Wizadry 8 newbie questions

[Scatter]

From ferro287:
"But even a Sai, with maybe 4.5 attacks á 10 Damage isn't really damage output. When you're at 125 dual you're prolly making that much damage with each primary swing, and if you just lose two swings (after all, you never get 3x3 swings all the time) you're already trailing"

But with Diamond Eyes @22...

Actually, i never said every fighter-type should dual. Certainly, though, you've not developed one "properly" yet, or you'd notice the difference. I've even tested by reloading the same fights with different weapon/shield combinations and have found that once your skills are high enough, dual wielding almost always finishes battles faster.

[ferro287]

Scatter, I won't say that I have developed a fighter-type "properly". The first party I ascended had 3 fighter-types, hobbit samurai, dwarf lord and f/n. (a wiz7 import, they were complemented by a mook ranger, a fairy bishop and a lizardmen Bard, switched to a gadgeteer at lvl 3 , really fun party )

Those three had dual weapons 80, 95(with Lord Bonus) and 86 respectively at Ascension Time, so they did know a bit of dualling, but somehow the secondary attacks always seemed lacking, and when I found Excaliber my Lord stopped dualling (since no one else could use it) and it didn't look like a bad decision. True, the only penalty at that level is lowering the attack rating by one or two points, so it didn't hurt, but it didn't convince me.

Probably, if you develop chars to the full dualling is good, but if you ascend around lvl 22 and don't hit for hours on slimes I couldn't see a big difference.

[Scatter]

I guess it can also depend on party size; with 3 or fewer characters, the difference is more noticable. The only solo i've had success with that didn't dual wield was a Bishop with Doom.