The Most Powerful Weapon

The Most powerful Weapon

This is a listing of quotes from players in their own words about what they feel is the best weapon or combination of weapons ever. I would however encourage you to take it with a grain of salt.

Rewth

The most powerful weapon combination in Amtgard is hands down the Quarterstaff.

Think about it... You have a weapon that can be striking and blocking very quickly at the same time. Your opponent never knows which end to attack on and which end to block. You always have two hands on your weapon making them both immune to attacks. And the center section is extremely easy to block with because it comes instinctively. What's more, you have reach and speed (due to centripetal force) to your advantage. It's like having a shield and two swords at the same time.

The reason it doesn't see much use on the field is because its rather difficult to build one in Amtgard that legal and safe. However, it can be done. Just make a pole with strike legal sections on both ends and then add some courtesy padding to the center. The other reason is that not all classes can use it, no matter what you do it's still gonna be a reach or polearm class weapon. So some people discount them immediately as impractical to their pet class. They just need to open their eyes and realize that they can play something else and take advantage of it.

As a note, this is why there was a huge push at the introduction to 7.0 to eliminate staves from all the spellcasting classes. They are already powerful enough as it is. However, this movement fortunately failed.

Because of the quarterstaves perceived overpowered-ness (that isn't a word) some people might give you grief about it being cheesy. Ignore them. Staves were perfectly historical weapons and available to virtually anyone. They absolutely have a place in our game. If they can't manage to fight against it then they simply need to learn to adapt.

Kenshin

well, oh girlfriend of mine, you left out the super-double-ultra-secret combo that NEVER fails ever...

Pole flail just a pole flail

best weapon evar

Jynx

IN THE BOX FLURB! PUT YOUR QUARTERSTAVES AND POLEFLAILS IN THE BOX NOW AND NOBODY GETS HURT!!!

Itsari

I thought the most powerful weapons in the world were Law and Order... Chuck Norris's legs!

Shadowbaine

oh wow...i just shot kool-aid out my nose...and considering there was vodka in it, that wasn't cool!

My favorite combo used to be florentine, but then i watched a video of myself fighting and realized people weren't just talking shit...I really do suck with two swords because I'm so dominantly a lefty.

Now I use my crutch foo...short sword and small shield. I like a punch shield because i feel like it gives me more maneuverability.

I'm totally down with people using their "imaginations"* on the field...shit..that's how this game was created...I'd love to see more chain staff things out on the field, and ninja's running around with nunchucks...If i knew it were possible to actually kill people with them I might consider doing it myself.

(*Imagination; If you thought of it, chances are someone else thought of it before you...like 20 years ago)

The only reason I don't feel too horribly bad about the cheese i do pull, is because it kills people...i can live with that.

but going out on the field and dieing WHILE you look stupid...that just doesn't work for me.

Amtgard isn't a level playing field in that a lot of people use different tech. on their weapons. Obviously your going to own fairly well (assuming you know halfway what your doing) if you go out with 4 1/2 foot lightweights. But the guy that goes out and wants some authenticity (lb/ft) is going to get owned.

which is better?

The person that put some thought into their weapon choice, knowing that they wouldn't fight as well with their 10lb monstrosity, or the lightweight shit that my camera cant even capture in video because it moves so fast?

Bangor

Bangor in the 10 lbs category, and there very very few of us. Bangor cannot see himself actually winning in a pretend swordfight, if the weapons are more pretend than the swordfight itself. Bangor indulge in the ultralight every once in a while, but it's for flava, and not the other way around.

Glen

I hear this over and over again, but no matter how many times you say it, it isn't true. Heavy swords, light swords, long swords, short swords: it all comes down to skill, assuming the weapon is well-balanced. If it's some tip-heavy monstrosity, then raw physical strength will be needed to use all your skill. If I'm a better fighter, you can give me one of Spyn's lightweight swords, Glorious's hefty swords, or Corbin's beloved clubs, and I'm going to own you.

The only time tech matters in a large way is when you both utterly suck, and then, yes, the person with the "more powerful combo" is going to win. I can't count how many times I've seen someone come from an isolated park where everyone thought he was "teh awesome" because he was the guy who owned the tower shield and long sword. Suddenly, people with single short swords were owning him. Why? Because everyone at his park sucked, and he finally traveled to a place where people were better fighters than he was.

