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

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.