Dual-Classing... Is it as bad as it looks?

[wildspear]

I have a dwarf lord and I'm totally unhappy with him,can any one offer a fix for me? The guy always misses when it comes to combat and when he does hit its for small damage.

[dplax]

Originally posted by wildspear: I have a dwarf lord and I'm totally unhappy with him,can any one offer a fix for me? The guy always misses when it comes to combat and when he does hit its for small damage.

What level is he? What is the rest of the party?

[wildspear]

I'll have to get back to you on that "dplax" I'm at work and can't access the game.

some of the best lord advice i read came from atlus 7. he made the point that, because of their gimped attributes (spread across many stats at the start) and the fact that one often develops them with dual weapons, they struggle to even hit early, let alone do serious damage.

the key advice he gave was to develop str and dex from the start, then senses 3rd. the reason being that both str and dex contribute to your weapons skill learning, and dex and senses both contribute to your chances to hit and penetrate. high raw stats in senses and dex can compensate, somewhat, until your weapon skill (and dual weapon skill) improves.

the only other thing i would add is, from personal experience, i find it easier to start with single weapon and shield, and only later adding the second weapon. the benefit is that you arent penalised so seriously for trying to wield two weapons, so you'll hit more often with the one you have than the two you would have otherwise had. plus, you get the added benefit of extra AC from the shield.

on the downside, you'll want to avoid putting points into shield, if your long-term goal is to dual wield. furthermore, you might consider putting points into dual weapon skill at level ups, so you have at least some skill in it when you make the switch. finally, consider using a dual weapon combination that relies on the same weapon skill (ie mace/flail), since that would apply to your newly added off-hand weapon, instead of starting from scratch with some totally new weapon to you (eg dagger).

depending on how far you are into development, it might not be possible to implement these ideas to great effectiveness, but the earlier you start, the better the results.

[wildspear]

I wasn't thinking right I don't have a dwarf lord. He's a dracon lord and his stats are;
str:91
int:35
pie:55
vit:96
dex:57
spe:50
sen:30
his hit points are 113, stam is 242,exp is 378,334, he is level 10 and the next level is at 716,800.should I switch him to something else or should I tuff it out and develope him more?

[dplax]

The first thing which strikes me about the character is the low dexterity, if you want to hit you should take that up. You are soon going to max str so damage should go up fast enough. BTW what kinds of weapons are you using, because that might add to to hit also, and have low damage?

wildspear - the dual-wielding lord is one of the hardest and slowest classes to develop in wizardry, so be patient.

you're close enough to maxing both strength and vitality that you ought to finish those to open up the expert skills.

i agree with dplax's assessment that getting up dex is the next priority. once you max vit, work on dex. then when you max str, work on senses, as this gives direct bonuses to hit/penetrate, and adds to your initiative and ability to learn the academic combat skills (eg close, ranged, dual).

you'll find that around levels 16-18 the lord will really come together as a contributor on the front lines. and keep working their spellcasting, as the buffs can give your party an edge in combat.