Help with Masterwork 1 hander build

[Kelden]

Hey, I have a masterwork italian 1 hander, which has some serious cut damage to it.

This entire time I have been 18/18 with a balanced 6 in all attributes except 5 in IF, thats 6 Ath/PS/WM/Shield

I like my shield athletics and wm being maxed, so I'm looking for an opinion.

Now that my italian is masterwork and gains 3 extra cut damage on its swing, can I take 3 points out of str and place them into agility? That would be 5 PS then 7 Ath/wm/shield increasing my wm would also bump my one handed prof up a bit. I've never really had a problem with 6 ps and my italian non masterwork, I feel like this athletics will help me remain more competitive in the environment.

Please help your opinion will be worth something to me thanks!

[Shaksie]

Good idea, my thoughts exactly.

[Erzengel]

I wouldn't go under 6 PS, even with a MW weapon you wont deal enough damage. Better sacrifice some IF/WM and go 18/21.

[Shatter]

If you want to go a faster shielder build, I would go:

18/21

6 PS
5-6 IF
7 Ath
4-5 Shield

Your choice on the extra point in shield or IF (I prefer shield).

6 PS is pretty necessary with 1h sword. I don't find WM that useful on a fast weapon like the Italian when compared to IF or Shield.

[rustyspoon]

I have a MW Italian and this is the build I use:

18/21

6 PS
4 IF
7 Ath
6 Shield

With 6 PS I never glance unless I have bad footwork.
Also for the shield I use, (MW Heavy Round) 6 shield skill seems to be the tipping point to where it never breaks.

[rubicon_crossed]

Just want to reiterate what others have said - you'll be playing with a handicap with only 5 ps as a 1 hander. EU might be different, but playing on NA1 will be frustrating with all of the heavy armor and high strength builds. ex. Midnighter (Kalam) uses a 15/27 build and is a force on duel where it'll always be 1 vs 1 and he can use left/up swings to the head to deal damage but on battle it's too easy to get one shot from situations you can't control (teamwounding, you can't guarantee that 1 vs 1, piked in the back, etc). Plus, he's mentioned on TS how that 9 athletics hasn't really made that much of a difference in (relative) speed.

If you're dead set on going 15 str, I'd recommend using a different 1 hander like the steel pick.

[Zanze]

On NA, 15-18 strength is almost a minimum. As Rubicon mentioned, TEAMWOUNDING is rampant. I personally wear armor to protect me from my teammates, I'll depend on shield or skill for the enemy.

Also, with a sword you definitely need at least 6 PS. HOWEVER. the Italian Falchion has cut damage comparable to an axe, so you -can- live with 5 PS and do fine. If by Italian one-hander you refer to the falchion, you'll be ok with 5 PS and the extra ath. Especially because it is short (70).

What I would actually recommended though, is to drop all your WM. Keep your 6 PS and get the extra athletics. You have an insanely fast weapon to begin with, so that is not an issue. But now you get to keep the extra hit points from the strength, do the same damage (6 WM can maybe equal to the 3 str 1ps??) and move faster. I mentioned doing the same damage...and lied. You'll have a higher acceleration, and thus a higher speed bonus, therefore more damage.

[Kelden]

On NA, 15-18 strength is almost a minimum. As Rubicon mentioned, TEAMWOUNDING is rampant. I personally wear armor to protect me from my teammates, I'll depend on shield or skill for the enemy.

Also, with a sword you definitely need at least 6 PS. HOWEVER. the Italian Falchion has cut damage comparable to an axe, so you -can- live with 5 PS and do fine. If by Italian one-hander you refer to the falchion, you'll be ok with 5 PS and the extra ath. Especially because it is short (70).

What I would actually recommended though, is to drop all your WM. Keep your 6 PS and get the extra athletics. You have an insanely fast weapon to begin with, so that is not an issue. But now you get to keep the extra hit points from the strength, do the same damage (6 WM can maybe equal to the 3 str 1ps??) and move faster. I mentioned doing the same damage...and lied. You'll have a higher acceleration, and thus a higher speed bonus, therefore more damage.

I like all the input you guys have given, still alot to think about and yes to not have any confusion like rusty spoon said I am talking about the italian sword.

Edit: In response to the 0 wm suggestion I'm pretty sure their is a thread about this, but I have looked around alot to try and find guides ect on the items I want to use and why, but I read somewhere unconfirmed source that people felt having either reduced agility or reduced wpf would feel like their weapon was less responsive or got locked up. Again I'm not positive on this and could not be true I just read it somewhere I think in waltf4s wpf thread where people were saying they could feel the difference in increased agility (or wm?) maybe its worth it though to get those extra stat points.

:IF it is true though having 0 WM won't really sound appealing to me personally, I kind of like to be able to swing my weapon and have a good chance that it is going to hit before the other guys weapon whether by turning in my swing whatever which way and the factors that govern it.

[rustyspoon]

I like all the input you guys have given, still alot to think about and yes to not have any confusion like rusty spoon said I am talking about the italian sword.

Edit: In response to the 0 wm suggestion I'm pretty sure their is a thread about this, but I have looked around alot to try and find guides ect on the items I want to use and why, but I read somewhere unconfirmed source that people felt having either reduced agility or reduced wpf would feel like their weapon was less responsive or got locked up. Again I'm not positive on this and could not be true I just read it somewhere I think in waltf4s wpf thread where people were saying they could feel the difference in increased agility (or wm?) maybe its worth it though to get those extra stat points.

:IF it is true though having 0 WM won't really sound appealing to me personally, I kind of like to be able to swing my weapon and have a good chance that it is going to hit before the other guys weapon whether by turning in my swing whatever which way and the factors that govern it.

If you immediately respec and go from 160 wpf to 110 wpf, the difference is noticeable but it is very slight with an already fast weapon. Honestly with a 1-hander you can still outspam the shit out of people. With armor reduction I think I currently only have about 93 wpf. Really, the only play you are going to notice the reduced wpf is with upkeep. You will pay out slightly more with 0 wm.

Still if you're really worried about it, try a STF. In practice you won't notice a difference.

[Bongo Fury]

I'd cut down on the IF personally, i don't really take it unless i can properly stack it, i'd ignore it all together in 1h, either invest it into extra attributes or stick it in power throw and get some axes for a bit of utility. Makes it alot more fun to be a 1h and shielder for me.

[MrShine]

I am currently trying out a 21/18 1h/shield build with 0 wm and as others have said you can be completely fine with the default 111 wpf into 1H.

I've never done a shielder with less than 6 PS, and I would not recommend using a cut weapon with 5 PS. 

I'm also a huge fan of IF, even if I can't stack too much.