Bolt

Most powerful combo?? My left and and right arm................ /Wink

Ashatharu

for the most part i agree, i like to make my weapons somewhere close to real weight. i started learning weapons in martial arts with live weight weapons (mind you they weren't necessarily always live steel, or combat quality, just weight -- that's the disclaimer before someone waxes eloquent on martial arts weapons training versus real combat) Very Happy and weightier weapons just feel right and give me a better workout, but i don't notice a major difference if i use someone's ultralight (if anything i get a little worse because it just feels wrong to me). the same often goes when someone borrows one of my weapons and takes a few minutes to get used to the weight (unless of course they are a drumroll fighter)

that said i have to bite my tongue whenever anyone drumrolls me with a super lightweight weapon. grrrr Evil or Very Mad

i guess the strongest weapon combo is always going to be a compromise of what works best with your own physical strengths and weakness, and your personal fighting style.

Drilillithon

While it is true that skill trumps any weapon combo you can think of, some weapons combos, given the nature of Amtgard combat, are inherently more effective than others, based on factors such as weight, maneuverability, blocking surface, and range.

Because Amtgard combat is essentially one of tag with very light weapons, combinations that would be better or worse using realistic counterparts can be vastly altered, because certain inherent weaknesses of that weapon are often eliminated (although in some cases accentuated)

Here's my list of effectiveness, sans the effect of skill (assumes Ultralight construction unless noted):

1: Pole with Short in reserve (held unweilded until someone gets close) 2: Pole alone 3: Howitzer Combo (with Shield or Florentine Short/Long) 4: Florentine Madu and Short/Long, or Shield + Short/Long, with second "down sword" in shield hand 5: Single Howitzer or 2-handed, ultralight 5+foot sword 6: Standard Long Combo (2 Longs, Long+Short, Long+Shield) 7: Standard Combo (2 Shorts, Short+Shield) 8: Staff 9: Hinged Combo (Short/Long + Hinged, Hinged+Shield) 10: Short Axe Florentine Combo (or substitute Axe with Mace or Hammer or other unwieldy, top heavy Weapon). 11: Single Short/Long, one handed 12: Great Sword (heavy) 13: Short Axe + Shield Combo (or substitute Axe with Mace or Hammer or other unwieldy, top heavy Weapon). 14: 2 Handed Sword (Long/Short) 15: 2 Handed Sword (Long/Short, Heavy) 16: Florentine short axes (or substitute Axe with Mace or Hammer or other unwieldy, top heavy Weapon). 17: Single Madu 18: Single Axe (any length) (or substitute Axe with Mace or Hammer or other unwieldy, top heavy Weapon) - If the weapon has a large blocking surface, it could be moved up, perhaps to 15.

Glen

My thought on Drilithion's list is: "Drillithion can't fight and doesn't know anyone who can. At all. I mean, seriously, hey must suck. A lot. It should be like a black hole or something. Oh, God, I'm blind!"

Bolt

Most powerful combo?? My left and and right arm................ /Wink

Rewth

Bolt,

i know where you are coming from. i too use a two handed grip, though i will admit to a little overlap. i find that with my smaller hands it gives me much better control. i also found that alternating which hand is in primary position can prevent you from getting tired too quickly. proper staff wielding can be tiring!

Grendel... if you had multiple engagements with your staff, yer obviously doing something right, so i commend you on that. I assume this was before you and Kat married.

all... please be careful engaging in too rough of contact with your staves. they are somewhat fragile given that thier cores have no solid parts, even if they might feel rigid and solid at times. as such they can be prone to damage if wielded incorrectly and potentially cause a great deal of pain to you or even your sparring partner. however i would expect that many of you have a good amount of experience with your staff, so this warning is prolly unnecessary. also remember that you should never apply direct pressure to your staff for lengthy amounts of time, it can cause permanant damage to some of the more compressible parts.

out of curiosity, has anyone found a valid technique for lengthening your staff without damaging it or resorting to surgury? or are you pretty much stuck with what you've got? any suggestions for increasing diameter? a red staff can be interesting, i admit i've been in possession of one myself occasionally.

i'd also be curious to know what the average preferred staff length is across amtgarders.

any of the ladies care to weigh in here?

Grendel

Rewth, I've found much success by having lots of girth in my staves, you get the extra weight and red damage, and you can get people to make "the noise" easier

sure, you'll need some length, but anything over 7-8 inches is wasted, you should concentrate on getting the bigger diameter little buddy

Rewth

do you think if i put two covers on my staff that it might help the diameter somewhat? i believe that its very close to red as it is normally, it probably only needs a little help.

very good point about "the noise", i hadn't considered that.

Astro

Skill, confidence, and HATE.

The Great Runestone Lillywinks

The Hulk Hogan Legdrop of Doom, duh.

The Evil Slash Wolfstar

Chuck Norris's noise hair d'uh