Best one handed platekiller

[Ronin]

Hello dear non-friendly and non-innovative crpg community,

I am playing as a shielder and wondering which one-handed weapon is the most useful against heavy armored opponents. Is it a heavy warhammer? A short steel pick? An economy friendly iberian mace? Or it’s a versatile long espada eslavona used with both stabs and swings?

I’m not asking that which one is the best for a certain circumstance, likewise “a regular espada eslavona has more speed but if you want a longer weapon long espada eslavona is a better choice for you.”. Yes espada has more power in closer range, but is it useful as much as a long espada eslavona against two hander/polearm infantry that can easily outrange you? Considering majority of players are two handers/polearm users, long espada seems like a more logical choice, which is not lacking necessary amount of power when it is compared to a regular espada eslavona.

The question is simply, which one is the most trustworthy weapon against armored foes. There doesn’t have to be only one choice, but make it no more than two as well. The last criteria is, try to decide it based on experience. It can be something you use as a shielder, or it can be something you have hard time against. But what I mean is, don’t try to guess it. Talk through experience.

Disclaimer: I made a research, but couldn't find answers to the question. Even I was expecting a similiar thread to exist, there were not. (There occurs a best x thread in the turkish subforum of taleworlds every week)

[Rhaelys]

For pure plate-busting potential, a steel pick, military pick, warhammer, military hammer, or iberian mace are your best bets.

Only the high cut damage one handed swords fare decently well against plate (think 33 cut or more). Any less and you'll be looking at more hits to bring down someone in plate. Axes tend to be useful because they boast high cut damage and bonus against shields.

Honestly, there's no right answer to your question. Use whatever you prefer.

[Kherr]

Depends (as always...)
I use the steel pick and the warhammer very often. For me the steel pick is great for opening tincans, because I play siege the most time and I prefer str based builds. In siege there is normally not a lot of space, so there is no need to be very fast or to use a weapon with long reach.
But... a tin can uses a maul very often... it's not a good idea to fight such an enemy with the steel pick as str char.
Slow char and short weapon on open field does not work also.
For me it's hard to use the knockdown feature of the warhammer often. If you fight against several enemies at the same time there is often no time to hit the same enemy twice in a row. So I prefer the steel pick.
For steel pick unfriendly environment I often used the Long Espada Eslavona. It's very long and has a good pierce damage... compensation for a slow char.
So... imho it depends on build (and armor), environment (battle, siege), playing style (duell, clusterfuck)

[Spawny]

I prefer the warhammer over the other short tincan openers for a very simple reason:
On top of the 15% chance to knock em down for a free hit, you have a thrust attack!

Believe it or not, a lot of people fall for the thrust. It's not that powerful, but it's still pierce damage and when using a 24/15 1h/shielder build you will still hurt people.

Range control is very important though. When fighting someone with a long weapon you have to be very careful to not just swing back as soon as you can. Make sure he's still in range after you block.

It's a specific playstyle. But if done properly, you can bring down 60+ armour enemies down in 4 hits, even less when you hit heads. Something which can take up to 7-8 hits with a cutting weapon. Lightly armoured agility builds usually go down in 2 hits. It's very powerful, but not suited for all situations.
It shines in clusterfucks and sieges.

[Ronin]

I agree that warhammer is indeed a powerful weapon. All knock down weapons is good for one on one. But if done properly, it gives more than one free hit. It is not so hard to perform the combo 1-knock down 2- hit 3- kick 4- another hit. It's a sonata of death

As kherr said, it is heavily dependant in the game mode. For some game modes, short weapons are more suitable. Game modes such as siege...


As for my gamestyle, I usually prefer mobility over strength. That is why usally long espada eslavona seem like the best for me. It has very good reach and fast. I find it hard to use weapons with short reach and normal speed. Normal speed out to be considerably slow for a short weapon.

My character build is 18/21 build. 6 PS, 7 Ath, 5 shield, 5 weapon master. I prefer mostly light armor and elite cavalry shield. Nevertheless, I was referring to every one hander in my question.

[Gurnisson]

Iberian Mace and Military Pick. Good speed, damage and better length than the high-tier ones.

[Captain_Georges]

Military hammer if you wanna look cool

[FRANK_THE_TANK]

I always love this combo. Its slow but it packs a huge punch.

Iberian Mace + Iron war Axe, the axe can be subed for a Millitary Clever should the mood take you.

The Iron War Axe blows huge massive holes in shield and pretty much everything. Flip it round for pierce damage and the weight really kicks in. The Iberian Mace gets plenty of knock down with 7PS. Great weapon.

[Tzar]

Aim for the head or legs an use any 1h weapon you like 

[Digglez]

Although the steel pick is definitely the highest dmg, its also the shortest.  So unless you have VERY high athletics like 6 or more and wear less than 10-15lbs of armor total, people will be moving out of your range constantly.

I like the Military Pick and Hammer.  The pick has good range and stings and the hammer is such an odd speed for 1h'ers that it often throws people off.  Try and work your holds to mess people up even more!

[Dravic]

So unless you have VERY high athletics like 6 or more

Yes, I understand what "more" means, but... 6 isn't "VERY high athletics". Really. It's less than half of reachable athletics if we cap at 30 lvl.

[Penitent]

steel pick is fine with 5 ath if you have a shield.  Of course, more is better.

It is the best plate killer, and the best 1h weapon in the game.  Masterworked, it is very possibly the best weapon in the entire game.

[Laufknoten]

Yes, I understand what "more" means, but... 6 isn't "VERY high athletics". Really. It's less than half of reachable athletics if we cap at 30 lvl.

Well, that's the str-stacking attitude of many crpg players. If you have more than 5 ath you're an "agi-my old friend", even though 6 ath is exactly the middle... 
Yesterday I was one of the fastest players of my team with only 7 ath. 

Topic:
I think the Steel pick is the best can opener, but personally I like the military hammer more for it's length and knockdown. Also you cannot just spam left-right, you have to wait for the right moment to strike and you need good footwork.
 

[Renten]

Military hammer is the way to go, it also has the best reach for a blunt 1h as for as I know. You can also switch it for pierce but I wouldn't know why. A lot of people seem to block the right way but then drop the block right before I hit too because its so slow.

I've 1 shot str builds with the steel pick with 4 ps and 8 ath. If your both running at each other and you can get left-right headshot lulz will happen.

[Vodner]

If you land solid hits and aim for the head, then pretty much anything will take plate down users reasonably quickly. I almost never bother swapping my +3 long espada out anymore.

If you want weapons specifically for taking down plate (at the expense of reach), then the military hammer and steel pick are both good choices. I use them a fair bit in siege.