i know that the higher your proficiency with a weapon the more accurate/powerful you are with it, but what about if, lets say my main character had long sword +++++ and two weapons +++++ and he was wielding two long swords are the bonuses cumulative?and why do assassains have exemptionally poor proficiencies?
Felix

<font color="palegreen">Felix,

I suppose the simplest answer to your question is - Yes, they will be cumulative.

The long sword proficiency means you are REALLY good with a long sword.

The two-weapon proficiency is a fighting sytle. There is a substantial penalty for trying to fight with two weapons without this proficiency. Your THAC0 (or "to hit" roll) suffers a penalty which would offset your long sword proficiency. By adding "*"'s in two weapon proficiency, you will reduce these penalties.

Even with 5 "*"'s I think you will still suffer a -2 penalty in your "off-hand" (the weapon in your shield slot). This would be subtracted from your long sword bonus, so you would still have a good chance of hitting with that sword, but NOT as good a chance as you have with the long sword in your other hand.

I hope that answers your question sufficiently.</font>

oh right now i get it, how come ur never that brilliant with two weapons?can ne1 answer my assassain question?
felix

<font color="palegreen">Ooooops...sorry. I forgot about the assassin question.

The assassin has a limited selection of weapons they can choose from and they can have no more than 2 *'s in ANY weapon because they are a kit/sub-class of the thief.

They're not supposed to be "frontal assault" fighters. They're designed to sneaking around and attacking from the rear (for which they get an increasing bonus).</font>

Oh right like rangers then?whats the best bard kit?and if i was a swash buckler would double weapons and long swords/bastard swords/ short swords? whcih woukld be best?
Felix
p.s. inm asking cuz Felix is more of an entertainer than a flippin protector like my felix the ranger......hmmn i guess i could work that into his biography

Swashbuckler is best for frontal assault thieves...they're the best non-dual classed thief fighters you can get for humans. (If you're non-human, you can go with fighter/thief multiclass, but you don't go up levels as quickly.)

Swashbuckler...put two profs in longsword and two profs in dual-wield when creating your character. There are far better longswords than shortswords in this game, and a swashbuckler isn't going to be worrying about backstabbing (which you can do with a longsword, though). Have him/her wield the Blade of Roses as soon as possible. Also, later put profs in Katana and get Celestial Fury from the Guarded Compound...dual-wielding Celestial Fury with the Blade of Roses and you've got a powerhouse!

Best bard kit...hm, either Skald (for the bard song) or Blade (for the offensive/defensive spin). Personally, I'd go with Skald, but a lot of people like the Blade kit. But Haer'Dalis is a blade in the game already, so there are no natural skald NPC's.

-Sazerac

oh rite ok, whats a skald?can u do bard song and fight?
Felix

To correct a mistake from earlier - you can only get three *** in two-weapon-fighting

A Skald (more correctly Skjald) is a 'nordic' bard - singing song of heroes and thier deeds.

But you'll need Tenser's Transformation (lvl 6) before he'll be able to stand up in a fight.

No - you can't both sing a fight.

One more thing: In SoA, ++ is almost as good as +++++ as far as weapons are concerned. The bonus from +++ and better ability is not worth the value of the proficiency slots. You get a bit better THAC0 and do a bit more damage, that's all.
The situation changes if you install "level 50 rules". Now, you get additional attacks at 5+, therefore, train your beloved weapon to 5+ with the rules installed.
Also, we are speaking about weapons and not about weapon styles. It is always a good idea to have +++ in 2 weapons if you are double wielded.

Some things to note.

Bards can fight and sing. It is part of the Mislead Exploit that spellcasters have.

Thieves are all horrible dual-wielders except the Swashbuckler, because the Swashbuckler can put *** in their Two Weapon Style, which greatly reduces the dual-wield penalty.

Blades are better melee fighters than Swashbucklers, due to their ability to dual-wield well( they can put *** in their Two Weapon Style) compared to the other Bards( who cannot). Sureeee, their Bard Song sucks( unless you have ToB, in which case the Blade beats the Skald hands-down), but they compensate by having Offensive/Defensive Spin!

Lastly, NEVER dual-wield unless you have at least *** in your Two Weapon Style, or you will suffer horrendous THACO penalties, even if you Grandmaster in a weapon.