Post/Author/DateTime	Post
McBAMF 12-14-04, 08:15 PM	which is a better fighting style for a ranger? 2WF or 2 handed weapon
Mirikon 12-14-04, 08:40 PM	Depends on your playing style, and your class. Barbarian? go two handed. Dex-based fighter? Go Two Weapon. Dervish? Definately two weapon. Dex-based builds are better with TWF, uberstrength fighters are better with Two handed fighting.
Mongoose4937 12-14-04, 08:44 PM	Your net damage ends up being about the same either way. Two shortswords? 1d6+str modifier for one, 1d6+1/2 strength modifier for the other. Greatsword? 2d6+1 and 1/2 strength modifier. High weapon enhancement favors twf, power attack favors two hands. TWF requires a really high dex, two hands capitalizes on strength. You can juggle the numbers around with different weapons and whatnot, but it mostly comes down to whether or not you want to spread your attacks out.
tiluvias99 12-14-04, 09:08 PM	I believe the general consensus is that 2hf is always better than twf unless you have sneak attack or more money than you know what to do with.
(Psi)SeveredHead 12-14-04, 10:36 PM	THF is a lot better for a ranger. When you use your surprise skills (but only get a partial action) not only can't you use TWF, but Manyshot becomes really useful. When you use your high Listen and Spot skills to avoid surprise, you still only get a partial action. Again, TWF will be useless in that situation, while Manyshot will be pretty decent. Using a double-weapon like a two-bladed sword gives you the best of both worlds, but it does take a feat.
Thorak 12-14-04, 10:40 PM	Your net damage ends up being about the same either way. Two shortswords? 1d6+str modifier for one, 1d6+1/2 strength modifier for the other. Greatsword? 2d6+1 and 1/2 strength modifier. High weapon enhancement favors twf, power attack favors two hands. TWF requires a really high dex, two hands capitalizes on strength. You can juggle the numbers around with different weapons and whatnot, but it mostly comes down to whether or not you want to spread your attacks out. The other factor, which is what results in a net loss for TWF, as the other posters have been pointing out, is the -2 penalty to attack minimum TWF enforces. Your damage adds up to about the same, but you get -2 to hit. TWF only begins to really shine if you have a lot of extra damage. A Flaming/Shocking/Frosty weapon, say. Or Sneak Attack. In these cases, more hits mean more times that extra damage is applied, which ramps up nicely, despite the penalty to hit. With a ranger, you don't have a class ability source, which means you need to find one somewhere else if you want to be really good at TWF. Though getting the feats for free is nice too; you can have a crap dex (GTWF requires a 19) and get away with it.
McBAMF 12-14-04, 10:44 PM	im building an elven ranger who has 18 str and 20 dex. with this knowlege which would be better for my character(TWF or THF)?
Zetakya 12-14-04, 10:44 PM	Once you start building up damage +es from various sources, TWF starts to pull ahead. That's counteracted if you start dealing in things with DR. 2H does more damage with a single blow, so overcomes DR. Of course this assumes you aren't packing a weapon to overcome the DR by damage type. The two methods have different strengths and weaknesses. Sneak Attack (if you can get to flank or catch the enemy flat-footed) does work much better with multiple light attacks. Also, if you intend to Sunder or Trip, or use the Knock Down Feat, 2H is more advantageous, so think about your combat style ahead of time. Arguably AoOs, especially with Cleave and GC, are worth considering in this light as well. Combat Reflexes with a 2H weapon is obviously more effective than with a 1H weapon, so take that defensive factor into consideration. The same goes for Readying Attacks. im building an elven ranger who has 18 str and 20 dex. with this knowlege which would be better for my character(TWF or THF)? How the hell did you manage to roll 2 18s? No, don't answer that, I don't think I want to know what variant stat system you are using. With those Stats go with TWF.
Shazarn 12-14-04, 11:10 PM	2 18s isn't harder than 3 17s and a friend of mine did that. and for the whole argument thing i think that twf is cooler if and only if the weapons aren't Weapon type A and Weapon type A light, so pulling out a scimitar and a light pick is what i would do.
Favored Enemy 12-14-04, 11:36 PM	I've done quite a bit of research in this area and I've found that, as a generalization, fighting with two-handed weapons is superior to two-weapon fighting. Several things can influence this such as TWF will be better against opponents with a low armor class. TWF will also be superior if you need a 20 to hit no matter what style you use. THF will be more effective against the majority of your opponents, at least the dangerous ones. You also get the extra bonus of doing greater damage with Attacks of Opportunity and when you've moved in combat disallowing a full-attack action. Another consideration, which really puts things in favor of THF, is that you don't need to support it with Feats. As a ranger, you don't have extra Feats to squander. The greatsword is an excellent source of damage without any Feats at all. The most cunning (and some would use other words here) fighting style I've come across is a mixture of TWF and THF. This is by wielding a greatsword and wearing armor spikes. This gives you the option of using the greatsword on its own or fighting two-handed and getting an extra "off-hand" attack with the spikes.
thepuregamer 12-15-04, 03:06 AM	With the greatsword + armor spikes idea, how would your str damage work out? Would it be 1.5x str for the greatsword or 1x? Also could a rogue sneak attack with armor spikes?
Favored Enemy 12-15-04, 04:42 AM	With the greatsword + armor spikes idea, how would your str damage work out? Would it be 1.5x str for the greatsword or 1x? Also could a rogue sneak attack with armor spikes? 1.5 x STR for the greatsword and .5 x STR for the armor spikes if you use them TWF style. Yes, a rogue could sneak attack with armor spikes. You can also use them for an AoO or in a grapple situation. With your strength, the extra ten pounds won't be a problem either.
Khazra Reborn 12-15-04, 08:45 AM	It all depends on your favoured enemies really. 2 levels of stalker of kharash & favoured PA make for a mean THF because you have the second best PA in the game (after frenzied beserkers). If you cant do this dont bother with THF, make use of the combat styles. Try & get bonus damage, i find the collison enhancement (+2, expanded pscionics handbook) brilliant for TWFs, gives +5 bonus to damage. Also, if you squeeze out as many attacks as possibly through, for instance a thri-kreen dervish, it starts to add up.
Mirror, Mirror 12-15-04, 10:52 AM	It really depends on how many bonuses you get. For instance, a 2-bladed sword in the hands of a fighter specialized fully and topped out in the TWF chain does more damage than he would THF any day. This is because he gets +4 to every attack plus strength and 3 extra attacks. Power attacking THF to equal the att bonus for TWF leaves him with a +8 to damage (assuming he is also topping out his chains) and higher dice damage, but 3 less attacks hurts. 6 attacks: 4 hits=4d8+16=34 3 attacks: 2 hits=4d6+16=30 Ironically, str has nothing to do with this. THW=str*1.5. TWF=str+str*.5=str*1.5 Now, at low levels and high levels THF is better. VS DR creatures (assuming you cant bypass), THF is better. For everything in between, TWF is the way to go.
Khazra Reborn 12-15-04, 11:32 AM	a really good TWF build cleric11/fighter4/hammer of moradin3/battlesmith1 wis to damage on each hand is nice, as is 1.5str mod to damage main hand, 1.0 offhand