1h build, need suggestions.

[Kafein]

Things to pay attention to if you go 1h no shield :

You better not expect to do a lot of damage even with a crazy strength build.

If you still want shield skill, 3 or 4 is fine. 2 doesn't let you use any good shield. 5 and up is for turtles and bads, since it virtually only increases durability. You shouldn't have to care about durability at all if you plan to go 1h no shield anyway. In my opinion you should not spend skill points on stuff you won't use all the time if you want a best of breed build.

Swords are generally the best choice for a 1h no shield, especially if you go str. You trade a shield for better footwork and skill points, so you'll probably have more punch than the average shielder. However you need to block manually hence it's critical to keep your blocking disadvantage at a minimum. Therefore you need a long and a fast weapon.

Be wary of blockstun, that shit will get you killed. Weapons around 1 weight are very annoying to use due to this. Most medium sized swords are around 1.5 which means frequent stuns. 2 and up is mostly fine, but you'll only find axes, maces and picks there.

[Sandersson Jankins]

I'll look for a trade for 15k from you, Sandersswag, but first I need to know... What sword shall I use?

Sorry Heskey, I think I'll go for 24/15 (no shield swag). Now, all I need to know is your recommended swords.

I'll try to post for #freeHeskey:

The short nordic war sword is great at MW, 103 speed and respectable damage, but at 81 length I find myself s-keyed to shit a lot. Of course, my other weapons are a +3 warhammer and +3 steel pick. I don't tend to use long weapons.

The very best sword for a swashbuckler is the italian, I have found. A warhammer is also very good because it doesn't get weapon-stunned at 3 weight. Every sword is gonna get weapon-stunned to shit.

You have any idea how frustrating it is to get weapon-stunned on every hit by bigsandwich using a +3 STAFF? Like holy fuck the master of speedy spam that is better than me anyway is weaponstunning me on every hit.

[Thryn]

The short nordic war sword is great at MW, 103 speed and respectable damage, but at 81 length I find myself s-keyed to shit a lot. Of course, my other weapons are a +3 warhammer and +3 steel pick. I don't tend to use long weapons.

The very best sword for a swashbuckler is the italian, I have found. A warhammer is also very good because it doesn't get weapon-stunned at 3 weight. Every sword is gonna get weapon-stunned to shit.

You have any idea how frustrating it is to get weapon-stunned on every hit by bigsandwich using a +3 STAFF? Like holy fuck the master of speedy spam that is better than me anyway is weaponstunning me on every hit.

http://forum.melee.org/general-off-topic/nerf-sandwich/

[Phew]

always positive K/D

OT, but I see a lot of people using this phrase, and it doesn't mean what they think it means. A "positive" K/D just means that you get more kills than teamkills, which isn't necessarily something to be proud of with any build.

I think you (and others) mean "K/D>1", which is actually easier to type, so I'm not sure why people always go through the trouble to type "positive" when it's both wrong and takes longer to type.

If you actually meant "positive K/D", I apologize for correcting you and take pity on both you and your teammates.

[Macropus]

OT, but I see a lot of people using this phrase, and it doesn't mean what they think it means. A "positive" K/D just means that you get more kills than teamkills, which isn't necessarily something to be proud of with any build.

I think you (and others) mean "K/D>1", which is actually easier to type, so I'm not sure why people always go through the trouble to type "positive" when it's both wrong and takes longer to type.

If you actually meant "positive K/D", I apologize for correcting you and take pity on both you and your teammates.

dat post

[Falka]

OT, but I see a lot of people using this phrase, and it doesn't mean what they think it means. A "positive" K/D just means that you get more kills than teamkills, which isn't necessarily something to be proud of with any build.

Well, you  can not have negative kdr cause teamkills aren't registered by the website. So everyone have positive KD in this sense.

[Konrax]

Things to pay attention to if you go 1h no shield :

You better not expect to do a lot of damage even with a crazy strength build.

If you still want shield skill, 3 or 4 is fine. 2 doesn't let you use any good shield. 5 and up is for turtles and bads, since it virtually only increases durability. You shouldn't have to care about durability at all if you plan to go 1h no shield anyway. In my opinion you should not spend skill points on stuff you won't use all the time if you want a best of breed build.

Swords are generally the best choice for a 1h no shield, especially if you go str. You trade a shield for better footwork and skill points, so you'll probably have more punch than the average shielder. However you need to block manually hence it's critical to keep your blocking disadvantage at a minimum. Therefore you need a long and a fast weapon.

Be wary of blockstun, that shit will get you killed. Weapons around 1 weight are very annoying to use due to this. Most medium sized swords are around 1.5 which means frequent stuns. 2 and up is mostly fine, but you'll only find axes, maces and picks there.

I run 18/24, I also have 7 shield skill because I use the heavy round shield.

Without 7 shield skill that shield is way too slow for 1v1 fights against any decently fast build.

Each point of shield above the requirement will speed up a shields reaction speed, shields that are 100 speed usually cap at around +2.

[Rico]

I would not recommend using the Italian Sword, Arming Sword, Knightly Arming Sword, Long Arming Sword and the like. These weapons are okay at everything: Speed, length, cut, pierce. But sadly, they aren't outstandingly good at anything. ~25p is enough so it does not bounce, but the damage is far from threatening compared to Espada, Scottish, Side Sword, Crusader Sword, Steel Pick, Military Pick etc. With ~100 wpf and 5 PS, my swings with the Italian-Sword-family weapons bounce on armors like Heavy Kuyak and even heavy helmets on a regular basis, and it's not because I suck at aiming them. I heard others complaining about bouncing with 7 PS instead of 5 and the same wpf, so I wouldn't call these weapons reliable against anything but light armor.

Either go for something with a more devastating stab (even the Spathion is a valid choice for that, even though it does not look like a stabbing weapon), or aim for higher cut like Arabian Cavalry Sword, Nordic Champion's Sword or Grosses Messer. Or you abstain from the stylish cut weapons completely and go for blunt (Warhammer, Iberian Mace, Spathovaklion) or pierce (Steel Pick, Military Pick, Military Sickle).

I am not saying that weapons of the Italian-Sword-family are bad, but given the competition of other choices, I'd say there is better stuff around. When your character is OP because it is super-high level and it has a dedicated build, you might be able to do well with any weapon, including these swords. But then again, you can maximize combat efficiency by going for other weapons with more specialized or generally better stats.

Edit: When I described my experiences with bouncing from heavier armor, I forgot to mention I used MW versions of these weapons, not the +0 swords.

[Thryn]

I feel you Panuru, I'm going for the Nord Champion's