Polearms question

[Mallets]

Being away for a while now (8 months), I'm looking to play with my polearm character a little more.  I'm looking to purchase a 3 new weapons, but having a hard time making a decision.  I'm looking to buy a poleaxe, a very long spear, and a medium-ranged piercing weapon.

Character background.  I play a decent mix of Battle & Siege.  My character is 21/15.  But may make him my first retired character and go 18/21, and focus just on polearms... and not a mixture of throwing/shield, that my character now has.

So help me make a decision in each category.


1) Poleaxe or Elegant Poleaxe

I'm leaning towards the regular poleaxe because of the high stab damage.  I suck... so I figured I could use it to sneak in stab attacks in the midst of battle.  And a bit cheaper.


2) Pike or Long Spear

Tough one here.  Pike has a lot more length.  Long Spear has a good bit more speed and 2 more damage.  I like speed, but I'm curious if it'll matter.  Mind you, my character is Str build at the moment.  I'm sure AGI would help.


3)  Long Awpike or Corseque or Other

I've enjoyed the regular Awpike.  Just figured I'd step up the length.  Or is there an advantage to the shorter Awpike?  Looking at two weapons mentioned above, basically the difference is in the over-head attack... which I think is valuable.  Being away, I can't remember which is more useful... blunt or pierce.  Long Awpike with 18 blunt versus the Corseque's 21 pierce.  If blunt is better, than maybe the Septum?  Also, if there's another similar weapon that you recommend, I'd love to hear about it.

[no_rules_just_play]

i can tell you this: i am a pure piker, i dont use any 4-directional weapon on my main. i use a 15/24 build.

i started with the long awlpike because i loved it in native, than i bought a long spear because i liked the unloomed version alot and now i also have bought the pike (because i didnt feel complete, a real piker knows how to use a pike).

i dont know what to say yet because its a though choise, ill think about how to compare the weapons and post it. I can already tell you that the pike is worth nothing without atleast one teammate and i love it on DTV for the fact that you can stab over objects like walls and shieldwalls more easily (you can stab through objects and teammates, but this is not allowed and banable).

I would say, try the unloomed versions of all weapons you want to loom, because thats what i always did. if you can compare the unloomed versions, the loomed ones will feel the same, but better.
I think blunt is a very little bit better than pierce against heavy armor, but i heard from people that the difference was removed in a certain patch.

Because of our build difference i cant really say what is the best weapon. I can tell that i tried my long awlpike on all builds within 24/15 and 15/24 and i chose the agi based build (i felt bad for being such a agiwhore )

if you want, you can try out my loomed weapons untill the end of this week, im inactive anyway. I think the best way to do that is to join Peasants United with an alt and ill put my stuff into the armoury.

[Grumbs]

I've never really used the Elegant poleaxe, a bit of extra speed never seemed worth losing the damage and length to me. Poleaxe is possibly the most well rounded jack of all trades weapon for polearms. Shield breaker, rear horses (a bit too short to do it reliably but its possible), good enough speed, good damage on stab and swings. Plus in secondary mode you can knock people down. Its got a bit of everything that you want in polearm

Its expensive though, and it can be good to specialise into one thing or another. The polestabs got nerfed quite a bit, especially the shorter ones became less useful imo so you can get a worse stab in exchange for better swings and cheaper upkeep by going with one of the axes (Long Bardiche, Long War Axe/Great Long Axe). Or get better length and lose shield breaker stat (LHB or Glaive). If you do want to focus on stabs then you have Long Awlpike and similar weapons.

For me all the nerfs made it so its not really worth losing 2 swings unless you get a decent reach or high damage, and even Long Awlpike isn't particularly long with its stabs. You still want to be very close to make sure it doesn't glance off. The shorter ones just aren't worth losing extra attack directions imo but just because they aren't so good it doesn't mean you can't use them. In the right hands they will still be very usable, just maybe they could do even better with other weapons. The new similar ones to Long Awlpike are worth trying out, there isn't really much between them. I might use the longest one with 2 attack directions, although the extra damage might be better than a tiny bit of extra length that probably doesn't equate to much.

