weapons proficiency versus special weapons

[Jim]

Originally posted by SixOfSpades: ...Except in the case of offhand weapons, where the only effect of proficiency points is your offhand THAC0 & damage. And since the offhand only gets 1 ApR (2 if Imp. Hasted) anyway, it's rather negligible. Warriors would jump for a chance at slapping Belm in their offhand, whether they've got proficiencies in Scimitar or not.

Yes, this is true, although I was refering to Halberds when I made that statement, so dual wielding didn't occur to me. Still, fighters get plenty of proficiency points, so if Belm was to be part of a permanent combo, there would be no excuse not to invest at least a couple of points into Scimitars to recover the damage loss.

[Klutz]

Originally posted by riverman: Minsc is carrying around Dragons Bane +3, a halberd with +6 against dragons. Minsc has no proficiency slots for halberds, but two stars for two-handed weapons and two stars for two-weapon style. So, when fighting a dragon, is Minsc better off using a weapon especially designed for dragons but for which he has no proficiency, or should he use a good two-handed sword, or his Daystar plus Flail of Ages? Thanks

So the short answer is, stick with whatever he's best at. Especially for fighting a Dragon, make sure Minsc's primary weapon is one he has two proficiency slots in.

Minsc starts with two slots in two-handed sword, so that's a good option. If you are far enough in the game that you've given Minsc two slots in Flail, dual-wielding Flail of Ages in your primary hand and Daystar (or another Flail or Mace, since Minsc is specialized in Maces) off-hand would be better.

[pokeygamma]

Hmm. Jaheira has a + or ++ in scimitar already, IIRC. I'm
in Chp2, and currently have her using the Gnasher (club +1,
+2/round for 4 rounds(?)) in one hand, and the Fortress Shield
in the other (AC -9). Should I switch out the shield for Belm,
or should I give Belm to Valygar or Minsc or my main guy, none
of whom have any + in scimitar? All three use a bow for ranged
combat, which is why I never bothered switching to 2weap every
time they close to melee. (That, and the party seems to do
fine at combat anyway.)

FWIW, Minsc uses the Ripper (+2 comp lbow) and Lilarcor (2hand+3);
Valygar uses Celestial Fury and a long bow +2; my main guy (Corilon)
is an elven F/M using the Blade of Roses and the Elven Court Bow.

I also have Adjatha, the Sword of Chaos, Ilbratha, Short Sword of
Backstabbing +3, and a few other items I keep around whenever I
need domination protection or some such.

[Nerull]

If your main tank is dual-wielding, then give them Belm for off-hand. If you are happy with your tanks as is (i.e. using two-handed swords) then give to Valygar. Allows him to backstab with Celestial Fury, then stay in to hack up opponents even more so with the extra attack given by the scimitar (I believe the extra attack adds to the primary weapon, not the scimitar).