Am I missing something here? I'm running a Chanter/Cipher(Spiritualist) and I've only taken One Handed Weapon Style, but my reload with just one pistol is about 2.7 or 30, but when I have my saber in my offhand my reload drops to around 2.0. I know it's not much, but it this intended? I've tested it out engaging with enemies solo with the offhand and without and it is a bit faster with the offhand in. Just wondering if anyone else has noticed this or if someone can explain it better. 

I know it is counter intuitive, but it is because melee+ranged still counts as dual wield, so you get a bonus to recovery. And in the case of the pistol, the bonus is applied to reload.

 

For details about the mechanics ranged+melee, read this:

https://forums.obsidian.net/topic/98647-is-there-any-point-to-dual-wielding-meleeranged-swordgun/

Omg, thx a ton. It's been driving me crazy XD

So, apparently, if you menace the pistol with the sabre, it gets ready to fire more quickly.

So... is it better to pick One Handed Style and keep a melee weapon and a pistol in different item slots, or pick Two Weapon Style and dual wield them?

So... is it better to pick One Handed Style and keep a melee weapon and a pistol in different item slots, or pick Two Weapon Style and dual wield them?

 

If you're going to fire a lot of pistol shot, just go 1-hand and turn on the modal for way faster reload. 1-hand because it comes with a huge accuracy bonus to offset the negative from faster reloading.

One handed usage is pretty great at +12 accuracy without any ability added. If you are going to fire an opening volley and then switch to another weapon you can skip the ability 'Single Weapon Style".

 

20% hit to crit gets you a unit damage increase from 0.625 to .0.650 or 4% more damage without taking into account the extra penetration from crits. If you are dedicated to achieving as many crits as possible its a worthwhile pick but for just a typical damage buff its not that great.

 

Single pistol is good as you can hit the modal for fast firing or turn it off when you want the extra accuracy.

 

Dual wielding ranged and melee doesn't really work that great, better to separate into two weapon slots.

So... is it better to pick One Handed Style and keep a melee weapon and a pistol in different item slots, or pick Two Weapon Style and dual wield them?

The answer really depends on your class and the weapons you are going to use.

If you use a lot of full attacks, you want to dual wield melee or dual wield ranged, not melee+ranged.

If your purpose is to attack fast with the melee weapon and do the occasional ranged attack, dual wield ranged+melee is good. And you get extra swag points.

If you want to attack fast with a wand, blunderbuss or scepter, having a melee offhand is good.

If you want to mostly attack fast with a pistol better single wield it and turn the modal on, and swap when you need melee.

 

 

The more I play with pistol+sabre, the more I find it useful and fun.

I found a good pistol for using with a melee weapon:

 

Scordeo's trophy is much better with the upgrade that makes the stack affect all recovery times, and not only melee.

 

That being said, for fun and RP purposes, I specc'ed it for -25% recovery on melee attacks, so I can go for that pistol and cutlass feel on my melee cipher (psychic corsair!). Shoot, cancel reload by going into melee range, and slash things 25% faster.

 

Not too strong, but decently efficient.