What are Two-hand weapons good for ?

[KadoorieNuts]

Hi all. During my MF I encountered many two-hands weapon from Cathan to Que's Wisdom. Most of the builds which recommended here are either weapon/shield or two hand two weapon e.g. ww, frenzy. Not much build using two-hands weapon. Do I miss them or are they simply no good?

[PhatTrumpet]

Many Barb and Druid builds actually use 2-handers, as do Act2 and Act5 Mercs.

[SSoG]

I find I use more 2-handers than 1-handers, at this stage of the game. Everyone talks about the safety of 1-handers, but there's also safety in obliterating monsters before they ever have a chance to hurt you.

Chargers, Leap Attackers, Berserkers, Spearazons, Meleemancers, and Werebears are all builds that, in my opinion, should ALWAYS wield a 2-hander (due to ridiculous ED, no attack speed concerns, or horrible blocking speeds). Concentration Barbs, Tankazons, Werewolves, Whirlwinders, and BFSins are all builds that could go either way (although I usually find myself leaning towards the 2-handers still). Smiters, Zealers, Frenziers, MASins, etc. are all clearly better with 1-handers (or impossible with 2-handers).

[helvete]

Simply put: Two-handed weapons are only good for more damage. Nothing else. Very very rarely, a sorc will use a staff, tho... but that is usually prebuff for ES (memory) or starter gear (leaf).

Naj's Staff is good for its tele charges, and therefore is a special case for people who don't have an enigma.

[krischan]

Any PvM barb should either dual wield (frenzy) or use a two-hander IMO. Just ensure you have enough leech. The IK set is worth its name IMO, for example, making a WW barb very, very hard to kill, at least for monsters. He will do things a little slower, however, as the maul doesn't really deal much damage. OKs -> berserk, dolls -> concentrate (no WW !!!) and tank their damage. PIs -> berserk, PI mana drainers -> concentrate (just needs 2 mana) or regular attack (the set provides massive elemental damage).

[KadoorieNuts]

Tx PT, SS, helv, and kris for sharing the pros and cons of the subject. The rarity of such build also makes the demand ($$) of two-hand weapon low or even worthless, e.g. windhammer, Mang Song's.

[PhatTrumpet]

The most popular ones I can think of off the top of my head (not including bows/xbows or runewords):

Tomb Reaver (Merc, Druid... ethereal with 3 sockets is actually pretty godly for a PvP Fury Druid)
Arioc's Needle (Merc)
Reaper's Toll (Merc)
Bonehew (Merc, Barb, Druid)
IK Maul (Barb obviously)
Ribcracker (Druid... especially good when upgraded)
Hone Sundan (Barb... also good upgraded)
Ondal's (good for leeching experience)
Mang Song's (tri-elemental Sorc)

[helvete]

On a side note:

My IK hammer Iron Golem killed players 8 duriel in one hit on normal, and took my golem/poison necro all the way to NM back in the 1.10 days.

Lots of the semi-crap 2handed weapons make exxellent iron golems in normal and NM.

[Merick]

Lots of the big two-handed weapons are ideal for WWers (two one-handeds are much more popular, since you get to hit twice as often) or shafeshifting druids (never popular at all). There are of course leapers and chargers, but those are more novelty builds.
Zeal/Fanat pallies are pretty much the kings of melee nowadays, and they stink with two-handeds.
Also, some of the big weapons have a str bonus of 110, making them about 10% less powerful than listed.

[Quietus]

Lots of the big two-handed weapons are ideal for WWers (two one-handeds are much more popular, since you get to hit twice as often) or shafeshifting druids (never popular at all). There are of course leapers and chargers, but those are more novelty builds.
Zeal/Fanat pallies are pretty much the kings of melee nowadays, and they stink with two-handeds.
Also, some of the big weapons have a str bonus of 110, making them about 10% less powerful than listed.


As mentioned, leapfrogs and crusaders are novelty builds, but they can be a lot of fun. A fury druid shines with a giant poleaxe botd or a tomb reaver, and barbs gain a pile of style points for running around with a two hander.

[asdfghjk]

You can use a two-handed weapon for the extra damage and when a shield won't really make a difference.

A.k.A a botdCB barb vs. a necro; it's ideal to use it as a two-handed weapon seeing as the standard ss won't make a difference.

[SSoG]

The most popular ones I can think of off the top of my head (not including bows/xbows or runewords):

Tomb Reaver (Merc, Druid... ethereal with 3 sockets is actually pretty godly for a PvP Fury Druid)
Arioc's Needle (Merc, Spearazon)
Reaper's Toll (Merc, Kicksin, BFSin)
Bonehew (Merc, Barb, Druid)
IK Maul (Barb, Conviction Zealot, Melee Sorc, Tankazon)
Ribcracker (Druid, WWBarb, Conc Barb, Zerk Barb, Charger... especially good when upgraded)
Hone Sundan (Barb, Charger, Spearazon... also good upgraded, and GODLY when ethereal)
Executioner's Justice (Barb, Charger, Tankazon)
Windhammer (Shifter Druid)
Earth Shifter (Charger)
Cranium Basher (Charger)
Steel Pillar (Charger, Leap Attack Barb)
Ondal's (good for leeching experience)
Mang Song's (tri-elemental Sorc)
I expanded on your lists a lot. There are also a lot of great runewords that make fantastic 2-handers (Passion, Silence, Oath, etc).

As mentioned, leapfrogs and crusaders are novelty builds, but they can be a lot of fun. A fury druid shines with a giant poleaxe botd or a tomb reaver, and barbs gain a pile of style points for running around with a two hander.
I *strongly* disagree with this assertion. Chargers in particular are RIDICULOUSLY powerful. The problem is correctly playing a Charger is *hard*, and so most people abandon the Charger for a cookie-cutter build. Also, the problem is a lot of people run Fanaticism with their Charger (the best Charger auras are Conviction, Holy Freeze, Holy Shock, or Vigor- yes, Vigor).

A well-played Charger can easily deal 20,000 average physical damage per hit at about 4-5 frames per attack, and since playing a charger correctly involves spending a lot of time moving him around and positioning him properly to trigger long Charge Chains, he doesn't spend much time in sustained melee, which means enemies have very few chances to deal any damage to him.

I can solo Players 8 Hell with a Charger without having a moment's concern about anything other than IM and bugged monsters like the vipers in Nilly's temple. BRUTALLY powerful. Werebears are another class that everyone seems to think is weak and underpowered but, in reality, absolutely OWNS everything in its path (I solo'd Hell with a Hunger-based Werebear that never saw its red orb drop below 50%).

Another advantage with 2-handers is they work fantastically on classes with horrible blocking rates (such as Amazons with anything other than javs/daggers and Werebears).

I think the reason people don't like 2-handers is because most of the cutting edge development is taking place in PvP. In PvM, 2-handers usually make for far better weapon choices.