Long Spear vs Pike is hard to call really. I'd try them both and see for yourself. Pike makes you run slower due to its length and weight, which can equate to shorter reach against faster moving guys/horses, and the weapon speed might even mean you don't hit players that a long spear might reach in the same amount of time. Non-Masterwork pike damage is a bit on the low side compared to Long Spear so its going to glance more, especially at long ranges. Pike is a lot harder to 1v1 with imo, but I would take a backup weapon with either (Quarterstaff or 1 hander).

[Gurnisson]

1) Poleaxe or Elegant Poleaxe

Of those two, definitely the Poleaxe. Other good options are German Poleaxe, Long Bardiche and Glaive. Stay away from the Elegant Poleaxe, it's awful

2) Pike or Long Spear

Long Spear. I prefer the pike because of its style, but the long spear is a lot better weapon.

3)  Long Awpike or Corseque or Other

Ranseur or Spetum. They're statistically better than the others. Ranseur's the best, in my opinion. Longest one and packs a punch with its overhead, while still having the same speed as the other and a good thrust.

[Moncho]

It all comes down to personal preference, get them all and play for a while is the only way to decide imo.
I have not used much of the others, but regarding the pike and long spear, I find that the pike is a much better support. The lower speed allows for bigger wiggles and getting around friendlies, and the extra length comes in extremely handy.
With the longspear you have to be more in the middle of the fray, which is more dangerous, but it is also more damaging, so it is more a risk vs reward choice.
If they close on you and you have no teammates, the pike is useless 99% of times, but the long spear can be used somewhat (not ideal, but at least you are not as doomed). If you prefer not to have a backup, practice your backjumping while aiming high and lowering the weapon to deal almost full damage. Annoying to fight against, gay to do, but it will save your life.
For my playstile, I prefer the pike with a backup 1her.

[Joseph Porta]

Does the spetum overhead knockdown?

[Gurnisson]

Does the spetum overhead knockdown?

No, why would it?

[Joseph Porta]

No, why would it?

Hmm, i thought since it does B damage it would also knock you down. 

[no_rules_just_play]

damn long awlpike with knockdown, would be great

[Joseph Porta]

Did anyone test it?

[no_rules_just_play]

yes and anyway, knockdown is always mentioned in the stats

[Joseph Porta]

yes and anyway, knockdown is always mentioned in the stats

yeah you are right, i sholdve checked it out first" 

[Mallets]

So what is this Stab nerf that you guys have mentioned?  Something about glancing?  How is that factored... if not enough PS, it can glance... or something like that?


And many thanks for all the detailed info guys!  Yeah, ideally... trying all these weapons would be great.  But I'm kind of a poor soul.  Either way, at least ya'lls advice can steer me towards which weapons to try first.

[Gurnisson]

So what is this Stab nerf that you guys have mentioned?  Something about glancing?  How is that factored... if not enough PS, it can glance... or something like that?


And many thanks for all the detailed info guys!  Yeah, ideally... trying all these weapons would be great.  But I'm kind of a poor soul.  Either way, at least ya'lls advice can steer me towards which weapons to try first.

There was nerf to the angle you're able to turn during your attacking animation. It's now based on length and weight of the weapon, and if it's a 1H, 2H or polearm weapon. Polearm stabs being one of the faster animations leave you with only a short window of turning, and with these weapons being long and cumbersome, it does make it even worse. Considering you have to turn your weapon a bit to not glance at short range I suggest that you learn how to stab up in the air and drag the thrust down in your enemy. Doesn't require a lot of turning to avoid glancing and you'll quite easily hit the face which increases the damage multiplier.

2D polearms are still solid, but poleaxes and greatswords are better.

[GuiKa]

Gurnisson speaks the truth.