to finish the battle).  I've pulled off some pretty slick kills on mobs that were out of my league that way but it's very risky and certainly not the "average" or "desired" way to OT.  I'm sure we all can report an exception to every rule suggested based on strange gaming situations with varied levels of success.</P> <P>However, to recap the question posed to the group is sword and board or two-hander and explanations on why, not if you are level 50 with all fabled gear or play with two healers that have MMORPG'd together in VOIP for years and have such fine tuned skills even yellow ^^ are doable and possibly even doable easy with a MT Paladin using a two-hander.</P> <P>Thanks,<BR>Kalen</P>

[BadBoyMc2]

Also what i noticed, is if you our using a 1H weapon, it has a shorter delay time than 2H weapon, there for your glorious weapon buff will proc more often than with a 2H weapon hence will imbued 1h weapons. Personally i prefer to use a shield as well due to the added wisdom stat which is find does make a difference & also our shield bash attack with is 1 of our  taunts, with an  AE stun which is very useful. I only go 2h if im lowest lvl tank in grp and the grp is struggling for dps or if im soloing some high hp mob & dont have the patiences for 1h weapon damage. <div></div>

[Titali]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> BadBoyMc2k4 wrote:<BR>Also what i noticed, is if you our using a 1H weapon, it has a shorter delay time than 2H weapon, there for your glorious weapon buff will proc more often than with a 2H weapon hence will imbued 1h weapons.<BR>Personally i prefer to use a shield as well due to the added wisdom stat which is find does make a difference & also our shield bash attack with is 1 of our  taunts, with an  AE stun which is very useful.<BR>I only go 2h if im lowest lvl tank in grp and the grp is struggling for dps or if im soloing some high hp mob & dont have the patiences for 1h weapon damage.<BR> <BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE><BR> <DIV>doesnt work like that. even though it says 7% per swing or whatever, its not really that. the exact formula was posted by a designer somewhere on the forums when people noticed that imbued weapons werent proc'ing 5% of the time. a 1.2 delay weapon will proc as many times / minute as a 2.5. roughly its like all weapons have chance to proc every 3 seconds, not the delay itself. (if anyone finds link to that thread plz post, im too lazy t go find it right now)</DIV>