Larian Studios Forums Divinity 2 - Ego Draconis (English) Help/Tips/Tricks Which is better: Two-Handed or Dual-Wielding?

An FAQ on GameFAQs mentions that DW is maybe the best choice and that TH is the worst (although he allows that the 1.3 patch may have improved it to the same or better than DW). But in the "Character Optimization" thread on this forum TH is recommended for pure dps.

But from my experience so far, I find myself alternating between the two based on the weapons I'm finding. Currently I have a TH with a melee damage range of about 10-60, and two DW weapons each with an upper range of around 30. I figure the TH is better since the off-hand DW weapon only does about 30% damage anyway (with a single point in the skill).

I'd like to settle on one so I can start putting points into the efficiency skill, but I feel like I keep finding replacement weapons that give the edge to each of them in turn.

So is there much of a difference between them anymore? Is TH really the worst type in the game? Since I'll focus primarily on melee, I'd like to make the best choice. Is it possible that one is better now and another better later? (e.g. TH now, and then DW once you get to the point where the off-hand weapon no longer has a penalty?)

Thanks!

I'm bias, I like the DW read the skill description just sounds BAD ASS!!
By the end of the game my damage was 480 something - 644 with 2 swords. PLUS you have 2 swords which meens you have double the enchantment possibilities....
I respec'd just to see if the full scorpian set with the TH sword was any better but it was half the damage... And yes half the enchament slots and skill slot possibilities.
It's all prefence, and I know there are more people on here who like the TH, and they will have an arguement to this. Just some things to think about, everyone's style is different.

True, but it also means you have to find twice as many weapons. Is it hard to find one-handed upgrades throughout the game?

Not really no... I was getting something better ALMOST every Cave I entered in the Fjords.
Barnabus one handed Hammer, I used for some time.
Plus Bellagar's Cave gave me another good hammer.
I didn't do any reloads either, so what was dropped was set in stone on my playthroughs
Before entering the Hall of Echoes I was using, and axe and a sword. Damages of 47-109 (PLUS MELEE INCREASES) and 50-84 (PLUS MELEE INCREASE)

Im thinking this game is in favor of DW over 2H, when DW with barnabus's mace and Razakel's hammer it is very hard to find a 2H thats worth replacing them, I been farming the Gremory family chest trying to find a 2h to replace them and it seems that even in other parts of the game they drop or spawn a lot more nicer 1H then 2H.

I finally found a nice legendary 2H which made my damage 102-247 with a +21 to normal damage enchant an good charm already in it +33 to melee , but it did about the same amount of damage as DW which was 159-174 + (49-66) with 2 of the same +21 enchants with poison on both and a health leech on razakel's and barn has +1 death blow an raz has +1 bleed, 2H had a lot less charms, enchants, stats, ex. which actually helps out quite a bit, an considering i needed a better bracer more then i needed a new 2h that did about the same amount of damage with a lot less stats, im gonna scrap it an go with a bracer, so unless you are lucky an find a 2h that is off the hook an actually worth the name Legendary, i would say DW is the way to go.

I prefer 2H over DW just because the AOE is a lot better on them and its easy to chop down groups with them, especially with whirlwind, but like I said, this game is in favor for DW and against 2H, cause they never ever hardly spawn any "great" "legendary" 2H that can over power DW enough for it to make a difference, you lose way too much charms, enchants, stats ex. when usen a 2H an with DW the low damage is always higher then with a 2H, which means you have more of a chance to do more damage regardless of how high the damage is on the 2H, but it is entirely up to how you want to play, I would use 2H over DW if i could only find one worth using.

Someone did some research into things, and Dual Wielding is definitively the best, for the following reason: Both weapons get the benefit of both weapons' enchantments.

Let's say you have two weapons, each with an enchantment slot. Each one has Increased Damage 10 on it, giving +27 to melee damage. When dual-wielding them, Each one gets the benefit of both weapons' +27 melee damage, therefore each gets a bonus of +54 melee damage. That means you get +108 melee damage total, as opposed to any other type of combat, which would only give you +27. So you're doing, on average, four times the damage.

Any melee damage boosting charms also apply to both, so if you stacked, say, 3 Divine Damage Charms, which give +10 per, you'd get +30 to each weapon, or +60 total.

Doesn't also the attack speed counts towards DPS? I mean 1h sword is imo way faster then the big 2h. Only biggest downside with the 2h sword is that the min-max damage is just a big gap, while 1h swords/axes/maces(warhammers) got a way smaller gap, thus your overall damage is higher. My current Leg. 2h got if not mistaken 26-179 dmg on weapon + 70 Melee and I've got 2 swords (1 Gold colored 'Named' not from a set afaik) and a Rare or Heroic sword in secondary, and when u see the damage in the character screen, the 2h does approx. max. around 380 orso, while the DW does around 500-700 max. and that's without the dmg bonus from the skills.

I would have to say that Dual Swords are way more powerful over two handed.

This is simply because of the Enchantment System. Having +75 Physical Damage AND +60 Magical on BOTH my weapons vastly overpowers any 2-handed weapon alone. Add in any Charms that add damage/strength and any magical properties the weapons already have, AND a third enchantment slot...and you have yourself a winner.

All I know is that I'm Level 33 and my damage range is 646-819(418-460). I want to see a two-handed sword match that at my level. I can't find one. It was over 300-400 at the Battle Tower, it made the Laiken battle so hilariously easy, I almost couldn't contain my laughter when remembering that the first time I did it, it gave me hell.