Dual wielding 5e

Increase your combat versatility, damage potential, and defensive capabilities. The Dual Wielder feat is an interesting choice for any character looking to increase their offensive capabilities in combat.

After all, looking cool in combat is how you win Dungeons and Dragons. In practice, dual wielding is a bit wonky, especially for newer players who are, from my experience, much more likely to build a dual wielding character. However, from my experience, everyone just calls it dual wielding. The gist of Two-Weapon Fighting is this, you can use a bonus action to attack with a light one-handed melee weapon. You can only make this bonus action attack after you take the Attack action with a light one-handed melee weapon in your main hand.

Dual wielding 5e

By duncan. On October 11, After all, both these offensive styles require using both hands and sacrificing the use of a shield. I am not so down on two weapon fighting in general, as the Dungeon Coach. While the overall damage output in hit points is not as good as with great weapon fighting, the ability to split your damage between multiple opponents is underrated. With dual wielding, if I need to do 4 hp to kill off a badly injured opponent, I can do that and still take my next attack elsewhere. The two-handed weapon fighter has to waste a bunch of damage just to kill that near dead foe and has one less attack than the dual wielder to deal damage that counts to a new opponent. In short, more damage gets wasted when you deal less, more powerful attacks note: the Great Weapon Master feat does fix this scenario for two-handed weapon users, as reducing an opponent to 0 hit points grants a bonus action attack… however, you have to take the feat to get that ability of course. Some other advantages of two weapon fighting is that it gives you an extra chance to score a critical hit each round, you can potentially wield weapons with different properties having a hand-axe or dagger with the thrown property can come in handy , and if you have access to the Two-Weapon Fighting Style then, of course, you can apply your damage modifier an additional time per round vs. Having an extra attack each round, also means you use an additional divine smite excuse me while I puke! Historical proof of Unarmoured Defense at work Image source: Wiktenauer. When combined with Action Surge, things start to get a bit silly for my liking!

The best weapons to use with the Dual Wielder feat are the longsword and the rapier.

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A dual wielding 5e guide is something I tried to find whenever I was a Rogue class who wanted to fight with two short swords. What confused me was what feats I should take to make my dual-wielding useful. Dual-wielding can work for any character , but to make the most of it, you should learn everything you can about it. I love learning about new concepts and potential builds in Dungeons and Dragons, and I hope you do too. However, dual-wielding may not be a great choice if you are a spellcaster, someone with a lot of great bonus actions , or someone who uses two-handed weapons. In the end, however, the choice is yours. I wholeheartedly believe that the majority of character creation in DnD should be about roleplaying. Minmaxers have their place, but those who can really get into character and role with their imperfections are my heroes. Dual wielding is fighting with a weapon in each hand.

Dual wielding 5e

The rules for doing this are pretty straightforward:. If you want to take your TWF to the next level, continue reading below. Boost your TWF effectiveness with the following fighting style and feat respectively:. The huge benefit of two weapon fighting is obvious: you get to deal the bad guys damage at least twice in one turn with your favorite light weapons. This is great for abilities that trigger each time you hit like Rage damage, Divine Smite, etc. Additionally, certain feat combos the aforementioned non-light weapons offer, such as Great Weapon Master and Polearm Master , become unavailable when you sacrifice using them. Melee characters who forego a shield, get to pick a weapon from the bigger damage dealers in an armory. However, not all classes get proficiency to use these big hitters, or instead focus on Dexterity.

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Off-hand attacks only incorporate whatever damage you roll on your dice. One of the finest adventures on the Guild! Credit: WotC. Bards could potentially utilize this feat if they're pursuing a more combat-oriented build, like College of Swords or Valor. For example, clerics, wizards, warlocks, sorcerers, and druids all need a free hand to cast spells—so giving them a second weapon might be pointless. Also my rule makes two weapons a really good option for barbarians, whereas yours not so much, as they are still losing an attack on the first round of every combat they rage in until level 5. Despite the fact that it's meant to take place in a fantasy world with fantastical creatures, both are still under the iron fist of physics. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. I think you should mathhammer your point, rather than what seems like a Knee-jerk. Having said that, your tweak is a straight up boost to everyone but the Fighter. If you roll low on damage you can pretend that you hit with the less damaging weapon if you want, but that is just for flavour. So change the math you did from 2d8 no 1h weapon gives this to 1d6 per hit. Search for: Search.

Posted by Joab Dec 13, For Players 0. Just be prepared! Beyond looking cool, dual wielding is a great way to increase your damage output at lower levels.

Depending on their class, it can be a wise choice to pick it up as early or as late as possible. A high ability score is still more beneficial than the feat alone! You are harder to defend against, hence more threatening, and you can make the most of opportunities. That said, Bardic Inspiration and some of their most popular spells require their bonus action, making this feat a bit clunky for them. The best weapons to use with the Dual Wielder feat are the longsword and the rapier. Frederick Dale Coen. My fix offers a massive boost to TWF fighters, because now it scales with Action Surge — which happens once a combat basically. The fact that they only come online at times makes the game more dynamic as well… Also my rule makes two weapons a really good option for barbarians, whereas yours not so much, as they are still losing an attack on the first round of every combat they rage in until level 5. You can not make a second attack if your bonus action is already used. Is it worthwhile to use two light weapons such as shortswords as opposed to say a two-handed greatsword or even a longsword and shield combination? Off-hand attacks only incorporate whatever damage you roll on your dice. Additionally, fighters only get 4 attacks not 5. The rogue usually considered an underpowered class gets to use their cunning action more often on account of having their bonus action freed up more often. A wizard immediately doing 1d10 for free every round just completely eliminates the need for melee users.