Trying to decide on a thrower + melee hybrid

[Rapture]

Hey guys, I decided when I retire my melee character I wanted to build him as a thrower hybrid the next time around. The problem I'm having is deciding what melee to pair throwing with. I currently use polearms on him as a hoplite, but I've seen how effective 1h + shield builds can be, and I'm trying to decide on what would work best working with other shield wielding characters.

Probably the biggest problem I have with a spear + shield build is how you can only thrust with the shield out, which is why I'm looking at other alternatives. My final consideration is a 2h + shield build, but I don't know how severe a penalty is given for using a 2h with a shield, or what 2hs can even be used with a shield, aside from a longsword and morningstar. I like the idea of having the versatility in attacks with a shield that a 2her would grant, but without having as big a reach penalty a 1h would, and being able to have the same advantages as a normal 2her if the shield breaks.

So, I come to you veterans of cRPG, which do you guys think would be best for a shield + thrower build, that can do fairly decently in the case of losing said shield, and plays nice with others? (Dependent on my own skill and situation awareness, of course.)

[Dravic]

Take that!


Level 30 (4 420 577 xp)
Strength: 27
Agility: 12
Hit points: 62
Converted: 8
Ironflesh: 0
Power Strike: 9
Shield: 0
Athletics: 1
Riding: 0
Horse Archery: 0
Power Draw: 0
Power Throw: 9
Weapon Master: 4
One Handed: 1
Two Handed: 1
Polearm: 120
Archery: 1
Crossbow: 1
Throwing: 88

+ Throwing lances, at least 1 stack, so you can use them effectively in melee and 1hit1kill enemy while in throwing mode, rest weapons is your choice. With 9 power strike you'll pwn anyone with thrust of your throwing lance's melee mode!

OR you can take other build, more... agile:

Level 30 (4 420 577 xp)
Strength: 21
Agility: 15
Hit points: 56
Unused skill points: 5
Converted: 2
Ironflesh: 0
Power Strike: 7
Shield: 0
Athletics: 5
Riding: 0
Horse Archery: 0
Power Draw: 0
Power Throw: 7
Weapon Master: 5
One Handed: 1
Two Handed: 1
Polearm: 130
Archery: 1
Crossbow: 1
Throwing: 89

Less Power strike and Power throw, though there still will be 80% chance of 1hit1kill someone with throwing lance (peasants, archers 100%, no archer is going for more than 70hp and your dmg is about 75 with throwing lance, if youre lucky and possibly you and/or your target is moving fast you can deal up to 110 pierce dmg with this "more agile" build, thanks to overpowered power throw skill)

[ShinySpoons]

I have a hybrid 1h/2h/xbowman atm, and surprisingly longsword with shield isn't that bad. You can't play like a "normal" 1h/shielder and if you're facing up against someone with very fast swing speeds you'll have to either put the shield away or use your range and dance in on his recovery. However, for the most part you'll be better off using a non bastard sword with shield or the longsword by itself. Especially if you`re speccing into throwing as well, I suggest you pick one or the other. My hybrid only works because xbows don`t require skill points, just wpf.

[Rapture]

Alrighty, thanks for the input and advice.

[Centurion]

Go with a balanced 1h shield and throwing spears its a good balanced build with 16 strenght 17 agility. You can take anyone out with a huscarl shield heraldic mail and a steel pick or heavy broad one handed axe. Also throwing spears are in my opinion the best throwing weapon. With the build you can have lots of ironflesh and powerstrike.  and also alot of athletics and power throw. So your speedy and powerful. Also you only need about 100 throwing wpf so you end up with almost 150 1h wpf which is enough to take out most all 1h people if your good. 2h hybrids are slow while polearm hybrids are mostly strength builds. The balanced 1h hybrid is the best of em all.

[Sphinxer]

I'd go with 1h + shield and jarids. I'd go with a sword (fast and long) and use the jarids to break the shields (2 or 3 usually breaks anything if you have PT8+) or get throwing knives for the annoying archers running away or keeping a distance with you (since they have higher athletics) If you go 2H they'll hit and run you ... or you'll get stuff thrown at you and die quickly

With that annoying Throwing flavour of the month, a shield is a MUST. So you better go 1h with PS/PT 8 and get Shield 4 Athl. 4 and WPF 4 (go 120 1h / 88 throwing)

Or PS/PT 7 , Athl. Shield, WPF 5 so you can go (130+ 1h / 100 throwing).

I'd suggest you get a pure thrower too to work on your throwing skills before going hybrid. Get PT10 and Str 24+ and try javs , jarids, axes, lances and spears and pick the one you're the most comfortable with.

[Rapture]

Thanks for all the continued input guys, it really helps. And yes, i was thinking a 7 PT/PS build Sphinxer, and actually my first character when I first started was a pure thrower. It's fun stuff. Haven't done throwing since the patch changing throwing flight speed though.

Oh, and checking the updated calculator (or at least I think it's the most up to date), you can't have 130 1h wpf and 100 throwing with 5 WM. You can do 125 1h and 98 throwing however.

