Larian Studios Forums Divinity: Original Sin 2 Divinity - Original Sin 2 - Suggestions and Feedback Short Swords ect.

It would be great to have swords and/axes that require finesse to use instead of strength alongside the current strength req. ones to expand build diversity and utility.

Agree, like a rapier or something rather then just daggers/knives. Staffs might even be included or need both.

Well a rapier is actually heavier than a long sword and would be historically incorrect if finesse was needed to use it. I also would like to once again state that custom characters could use optional origin stories; I personally like to imagine that a Custom Lizard would unknowingly be part of the House of Shadows and could replace a dead Shadow prince as its leader after proving themselves by collecting some artifact (a special cowl e.g.) hidden in Horrorsleep. How they lead in the epilogue is obviously determined by decisions made during their own quest and those of Sebille and/or the Red Prince.

Don't know if that tangent is allowed, but one mistake won't deter me.

I'm always perplexed by the long-/short-sword thing you get in video games. I think mostly as there's so much variation between the likes of a Gladius, a typical "knightly sword", a hand-and-a-half such as a claymore and a big two-hander jobbie. And none of them weigh 60 lbs either, as some people are adamant is the case.

I own several reproductions, by which I mean proper sharp ones (also made of steel, which I mention as I'm way overdue for giving them some TLC so they don't rust) and all weigh around 2-3 lbs. The biggest two are claymore-sized but can be wielded one-handed even by a useless lump like me. I haven't personally encountered a rapier but I'm guessing it'd be much the same.

Tangents? Aren't they a bit like little oranges?

I think the strength idea came from being needed to pierce metal armor. The Roman gladius (short sword) and sabres were used mainly to stab rather then slash so didn't require so much strength but did need a measure of finesse to hit the correct spots where armor was vulnerable. Games rarely do this justice. Gothic tried but failed. Then there are crossbows - a castle/city defense weapon that were terribly slow and the only field armies to actually use them were the French - but which could be easily taught to recruits and prized for their ability to pierce plate armor. They didn't require a lot of strength; the legs were used to cock the original variety then hand cranks but they did require a dependable position so more then one shot could be fired. If anything, regular bows took more strength because the arm had to draw and hold it to aim.

For game purposes, though, mage types rarely have strength built up but still need a close in weapon and the way to allow that is spells being interrupted by nearby enemies and effective swords that don't require strength (since nearly all games reward strength with greater damage). Anyway, games are fantasy and swords often magical so Earth history doesn't really matter that much except to fanatics like myself.

One of my swords is quite interesting from the "armour piercing" perspective; it's an Albion Kingmaker which has what is effectively a strengthening rib down both sides of the blade instead of the usual fuller. I mean it is fullered to reduce weight but what're effectively double fullers, one running each side of that spine, so that sectionally the blade is a sort of flattened diamond shape with concave edges. The result is a much stiffer blade than it might otherwise have, and as you can see from the link, it's also very pointy. But I dare say it would still take a lot of strength to shove it through plate armour if a vulnerable spot wasn't found.

I was speaking to someone local who makes crossbows (I mean for reenactors, film studios and so on) and he had this really big bastard with a winch. He demonstrated it to me; in fact he was going to let me have a go, which is probably a bad idea anyway, but it was unfinished and needed some adjustments so fired it himself. Certainly looked pretty scary, but he said that for all the winding, the noise and the very visible violence it inflicted on its target, the bolt was only about as powerful as a .22 bullet. I guess due to the speed difference it had a fair bit more momentum, but it put it into perspective.

It may be interesting to note that DOS1 includes rapiers that do "piercing" damage, just as arrows do (as opposed to the "slashing" damage of most swords). This could be an argument that rapiers are "finesse-y" (in the DOS world).