The Sword and Spear Way - Hoplites Guide

[Ronin]

Ashwood pike is really great. Definitely my favorite.

Edit: I also saw that lance stats are changed. Did a small update to there, and added iron staff as an option.

[Xelaris]

If you were 1st gen what build and equipment would you chose (aka on the cheap side of things you are first gen, no monies for standard equip)
And i have a question on the athenian build. Why not put 100 into 1h and 140 into polearms since 1h are fast by nature?

[Erzengel]

Polearm: Bamboo Spear, Light Lance (pure hoplite) or Red Tassel Spear (shielder with one handed weapon)
One Handed Weapon (optional): There are lots of good choices. Get a weapon with either pierce, blunt or very high cut damage
Shield: Heavy Round Shield, all other shields with difficulty 4 or 5 are also good for hoplites (besides the Steel Buckler)
Head Armor: Something between 1 and 2 weight
Body Armor: Mail Shirt with Fur and Byrnie offer a good protection for low upkeep/weight. Anything up to 40 body armor will also do the job
Hand Armor: Mail Mittens
Leg Armor: Mail Chausses are a very good choice, but you could also use some cheaper boots since hits in the legs are quite rare

21/15 and 18/18 are good builds if you plan to retire at level 31 (which you should do).

Put all weapon points into polearms if you want a pure hoplite. If you prefer to be a shielder with a Spear as side arm you should only put between 70 and 100 points into polearms and the rest into one handed weapons.

[Mr_Oujamaflip]

So, Teeth must be what the "wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, yeah" line is about...

[Xelaris]

Is the normal spear worthy of consideration after the latest update?

[sdfjkln]

Has anyone here tried hopliting w/o Polearm WPF? I thought hoplites used 1h wpf for the longest time so I never used pole wpf....but I still regularly got valour. I guess I would have been more effective, but it seems like having a good understanding of the stab mechanics might be enough to do well.

[Xelaris]

Check out the 1h shield thread from Help and Guides.
I see a lot of 1h shield these days so yeah, everybody is doing it.

[Xelaris]

What do you think of a dagger as a side weapon for hoplite

[fdaslan]

A simple axe works good for me.

[Zanze]

Xelaris, any 1h weapon is a perfect sideweapon. Also, you can use any length spear as a hoplite. The only thing is the length will determine what you want out of it. The shorter the length, the less you can support teammates but the greater you can "duel." By "Duel" I mean pike wiggle and stuff to victory.

[Xelaris]

Yes, i noticed i can fair decent for a beginner even with a quarter staff or short spear.
I think that the quarter staff is a wonderful weapon actually.
Btw i went all polearm and i am doing better.
My arch enemy is the 2h duelist that has more agility, damn them

[fdaslan]

Yes, i noticed i can fair decent for a beginner even with a quarter staff or short spear.
I think that the quarter staff is a wonderful weapon actually.
Btw i went all polearm and i am doing better.
My arch enemy is the 2h duelist that has more agility, damn them

You can top them when you get used to your build.

Edit: Well, the skilled ones can always find a way to kill you tho.

[Mammonist]

I'm liking hopliting so far, it's an amazing support class. Only it's annoying that your team doesn't get it sometimes and runs away leaving you alone to deal with 1 or more people.

Anyway, someone should make a hoplite clan. Have trainings together and all get bannerbalanced onto the same team. I imagine that 5+ hoplites working together are quite a big deal.   

[Ronin]

Deserters and byzantium are very hoplite disciplined at the moment

I'm also trying to make companions more hoplite based too.

[Johammeth]

Looking for some advice.

I just retired my first hoplite (16/21), and I'm torn between 15/24 and 18/21

I play as a superlight hoplite: Steel Buckler, Bamboo spear, and about 12 total weight. I run around tickling people with my spear from a safe distance, setting up easy kills for my team.

dilemna:

15/24
50 hp
8ath
8shield
147 wpf
29.2 dmg to unarmored target (shield in hand)

vs

18/21
53hp
7ath
7shield
156 wpf
31.6 dmg to unarmored target (shield in hand)

Putting the 3 bonus pts into strength will give me a tiny bit more damage (hopefully fewer glancing blows and therefore more helpful "stuns" for my teammates to capitalize on)...

BUT

24 agility just seems ridiculously zippy (i'm hoping that 8 shield + speed will cover for my squishiness).


I can't decide if the points are more valuable taking STR from 15->18 or AGI from 21->24 and would love to hear some input.

Cheers