just started playing and im kinda stuck not knowing which weapons ive got to really focus on.
im only in the beginning area (killing boars etc ) so not very far at all.
ive got a sword and shield (which ive been using and sticking all points into along with str/dex
ive also got a blunderbuss, spear, bow, life staff
not sure i like the idea of a ranged weapon because i dont like keeping track of how much ammo ive got and always being afraid i will run out mid battle or something
so i prefer melee or spellcasting stuff i think
(or even a pet class like necromancer if such a thing exists in this game)
should i stick with sword and shield forever? is it viable for solo pve?
Generally speaking, Hatchet is the leveling weapon. It has high DPS and a cool perk that gives you some breathing room if you are almost dead. Enough time to chug a potion.
Btw, you can use the bow without basic arrows. Only the higher grade arrows need to be bought/made.
I think I primarily went focus for the light staff and then used an amber gem once I got a hatchet with a gem slot for focus scaling. You should be able to buy one and a cut amber gem for pretty cheap on the auction house. Just research the berserker tree for the hatchet.
You will find, later as you progress, ALL weapons work for pve combat.
You get to have two weapons equipped and swap between them.
Combinations of which two weapons you will equip and use depend on what you enjoy.
Best advice is try out all the weapons, as you’ve been doing, find what you enjoy.
You eventually will progress all the weapons to 20 (highest level they can go in the skill tree).
And trying out various weapons gives you experience in those weapons., you are not wasting your time, you’re finding out what you like to use and getting experience in it
Musket, bow, blunderbuss-all of these function without any ammo loaded at all. Basic ammo is endless. When you do load some iron/starmetal/ori ammo, the damage will increase per shot and you will have to reload more of that non basic ammo.
If i would give a general advice, most Melee weapons have some kind of CC, a stun, a knockdown or a stagger. Having at least one CC will greatly increase your survivability and helps tremendously to control the fight.
I started with Warhammer and Spear, because i like slow but hard hitting weapons (Armorbreaker-mightygavel-clearout) and used spear for chain-cc (perforate-sweep-vaultkick).
It’s been a long time since I ran a life staff but I know I used sacred and beacon and believe LE. There have been many changes since launch to LS so not sure what is best anymore. But I would gather mobs, throw down a sacred, switch to hatchet, use berserk,and torrent for damage, throw down a beacon and LE as needed. Then just repeat with cooldowns. I always put my points into focus then scaled with Amber gem in hatchet. LS would also do very good damage as well and could use against range. I preferred the increase in healing to total hatchet damage, but that’s a personal choice. I preferred to not have to use pots so with the LS and berserk, I never had to.
I leveled with Fire Staff and Ice Gauntlet. The ice pylon served as a good way to draw threat from low-level mobs while I burned them down with my fire staff, and I rarely had issues as long as I made sure to manage my stamina well.
Only three weapons you should use while leveling to maximize your speed are;
Light gear loadout
Fighting = Great Axe and War Hammer
Movement = Great Axe and Firestaff
(Dump every point you get into strength until around level 35-40 then you will need some con)
Sword and shield is decent too but the above is the easiest and fastest, if you want to casually level then take the advice of some people above.
The firestaff is only used for burnout or pulling mobs, no damage
You could use Warhammer with Trenchant Recovery perk, going for Armorbreaker, wreckingball, Clearout. You could switch wreckingball for Shockwave dealing less damage but having more selfheal.
As a secondary you could use a Spear for more CC or Blunderbuss for some burst or movement.
Or you could go great axe with whirlwind, Maelstrom and either execute or grav well.
