What one handed backup weapon would you recommend for a pole arm user?

[Warlord_Lawrence]

What one handed backup weapon would you recommend for a pole arm user? I am leaning towards War hammer as it is short (easy to use in close range / point blank), has secondary mode and knockdown yet I am not sure it is necessarily the best choice for me. What do you recommend?

[Canuck]

If upkeep isn't an issue for you then the warhammer would be fine. Personally I use cheap, fast, and short 1h weapons if I'm using a secondary at all. Won't need as much proficiency in it that way to be effective. There is no best weapon by any means, just use whatever you want to use and try different things out. The dao weapons are good as backups, but so are the thrust ones like the scottish and the other 0 slots. It's all preference!

[Goat_Fighter]

I would want something fast for polearm user for sidearm just my opinion warhammer is a lot for a sidearm

[Clockworkkiller]

WARHAMMER ALL THE WAY ONLY WAY MUTHAFUCKA

go hammer or go home

[Jarold]

Iron War Axe isn't a bad choice either, and it's cheap!

[14.41]

Why not  pole sidearms?Shortened spear and quarter staff are nice 1 slot,and many choices for 2 slot.

[Johammeth]

Which polearm(s) do you find yourself favoring? Most are fairly serviceable, even in close quarters combat.

If you decide to go the backup weapon mode, consider the following:

Which weapon feels the coolest/most awesome to use. (There's no substitute for something that just feels right.)

How often do you find yourself switching to the backup? If you almost never pull out the backup, you'll want something cheap (to save on repairs) and light (to give you maximum mobility while using your "real" weapon.)

Play around with different weapons until you find one that feels right, and is appropriately heavy/expensive for your needs.

[Sparvico]

If your looking at the war hammer you should try out the military hammer and the Iberian mace as well. Both very good 1 hand knockdown weapons, and cheaper too. I would also recommend the Italian sword or something around it if you decided to go for a sword. The para is a beautiful weapon, but it's pierce damage is a bit low for it's cost.

That said, if you don't give no fucks about stats or money, and care more about looks, then the war hammer and para would both do just fine.

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and the war hammer looks straight up dope (am I hip yet?) with the heirloom retexture pack.
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[Spawny]

Or be a REAL boss and use a long dagger as a back up. You would be surprised how many people go down with a surprised look on their face after a quick side swing followed by 2 stabs. A lot of players expect you to stab and block down. Chamber stab, feint to side slash and if you hit, stab them twice before they can react.

[Boerenlater]

Practise longsword in alt mode.

[no_rules_just_play]

I'm 15/24 and I now use a steel pick as side arm. Short sword is pretty good too for my low ps because it has 27 pierce (unloomed) and has that (currently) OP stab.
note that the side sword is dirt cheap, I would certainly suggest you try it out (unloomed)

[Ronin]

if you plan to have low wpf in 1handers or plan to use pike/longspear type weapons, you might consider using a dagger as a sidearm. Quickly pressing "n" key to switch weapons when someone gets close sometimes allows you to fight back.