Question about dual wield pistol/sword

[anathanielh]

I plan to make a Rogue/Ranger (Scout) when I finally get my hands on the game. I also want to wield a sword with pistol offhand because it just looks cool to me (I don't care if it's not the most effective). I just want to know how it works in combat (Sword use only at close range and pistol only at range? Something else?). Also, will it benefit from the two-weapon style perk? 

 

If anybody has access to the beta, I'd appreciate an answer. Thank you, and have a nice day.

[kmbogd]

You can, but if the enemy is in the range of the melee weapon only the melee weapon is used. Consequently, if the enemy is out of the range of the melee weapon only the pistol will be used. Dual welding bonus to recovery/reload applies to both weapons (which IMO is a flaw in the design, particularly for the pistol for which even its description states that the reload is faster when using two hands).

Edited April 21, 2018 by kmbogd

[anathanielh]

You can, but if the enemy is in the range of the melee weapon only the melee weapon is used. Consequently, if the enemy is out of the range of the melee weapon only the pistol will be used. Dual welding bonus to recovery/reload applies to both weapons (which IMO is a flaw in the design, particularly for the pistol for which even its description states that the reload is faster when using two hands).

I appreciate the info, kmbogd. This is actually how I'd hoped it would work, as I had a one-handed melee ranger in the first game and wanted to bring him back with a pistol offhand. Thanks, and have a good one.

[thekdawg21]

In my experience if you fire a shot from your pistol at an enemy and then move up to melee range, after recovery you will reload your pistol rather than start hacking away with your sword.  That said I've had a hard time getting any information from folks here beyond what was stated above.  It just seems inferior to using a sword in one weapon slot and a gun in the other one.  I'm just hoping it hasn't been tested all that bunch to find out how to really make it work.  (I don't have the time personally to delve in to it)

[anathanielh]

In my experience if you fire a shot from your pistol at an enemy and then move up to melee range, after recovery you will reload your pistol rather than start hacking away with your sword.  That said I've had a hard time getting any information from folks here beyond what was stated above.  It just seems inferior to using a sword in one weapon slot and a gun in the other one.  I'm just hoping it hasn't been tested all that bunch to find out how to really make it work.  (I don't have the time personally to delve in to it)

I appreciate your input. Even if it's not the most effective, I just hope I can fire a single shot from stealth to start the fight, and then jump in later after a few seconds to start slashing dudes without having to switch weapons. Here's hoping the pistol won't reload in melee range like that.

[thekdawg21]

I'll do some extensive testing and reply here when I have. I'm also extremely interested in making melee/pistol work the best I can.  My initial thought is something like Paladin/Rogue where you take your shots with the pistol and Flames of Devotion, then stealth up, wade in and make use of your disabling attacks from melee.  

[anathanielh]

Thank you very much. Tell me what you find after you finish testing!

[dunehunter]

In my experience if you fire a shot from your pistol at an enemy and then move up to melee range, after recovery you will reload your pistol rather than start hacking away with your sword. That said I've had a hard time getting any information from folks here beyond what was stated above. It just seems inferior to using a sword in one weapon slot and a gun in the other one. I'm just hoping it hasn't been tested all that bunch to find out how to really make it work. (I don't have the time personally to delve in to it)

This bug is reported in Beta 2 or so, but is not fixed yet. And I raised a suggestion at the beginning of beta to have a button disable firearm reload to fix this issue, but still got no feedback from dev

[CENIC]

In my experience if you fire a shot from your pistol at an enemy and then move up to melee range, after recovery you will reload your pistol rather than start hacking away with your sword.

This is how it works currently, yes, which sucks.

Dual wielding a melee weapon and a firearm is badass and should be viable!

[anathanielh]

I got an answer on the April 25th Obsidian Q&A/Gameplay Stream. Melee only in melee range and ranged only at a distance. Thanks everyone

[Yosharian]

Can't you just use weapon sets?  It makes far, far more sense from a mechanics perspective to simply have a weapon set for your melee weapon and one for your ranged weapon.  It's going to give huge advantages compared to the dual-wield approach.

 

If you think about it this is how your character would actually fight, anyway.  Nobody is going to literally hold their pistol in one hand while fighting with a one-handed weapon in the other.  It would be incredibly clumsy and inefficient.

[CENIC]

Can't you just use weapon sets? It makes far, far more sense from a mechanics perspective to simply have a weapon set for your melee weapon and one for your ranged weapon. It's going to give huge advantages compared to the dual-wield approach.

