Attacks with Two Weapons

Attacking with two weapons is an option for characters with a dexterity exceeding 12. Both weapons must be light enough to wield with one hand, with the off-hand weapon not exceeding 3½ lbs. in weight. Attacks made with the weapons each require 2 action points (AP) — so that striking twice in one round requires a total of 4 AP.

Naturally this means that combatants wishing to "dual-wield" must be lightly encumbered. One option is to use the fist as a secondary weapon, as striking with the fist requires only 1 AP. Better still, the fist need not be drawn or sheathed, so that it can be used spontaneously one round and then not the next. The drawback is that a character with little strength is unlikely to cause much damage with it.

Dexterity	Penalty to Weapon
	Primary	Secondary
12 or less	ineligible
13-15	-2	-4
16	-1	-3
17	-1	-2
18	0	-2
19	0	-1

Penalties

When describing the two weapons, the "primary" weapon is the heavier, main weapon of the character, while the off-hand weapon is called the "secondary." With most combatants, both weapons are assigned certain penalties.

As the table shown indicates, the penalties against characters with a less than 16 dexterity greatly reduces the practicality of this approach. However, with characters who obtain a THAC0 of 16 or better, the penalties when fighting a number of lesser enemies become immaterial compared to the potential of damage done and kills made.

Characters with a 17 or 18 dexterity should consider the practicality of two weapons from the start, however. With little or no penalty accruing to the main weapon, the secondary attack is far more beneficial than no attack at all. Additionally, there are numerous benefits from the study of puissance that contribute to this attack strategy.

Benefits from Multiple Attacks

# Attacks/ Round	Order of attack
1st round	2nd round	3rd round	4th round
5/4	primary/secondary	primary/secondary	primary/2x secondary	2x primary/secondary
4/3	primary/secondary	primary/2x secondary	2x primary/secondary	return to 1st round
3/2	primary/2x secondary	2x primary/secondary	return to 1st round
5/3	primary/2x secondary	2x primary/secondary	2x primary/2x secondary	return to 1st round

Characters who receive multiple attacks per round due to their experience can benefit considerably from attacks with two weapons. As fighter-types increase from one normal attack per round, extra attacks are received for both primary and secondary weapons. The order of benefit is given on the table shown.

Where a character is granted five attacks every four rounds, this complicates dual-wielding considerably. As the character with two weapons normally gains eight attacks in four rounds — four with each weapon — this effectively increases the total number of attacks in four rounds to ten attacks!

Similar adjustments must be made with four attacks in three rounds, three attacks in two rounds and two attacks per round.

AP cost

In a round where a character is able to attack twice with a normal weapon, this is reflected in a reduction from the normal AP cost of 2 points per attack to 1 point.

If the character has sufficient levels]] or skill to have multiple attacks]] per round, that will not only adjust the AP spent to only 1 point per weapon, but it also counteract the penalty for use. For example, Petra has a 16 dexterity and normally attacks with two weapons, accepting the penalty. However, upon becoming a 4th level fighter, she increases the number of attacks she makes to five every four rounds. For three rounds, she still attacks as she did at 3rd level; on the fourth round, however she gets two attacks; these are both made with 1 AP each and neither has any penalty at all. Additionally, if she wishes, she may choose to attack twice with her primary weapon, with the same AP cost, as this is what she'd be able to do if she were only attacking with one weapon and had the benefit of multiple attacks (if only for one round out of every four).

Petra could not, however, option to continue accepting her usual penalties in order to gain four attacks from using two weapons. The choice of taking advantage of this style of fighting does not award her more than two attacks. The benefit of multiple attacks is that her two normally penalized attacks become stronger.

See Also,
Attacking in Combat
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