13.4 WEAPONS

(See also: HELP WEAPONRY, HELP THROWING)

Weapons in Achaea may be crucially important or not-so-important, depending on
your class. For instance, those of the monk class fight primarily with their
hands and the power of their minds, and a weapon in their hands only inhibits
the power of their martial arts skills. A Paladin, on the other hand, depends
on his trusty longswords, and to be without them is to be rendered
significantly less powerful. Having said this, all classes may benefit from
occasional use of a weapon. What follows is a discussion of weapons in Achaea,
and how they work.

Bows and archery are specifically omitted here, though they are also a strong
part of combat in Achaea. Both the Chivalry and Subterfuge skills include
abilities related to Archery (HELP CHIVALRY, HELP SUBTERFUGE).


Using Weapons
-------------
Using a weapon in a basic fashion is easy. Simply PROBE the weapon to get a
list of commands that may be used with it, wield it, and then use one of the
weapon's commands. For instance, if it is a sword, JAB <whatever> will work.

In order to wield a weapon, simply type WIELD <weapon>. If you want to wield it
in a specific hand, do WIELD RIGHT/LEFT <weapon>. UNWIELD <weapon> will unwield
it.


Weapon Statistics
-----------------
All non-missile weapons in Achaea possess three common factors that distinguish
how well they work in combat. These are DAMAGE, SPEED, and TO-HIT. Bows are
covered in the individual class-specific ability help scrolls.

The higher the damage number, the more damage you will do. The higher the speed
number, the faster you will be at using the weapon and the higher the to-hit
number, the more easily you will hit your opponents.

You may discover the statistics of a weapon once you have gained the
WEAPONPROBE ability in Weaponry. This ability is fairly low in the skill, so if
you intend to use weapons, it may be worth getting this ability as soon as
possible.

Now, these are not the only factors that affect how effective you are with a
weapon. The other factors are covered in the HELP WEAPONRY scroll.


Weapon Types
------------
Below is a list of some of Achaea's non-missile / non-archery weapons.
One-handed weapons (which may be used with a shield) are indicated with (1h).
Two-handed weapons are marked (2h). All do cutting physical damage
unless otherwise specified:

Longsword    : The standard sword. (1h)
Broadsword   : Cousin to the longsword. (1h)
Shortsword   : A smaller, quicker version of the large swords. (1h)
Scimitar     : A curving sword favoured by those in the east. (1h)
Bastard Sword: A long, straight sword. (2h)
Rapier       : More accurate, but less damage than a longsword. (1h)
Battleaxe    : A battleaxe. (1h)
Handaxe      : A weapon designed to be thrown. (1h)
Club         : The weapon of the very poor. (blunt damage) (1h)
Quarterstaff : A longer club, slower, but sharpenable. (blunt damage) (2h)
Dagger       : A small hand weapon. Some may be throwing weapons. (1h)
Dirk         : A long dagger used to stab with. Fairly fast. (1h)
Flail        : Similar stats to a longsword. (blunt damage) (1h)
Mace         : Much like a flail. (blunt damage) (1h)
Javelin      : Strongest of the thrown weapons, it is quite slow. (1h)
Halberd      : A polearm with high damage. (2h)
Morning Star : Faster than a flail, but with less damage. (1h)
               (blunt physical damage)
Spear        : A cheap but effective weapon. (1h)
Warhammer    : A massive two-handed hammer. Slow, with good damage. (2h)
               (blunt damage)
Trident      : Faster than a longsword, with slightly less damage. (1h)
Whip         : A stylish weapon that is fairly quick. (1h)
Bardiche     : A polearm, similar to the halberd. (2h)
Lance        : A long pole for jousting. (1h)


(See also: HELP WEAPONRY, HELP THROWING)