Level 30 (4 420 577 xp)

    * Strength: 21
    * Agility: 15
    * Hit points: 56

    * Converted: 2
    * Ironflesh: 0
    * Power Strike: 7
    * Shield: 5
    * Athletics: 5
    * Riding: 0
    * Horse Archery: 0
    * Power Draw: 0
    * Power Throw: 7
    * Weapon Master: 5

    * One Handed: 125
    * Two Handed: 1
    * Polearm: 1
    * Archery: 1
    * Crossbow: 1
    * Throwing: 98

[Sphinxer]

You posted almost the same build that I'm aiming for after I retire (1m exp to go)

Thought I can't really tell you what will be my secret weapon Shield 5 is great , it allows you good shield but they get expensive, same thing with the 1h weapon you'll pick (250-400 gold if broke usually). Add the armor, shield, and throwing weap. (jarids = about 325, so lances ++ and axes/javs --)

Since WPF isn't really realistic with throwing (which makes it soooo OP) , I suggest to go with the 130 1h and what's left in throwing... there's not a big difference from 80 to 110 with throwing , as throw is already very slow. that small difference of time doesn't make a big difference compare to when you'll be fighting 1H. Many people are using shields so except going 1H battles more often than throwing

I hope (and I guess it will) that throwing will be nerfed , or at least the WPF will be more realistic to increase speed/accuracy (maybe even dmg) so that throwers stop having low WPF and have all of their wpf in polearm (to use lances as polearm like native_ATS and others). So if you start your build and the next patch screws your build, don't wait to retire to fix it, I'd suggest to retire after 15 to reset your stats and get a good strong build (my personal opinion, maybe others will disagree but 15 lvls are easy done in 1 night, and the next 16 to go take forever so you better play with a build you'll prefer than being "stuck" with a screwed up build (thanks to the next update)).

If you have any other questions, feel free to PM me and I'll ask around if I can't answer you properly ;)

[Fluffy_Muffin]

You should use a battle axe for a weapon, it can break shields, has decent dmg/speed/lenght. Good weapon all around.

Or perhaps if you prefer more dmg but less shield breaking potential go for the pick or warhammer. Not the sword, you already have something to deal with the 2handers, thats what your trowing weps are for.

[Rapture]

Haha, alright. Thanks Sphinxer. Not there yet, still 28 on Kvothe because i was busy leveling Dark (Just retired today, whoo!).

You should use a battle axe for a weapon, it can break shields, has decent dmg/speed/lenght. Good weapon all around.

Or perhaps if you prefer more dmg but less shield breaking potential go for the pick or warhammer. Not the sword, you already have something to deal with the 2handers, thats what your trowing weps are for.

I'm trying to get some sort of versatility for most situations, so I probably would run a sword for general purpose use, and keep a selection of alternate weapons to use as i feel like it, like picks or axes. (Good call on those, was going to grab them too already )

[Sphinxer]

I agree with the Pick or WH (I use pick) since if you throw daggers or war darts , you can easily use them to 1 shot light armor people. Sword is only very effective against low armor enemies. If you have javs/spears/jarids , it's very good against tin cans / plated horse so you only need a piercing weapon when fighting someone with a shield (mostly wearing good armor where your sword "cut" damage is lesser, and where your pierce damage make him regrets fighting you).

But Shield Breakers (like 2h axes) are not needed if you have axes/jarids to break those upcoming shield, and if you do have a 2h weap, we're back to what I was saying earlier... massive throwers on the servers will pick on you all the time and archers. Try fighting or throwing with arrows always hitting you .. .very annoying !

Just an opinion

[Rapture]

Fair enough, I was aiming for all around general purpose, but that's why I have a selection of weapons. Can't decide on a pick though; any reccomendations? I was leaning towards a military sickle.

[Brutal]

To be a good thrower you need a lot of strengh and PT, at 6PT you start being decent  8PT you start being good  10 PT you start being awesome
To be a good shielder you need to be fast because that shield slow you down a lot, so it seem to me that you need more than 12-15 agi to be good or at least competitive.
Do you see the dilemma ?

Either you're a good thrower with low ammo and weak fighting skill
Or a good shielder with low ammo and weak throwing skill.

The best hydrid throwing build IMO are 2h or polearm/throwing, those are the (only) thrower that top the score chart with their strength build.
They've more ammo and can use both throwing and melee weapon in a very efficient manner.

Don't get me wrong I'm not saying that shielder/trowing hybrid are ineffective or useless , I'm just adding some input for you to think about.

[Kung Fu Jesus]

I have the same concerns are Brutal. Although I have not made a thrower yet with high agility. Currently I am 27/9 with 100 2H and 98-ish in throwing. Power Throw 9. I use heavy throwing axes. There are still plenty of people that take multiple shots to kill. There are plenty that die in one. But I would say PT 8 was the turning point. I would love more agility but I am worried I will become ineffective as a thrower. Considering the amount of throws you miss, each one needs to count for something. I don't want to throw 5 axes into someone to kill them.

[Sphinxer]

The beauty of PT8+ is that you can throw back everything people throw at you (including lances). And as you go around on the battlefield you'll find plenty of axes and javs (I still prefer starting with the strongest , the jarids, then downgrade to what people throw to me)

Pure throwing is fun , I have 30 STR pt 10 but the problem is that if you dedicated too much on throwing, once people with shield (or if you get sneaked on) get in range to attack you, it's very hard to switch to melee with a throwing weapong and fight (except if you go 2h polearm build and use lances like many started doing .. very HIGH upkeep, and no shield so then again , archers and throwers will pick on you since you'll look like an easy target).

If you're the last guy standing, your chances are very low. Pure throwers usually team up with someone and do their job ; support. You can't really rush with a pure thrower and you tend to stay behind and wait for a good opportunity..

Based on that , if you go hybrid , you wanna try to reduce your weaknesses and try to get at least good and average at some places , not just very good and very weak somewhere else...

So I still recommend 1h shield so that people don't target you right away and go with more skills toward 1h than throwing. If you get 8PS/PT you still can get 4 shield 4 Ath. and 4 WPF to get 120/88 1h/Throwing , making you hard to kill in close combat, and archers can't spam your shield and break it easily. Throwers will mostly hit your shield even though you're already throwing...

If you're not comfortable with a build, change it ... don't force yourself to play a way you don't like... so even though I think 1h is better , you wanna play 2h ? go for it if it's already in your mind ... 2h hybrid are very good too , we're just discussing the fors and the cons ;)