 

If you think about it this is how your character would actually fight, anyway. Nobody is going to literally hold their pistol in one hand while fighting with a one-handed weapon in the other. It would be incredibly clumsy and inefficient.

I don't want realism, I have real life for that. I want to look cool.

[anathanielh]

Can't you just use weapon sets? It makes far, far more sense from a mechanics perspective to simply have a weapon set for your melee weapon and one for your ranged weapon. It's going to give huge advantages compared to the dual-wield approach.

 

If you think about it this is how your character would actually fight, anyway. Nobody is going to literally hold their pistol in one hand while fighting with a one-handed weapon in the other. It would be incredibly clumsy and inefficient.

CENIC is right, dude. I’d rather look cool than have my fantasy game be realistic. We all find fun in our own ways, mate.

[bsci]

which ranger/rogue subclasses will you pick?

[anathanielh]

which ranger/rogue subclasses will you pick?

I had a melee ranger in the first game, so I'm planning to run with trickster (I like the idea of some defensive/offensive illusion spells) and Stalker (Melee ranger so defense bonus is great)

[Yosharian]

Then look cool and be ineffective *throws hands up in the air*

[anathanielh]

Then look cool and be ineffective *throws hands up in the air*

I will. Thanks! You have fun too!

[thekdawg21]

Pistol/Sabre was utilized by cavalry in the American Civil War (among others), though I doubt it was "dual wielded" for more often than a few moments. It very well could have been with the invention of repeating pistols.  Josh spoke about it on the last stream.  As long as the bug is removed that makes you reload your pistol after moving in to melee rather than swing away with melee, it'll work well enough.

[MortyTheGobbo]

Doesn't the pistol's modal make it work as a club? I seem to remember something like that. If so, then presumably you'd shoot and them switch to its "melee mode".

[Boeroer]

Nope. Pistol's modal is increased reload speed but shoot with an ACC malus.

[thekdawg21]

They might have pistols and melee itemized for working with each other well.  Stat them differently than standard melee + pistol.  Such as a sword that reduces your gun reload by quite a bit, and a gun that causes an enemy to be weak to melee attacks.  (quick and dirty way to do it, I hope they don't have to do something like this.  Be better to just make dual melee/gun work properly)

[anathanielh]

They might have pistols and melee itemized for working with each other well. Stat them differently than standard melee + pistol. Such as a sword that reduces your gun reload by quite a bit, and a gun that causes an enemy to be weak to melee attacks. (quick and dirty way to do it, I hope they don't have to do something like this. Be better to just make dual melee/gun work properly)

That would be pretty cool, but yeah, I can see the reloading bug getting in the way of this while dual wielding. We’ll just have to see once the game is finally here.

Edited April 28, 2018 by anathanielh

[C.H.A.R.L.I.E]

The main benefit of sword + pistol is to attack faster with a one handed weapon. If you dual 2 weapons, you will attack once with your main, then with your offhand etc, whereas sword + pistol will attack just as fast, but with your main hand only. So if you have one good sabre its better to use that with a pistol than to dual wield good sabre + normal sabre. 

 

The main benefit of dual wielding is using "full attack" abilities, which let you attack twice. For example, the dual pistol build is good for the paladin, because he can shoot both pistols after reloading while using flames of devotion.

 

Sword + pistol on the other hand is better on classes that have many "primary attack" abilities (monk, fighters' knockdown and clear out).

 

IMO the best "pirate" build is the helwalker/fighter with sword + pistol:

 

- helwalker make him squishy, but allso gives him very good damage. The squishyness is however offset by fighters constant recovery, which is huge with helwaker might bonuses

- good combat mobility with long stride (+ fast runner if you want for 40% movespeed). If you get too low, run away and regen while shooting with your pistol

- when you reach level 10 your buffs and debuffs last forever with duality intellect modal

- lots of "primary attack" abilities that have good synergy with sword + pistol style - For example, the monks force of anguish strike will knock the enemy away, then you can shoot him with your pistol - you can also deliver stun attacks from range which is nice. If enemies gang you, use "clear out" and run away. 

 

tldr; sword + pistol good for fast attacking with one handed weapon, fast delivering "primary attack" abilities. Flexible without having to switch weapon sets and suffer recovery from that. 

 

By the way you can cancel the reloading animation by just clicking on the enemy again. He will switch to his melee weapon and strike instantly