Weapons and Shields

Darkfall Unholy Wars has many weapons with varying type, quality, and style. There are staves, bows, and eight kinds of melee weapons.

Types of Weapons
Shields - One-handed items that are very efficient to parry damage. In your Quickslots (Paperdoll window), you may place a one-handed in the same slot as a shield in order to equip both at the same time. Shields may not be equipped while crafting and is a common error.
 * Staves - Magical weapons that shoot balls of energy (Staffbolt skill). Arcane damage, with a small AOE. - Damage scales with either Intelligence or Wisdom, whichever is highest [Sept. 2014].
 * Bows - Ranged weapons that shoot arrows following an arcing path from gravity. Piercing damage. - Damage scales with Dexterity.
 * Axes - One-handed slashing weapons with very moderate stats throughout, but with a higher critical chance. Small arc. - One-handed weapons scale with either Strength or Dexterity, whichever is highest. - Power Attack (Warrior skill): Slashing resistance debuff and one-handed weapons cause a Strength debuff [Oct.2014].
 * Clubs - One-handed bludgeoning weapons with higher damage but slower speeds. Small arc. - One-handed weapons scale with either Strength or Dexterity, whichever is highest. - Power Attack (Warrior skill): blinding effect and one-handed weapons cause a Strength debuff [Oct.2014].
 * Swords - One-handed slashing weapons with lower damage but faster speeds. Small arc. - One-handed weapons scale with either Strength or Dexterity, whichever is highest. - Power Attack (Warrior skill): bleed (damage over time) and one-handed weapons cause a Strength debuff [Oct.2014].
 * Daggers (Knives) - Two-handed piercing weapons that have a high damage per second (DPS), with a short range and tiny arc. - Damage scales with Dexterity. - Power Attack (Warrior skill): poison (long damage over time) and Strength debuff [Oct. 2014].
 * Greataxes - Two-handed slashing weapons with moderate damage and speed, but remarkable critical chance. Medium arc. - Damage scales with Strength. - Power Attack (Warrior skill): Slashing resistance debuff and Dexterity debuff (Oct. 2014).
 * Greatclubs - Two-handed bludgeoning weapons with slow speed and high damage out put. Medium arc. - Damage scales with Strength. - Power Attack (Warrior skill): causes a blinding effect and Dexterity debuff [Oct. 2014].
 * Greatswords - Two-handed slashing weapons with good speed, for a two hander, but lower damage. Large arc. - Damage scales with Strength. - Power Attack (Warrior skill): short damage over time bleed and Dexterity debuff [Oct. 2014].
 * Polearms - Two handed piercing weapons which have the highest damage per swing, and least speed per swing of any melee weapon. Very large arc. Slight knock-back on hit. - Damage scales with Strength. - Power Attack (Warrior skill): Stamina drain and Dexterity debuff.

Choosing Your Weapon
For many, weapon choice is a deeply personal preference. It requires some Prowess to become proficient in a weapon type, so commit carefully to your choice. Some aspects to consider when choosing your weapon are as follows:

- Damage Type - Weapons will preform a type of weapon damage, that correlates to a protection value a player or mob can possess. Examining the innate and ability-based protections of your foes, and the synergy with potential protection-breaching skills you use, can be a powerful factor in the choice of weapon.

- Reach - The length a weapon reaches determines how difficult it is to stay in range of a fleeing or kiting adversary (sticky-backing), or how effectivley you can damage a persuing foe without getting too near to them. Choosing a weapon with limited reach will require better reaction time and anticipation of enemy movement, but often rewards you with higher Damage Per Second (DPS).

- Swing Speed - Outside the obvious impact on DPS, swing speed will effect the haste with which many melee skills are preformed. For hit and run ability tactics, swing speed can be invaluable.

- Swing Arc - The arc of a weapon is determined by the area in-front of the combatant that the weapon swing will ecompass with damage. Hitting multiple foes and having leeway when missing is an advantage of a large Arc. Some arcs vary in more sutble degrees, and the only way to determine which is right for you is by trying the different weapons yourself.

- Weapon Specific Skills - Within the Warrior, Slayer  school of skills, there is the skill "Power Attack". This ability will have a different effect depending on the weapon equipped. This can be a point of consideration in specialized builds.

- Weapon Damage Scaling - Weapons can be equipped using any selected attribute, however their output of damage remains dependent on each weapons unchanging scaling attribute. Using a weapon that benefits from a high stat you obtained, will influence damage output significantly.

A detailed table of these characteristics is available here.

Damage output
The damage output is affected by the following, from the highest impact to the lowest : Additionally, hitting the back of a target or striking a Critical hit greatly increases damage (approx. +30%). Critical hits occur both randomly (percentage based on weapon) and when you strike successfully five consecutive melee hits. You can therefore sometimes do two Critical effects in one hit, but there is a damage maximum.
 * Attributes (Dex., Str., Int., Wis. 1 to 100) : this is the biggest factor by far, especially as of October 2014 [increased since attributes over 100 no longer add damage]. Each weapon type scales damage with one or two attributes (see above).  With 100 in the relevant attribute, you gain about +14 damage.
 * Weapon Skill : these skills rank 1 to 100 for each weapon type (Bow, Sword, Greatsword, etc.). Skill 100 will add +5 damage.
 * Weapon Quality : see link above.
 * Weapon Mastery skill : once you have 100 in a Weapon skill, you may obtain the Mastery skill (cost 1000 Prowess). At 100 Weapon Mastery, you gain an extra +3 damage.

If a character wears no armor (said to be "naked"), it always takes Critical hits or the equivalent of back hits.

Quality (weapon ranks)
The quality of a weapon affects the damage output. The quality of a shield improves the percentage of damage that is avoided when parrying. In order of worst to greatest quality :

Crude [rank 10] < Common [rank 20] < Sturdy [rank 30] < Superior [rank 40]

< Selentine [rank 50] < Veilron [rank 60] < Neithal [rank 70] < Theyril [rank 80]

Selentine and above require a master crafter and uses rare essences infused in the crafting materials.

Style
Finally we come to style because, at this moment in time, it has absolutely no effect on game play. There are Barbaric, Militant, and Stoic variants of each weapon and shield that incurs a visual preference on the in game model.
 * Barbaric equipment is "crafted in the fierce barbaric design" it features sharp angles and a more primitive construction scheme
 * Militant equipment is "crafted in a militaristic design" it is highly practical and not very flashy.
 * Stoic equipment is "crafted in a solid design, reminiscent of the Dwarves of old" it is very geometric.