Shields, a big weapon, or two weapons?

[Darkness_of_the_wolf]

Mechanics, DW is broken to poo and OP to poo once you get momentum. Sword and board is obvously tank spec, and the 2h is for those of us who enjoy it but dont want to play OP Dual wielding warriors.

 

To be perfectly honest, I prefer Rogues w/ DW over warriors w/ DW. Purely because I can put a mass ammount of Effort into having Cunning up the wazoo and have some serious damage dealing if I can backstab. (since im pretty sure STR and Dex give the same + damage to daggers, if you go backstab spec you can hit upwards of 100 damage a hit easy VERY fast, VERY early on)

[PhoenixAdamu]

Unless you set up Wynn as your Arcane Warrior, in which case with all her spell boosts and AW abilities, she can tank by herself.

 

LOL Any AW can effectively tank, really, even the ones who take Blood Mage as their second spec. I prefer to have Wynne go SH/BM to heal off her health, Heal herself back up, then do it all over again. Nothing like constant heals! :D

 

As for warriors, the above posts pretty much set in stone which warrior does which; Weapon and Shield warriors like Alistair are tanks (go for Shield Wall ASAP), Two-Handed Weapons like Sten and Oghren are more for CC and utility (though they can do some decent damage if you pull most of your attribute points in Strength), and Dual Weapon warriors are flat-out DPS, with Dual-Dagger Dexterity being the highest-damage build (though I would love to see a Dual-Fullsize Strength Warrior go at it, too XD). I see that Archery Warriors aren't listed here, but if you don't like getting into the thick of battles yourself and prefer sniping, they can be decent "witch hunters" by speccing Templar/Champion and going for Arrow of Slaying ASAP. It's effective but boring in the opinions of many, including myself. ^^;

[Darkness_of_the_wolf]

actually, I think Dual Dagger Cunning with assassination is still the top DPS, since str damage and Dex damage are both at the same level for damage done by daggers no? and if you go cunning stacking, you get both Lethality AND the damage done from backstabbing with the assassin ability.

[PhoenixAdamu]

actually, I think Dual Dagger Cunning with assassination is still the top DPS, since str damage and Dex damage are both at the same level for damage done by daggers no? and if you go cunning stacking, you get both Lethality AND the damage done from backstabbing with the assassin ability.

 

For rogues, that's true; warriors, however, can't spec as an Assassin. XD So for warriors, the Dual Weapon school is planned out pretty much the same as a Backstab Rogue's build, but they can't really make use of backstabs because that's a rogue-specific thing; because of this, warriors will spec into Dual Fighting to increase their damage output (though some have experienced missed weapon hits while Dual Fighting's active, including myself...). Some may also take Taunt and spec into Whirlwind to AoE mobs down before throwing on Momentum and Dual Fighting for any stragglers. For those who like full-size weapons in both hands, they can take more activated talents such as Riposte and Punisher for after that main rotation:

 

Taunt -> Whirlwind -> Dual-Weapon Sweep -> Disengage -> any other activated talents (stamina pending) -> turn on Momentum and Dual Fighting

 

Seriously, for any dual-wield build, not having Momentum is just pretty much KILLING you. It's even more essential for rogues, as getting rapidly-occuring backstabs means enemies are down within seconds. Oh. Yeah. :3

[Sinophile]

I personally like two handed weapons. 2H weapons are good for taking on Dragons, and other highly armored opponents. First time I played through the OC , I often used Sten and Oghren instead of Alistair, as Alistair seemed to be a bit of a *kittie kittie* who was always getting knocked out.

I got kinda pissed when the 1.02 patch came out because I had a DW rogue who put all his points into str, but the patch made it do points into dex were just as effective.

[Lookimscared]

I find that a maxed dex rogue is a better survivalist if you wanted to solo, etc.

But a maxed cun rogue is the ultimate DPS

You'd want to put a little into cun/dex and str depending on the build for armor, prerequisites, etc though.

And willpower for pots if you want, I don't some do.

[Mlai]

I thought dagger damage is calculated by 50% DEX 50% STR? Because I read that in the patch notes, I've been giving my Rogue some STR points as well. Is this wasted??

[Sinophile]

Not neccessarily, I believe STR also gives a bonus to hitpoints. You can also wield a longsword in one, or both hands(whose damage is only affected by str). If you simply want to max your DPS, wield two longswords and don't put any points into your dex past 36(the required amount needed to wield two longswords). Even so, keep a pair of daggers around for when you fight heavily armored opponents.

[Lookimscared]

Swords are good as well

But I love using daggers simply because they are faster and the incredible speed you can kill enemies at later on.

[PhoenixAdamu]

Swords are good as well

But I love using daggers simply because they are faster and the incredible speed you can kill enemies at later on.

Hence why Dual-Dagger Dexterity is the highest DPS build for a Dual Weapons warrior; you can easily make it so that you're almost like a Dex rogue with the ability to wear much heavier armor. Now, granted, Dual Weapon Strength warriors are still viable in the means of close-range AoEing down mobs. It all depends on what you really want to do with your build, I guess. However, the best weapon setup for Dual Weapon Strength is definitely the Veshialle and Starfang (Longsword). Hands. Down.