Next Gen 1hander build

[ponyboy]

So heres my Currenty gen build:
21 str 18 agi
3 if
7 ps
4 shield
6 ath
3 wm
130 wpf 1hander

Thinkin for my next gen, since the fotm is to not use any WM, and according to the damage calculator it really doesn't make much of any difference:

24str 15agi
6 if
8 ps
4 shield
5ath
0 wm

111wpf 1hander

Now, my previous reservation about going 0 wm was that there was some special damage penalty for being under 100wpf with armor weight.  But according to the calculator there is as .5 average damage difference between 0 wm and 3 wm.  I was thinking of going 24/18, but at lvl 30 I would have to sacrifice all my ironflesh which doesnt seem worth it.  Any input on this build?

[oohillac]

I do not see any athletics, but I will assume at 15 agility you will put 5 points in.

Personally, I found 5 athletics far too slow as a shielder. The extra PS was not worth the hit to survivability.

[ponyboy]

Whoops, I did forget to put in Athletics.  But yes, maximum Athletics that the amount of agi allows. Ill fix that

[Spawny]

I do not see any athletics, but I will assume at 15 agility you will put 5 points in.

Personally, I found 5 athletics far too slow as a shielder. The extra PS was not worth the hit to survivability.

I hardly ever go beyond 15 agility as a shielder. Imo, hitting hard, having high HP and generally being hard to kill more than makes up for the tiny amount you lose in speed.
It depends mostly on your role on the battlefield. I always play frontline fighter and in sieges I defend choke points until overwhelmed. Don't need a whole lot of athletics for that, I need to drop my enemies in 1-2 hits.

[oohillac]

Depends on the playstyle. I fare better dancing around my opponents, and usually lose head-on, low-mobility confrontations.

Others may be better at feints and kicks and such; there, strength will win.

[Khorup]

What gear do you use?

My build is 24/15, with:

8 Powerstrike
5 Athetics
5 Shield
5 WPF

Many people suggest a higher agility build, but I have found out, that the extra powerstrike really makes a diffrence.
But as oohillac already said, it all depends on your play style. I do think however, that you should skip the IF skill, inorder to get WPF and an extra shield skill.

[Snoozer]

this one works well you dont really sacrifice too much skill points its actually what i might use in my next build

(click to show/hide)

Level 30 (4 420 577 xp)

Strength: 21
Agility: 15
Hit points: 70
Skills to attributes: 2
Ironflesh: 7
Power Strike: 7
Shield: 5
Athletics: 5
Weapon Master: 5
One Handed: 146

though i most likely am going to use this build though due to the fact i do not like being surrounded too easy

(click to show/hide)

Level 30 (4 420 577 xp)

Strength: 18
Agility: 18
Hit points: 65
Skills to attributes: 2
Ironflesh: 6
Power Strike: 6
Shield: 5
Athletics: 6
Weapon Master: 6
One Handed: 154
Throwing: 1

[ponyboy]

I've tried that 21/15 build, as well as 18/18 and 15/21.  They all worked decently well, but Im pushing for some extra PS/ath at the sacrifice of WM, since WM doesnt seem to do much of anything.

[Penitent]

I've tried that 21/15 build, as well as 18/18 and 15/21.  They all worked decently well, but Im pushing for some extra PS/ath at the sacrifice of WM, since WM doesnt seem to do much of anything.

I think WM increases the speed of the swing more than the damage, but maybe I'm wrong.

I want to go 1h next gen too...but I don't think I can do anything other than 18/18.  5 PS is just too weak, and 5 Ath is just too slow.  If I try to sacrifice IF, my HP's are too low!  I'm trapped!

[MrShine]

If you aren't going to use any WM how about this?

Level 30 (4 420 577 xp)

    Strength: 21
    Agility: 18
    Hit points: 66

    Skills to attributes: 8

    Ironflesh: 5
    Power Strike: 7
    Shield: 5
    Athletics: 6

I say this because I personally think with an unheirmloomed shield 4 shield skill breaks too often... but going from 4 to 5 seems to make the shield last a lot longer.

Also ofc going WM or not is your preference, but while I agree it's probably the weakest skill stacking it does give a slight damage bonus as well as a very slight swing speed bonus.  Food for thought:

21/15 standard shielder build with 5 WM (146 wpf) and a 30c 1H:

    Minimum: 39
    Average: 45.5
    Maximum: 52

Your build w/ 24 str 8 PS but no WM (111 wpf) (again using a 30c 1H):

    Minimum: 40
    Average: 46.5
    Maximum: 53


You average 1 damage more per swing, but will be swinging a tiny bit slower.  Very negligible either way, but worth thinking about.

[ponyboy]

hmm! interesting mr shine.

[zagibu]

Whether you need WM or not depends on the stuff you want to use. If you go with light armor, no WM might work. Otherwise, forget it. The weight you can carry is also based on WM, not only on STR (actually, WM is more important, IIRC).

[El_Infante]

What about?

18/21.

6 PS
7 Shield
7 Athletics
3 WM.

I think you need WM to have a faster swing. Considering there is a WPF reduction by armor weight, you need at least an effective 120-130wpp. One hander get not too much benefits from PS because your base damage is low. 2handers & polearms get more "profit" from it. So 6 is more than enough. You need ATH because shield weight slows you down a lot. I saw skilled onehanders with that build.

[ponyboy]

The speed gain from WM seems very very small.  I haven't been able to notice it. especially with the diminishing returns of points put into it wpf. 

I disagree though in that I think powerstrike for 1handers is actually more important than 2handers or pole, because of the lower base damage.  Ive done 5ps and 6 ps 1hander builds, and you bounce off even medium armored targets pretty frequently compared to 7ps. Unless you use blunt or pierce damage 7ps I think is necessary for 1hander. 

Also I use a pretty beefy Reinforced white heavy norman shield which with 4shieldskill has been more than enough shield.  Though I would probably use a slightly lighter weight shield If I could trade for one.

However, as mr shine noted the damage difference from 8ps 111wpf and 7ps 146wpf is about the same, with slightly faster swing. so, now Im thinking between (I do want to try this 8ps business):

24/12
8if
8ps
4shield
4ath
4wm
138 wpf
75hp

And

24/15
3if
8ps
4shield
5ath
3wm

130wpf
65hp

The sacrifice being basically 10hp for 1 more athletics.  Not sure which build will yield more survivability. with the armor weight I use (H:2.5, B:11.1, Gloves:0.7  Boots: 0.8)

The average damage for the first build is 47  (30 cut)
and for the second 46.5

for the 21/7 it is 45 damage

Hmmm..

[Zerran]

The speed gain from WM seems very very small.  I haven't been able to notice it. especially with the diminishing returns of points put into it wpf. 

Just to clarify on this, WPF increases speed by approximately 6% per 100 points, if I remember from Waltf4's tests properly, hence why I've stopped using WM totally. 3 points in WM gives you 19 wpp, which translates to a little over 1% speed boost, as compared to 3 points in IF giving 6 HP which is around 10% more health for a balanced build.

EDIT: Actually here's a link to his tests.