Posted by The Arcane(VIP) on October 11, 2000 at 12:17:08:
In Reply to: To pole, or to mace? posted by WALSH on October 11, 2000 at 11:52:38:
In the Second Age, dwarf warriors were the shit. 25con allowed for more hp per level than it does now, stats didn't matter as much in the pre-spec era, they could go underwater, and Pwent was just about the best warrior gear in the game. Now, you can't get more than 20hp regardless, and you'll average around 18. Dwarves have average strength AND low dex, excelling in nothing as a result (dwarf sword specs were pretty sweet before sword was tied to stats). They can't go underwater. And there's a bunch of gear that gives as much damage as Pwent or more, without the ugly dex penalty, and in many cases offers other nice perks. Dwarf warriors are a notch above gnomes, elves, and drow, but just barely above drow I'd say. That said.... dwarf pole is fine. It provides tanking that isn't tied to your dex. Now, as a dwarf, you're not optimized to take advantage of distance, but you'll tank OK. Poles aren't *that* heavy... just get +str gear and you'll be fine. But that's true for any warrior (my fire Rager had +20str on his suit). My recommendations... if this is going to be a Rager, go mace/whip. This is an excellent mage-fighting combo, and isn't too heavily stat-dependant. It's not quite as good against fighting classes (though choke/strip will rock anyone who doesn't have a norem), but Rager powers make up for that in most cases. If you're not going to be a Rager, go with pole/hand, and dual-wield a medium-weight axe and mace when you're not tanking.