View source for Swordsmanship

''"Anyone can swing a sword. A true swordsfighter is one who practices the swing."''

- '''Padrig the Swift'''

== Swordsmanship==
A melee combat [[Weapon Skill]] that yields sharp weapons that are used with a 'swinging/slicing' action.

The damage for most sword weapons is calculated predominately with a number of dice rolls (2-3 dice) where as fencing is predominately calculated with fewer dice. This gives swordsmanship a more consistent damage distribution.

== Weapons ==
Most swordsmanship weapons can be crafted by [[Blacksmiths]]. The remaining swordsmanship weapons can be crafted by [[Tinkers]]. They can be found in the Utensils and also the Tools category of the crafting menu.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; width: 35%;"
|- style="font-weight:bold;"
! colspan="6" | Axe
|- style="font-weight:bold;"
| colspan="2" | Type
| Strength Required
| Damage
| Speed
| Hits
|-
| image
| Axe
| 35
| 3d10+3
| 37
| 31-110
|-
| image
| Battle Axe
| 40
| 2d17+4
| 30
| 31-70
|-
| image
| Double Axe
| 45
| 1d31+4
| 37
| 31-110
|-
| image
| Executioner's Axe
| 35
| 3d10+3
| 40
| 31-80
|-
| image
| Hatchet
| 15
| 1d16+1
| 40
| 31-80
|-
| image
| Large Battle Axe
| 40
| 2d17+4
| 30
| 31-70
|-
| image
| Pickaxe
| 25
| 1d15+0
| 35
| 31-60
|-
| image
| Two Handed Axe
| 35
| 2d18+3
| 30
| 31-90<br />
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; width: 35%;"
|-
! colspan="6" style="font-weight:bold;" | Slashing
|- style="font-weight:bold;"
| colspan="2" | Type
| Strength Required
| Damage
| Speed
| Hits
|-
| image
| Butcher Knife
| 5
| 2d7+0
| 40
| 31-40
|-
| image
| Cleaver
| 10
| 1d12+1
| 40
| 31-50
|-
| image
| Skinning Knife
| 5
| 1d10+0
| 40
| 31-40
|-
| image
| Broadsword
| 25
| 2d13+3
| 45
| 31-100
|-
| image
| Cutlass
| 10
| 2d12+4
| 45
| 31-70
|-
| image
| Katana
| 10
| 3d8+2
| 58
| 31-90
|-
| image
| Longsword
| 25
| 2d15+3
| 35
| 31-110
|-
| image
| Scimitar
| 10
| 2d14+2
| 43
| 31-90
|-
| image
| Long Sword
| 25
| 2d15+3
| 35
| 31-110
|-
| image
| Viking Sword
| 40
| 4d8+2
| 30
| 31-100
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; width: 35%;"
|-
! colspan="6" style="font-weight:bold;" | Polearm
|- style="font-weight:bold;"
| colspan="2" | Type
| Strength Required
| Damage
| Speed
| Hits
|-
| image
| Bardiche
| 40
| 2d20+3
| 26
| 31-100
|-
| image
| Halberd
| 45
| 2d23+3
| 25
| 31-80
|}

== PvP ==
[[Halberds]] and [[Katanas]] are very common with PvP templates. 
* Halberds can have their swings cycled for bonus swings. Depending on your [[Dexterity]], after swinging your halberd you will want to quickly disarm your weapon, wait for your wrestling cycle then arm your halberd to rest your swing. Normal halberd swing cycles can be done within 3 to 4 seconds. Note, if you successfully wrestle while your halberd is disarmed, your cycle will be reset again so it is important during PvP to not stand on top of your opponent while flagged for combat. 

== Pros and Cons ==
'''Pros''' 
* Swordsmanship weapons can be [[Poisoned]]
* Some notable weapons are in the top-ranks for damage per hit, and some for speed

'''Cons'''
* No damage-per-second top-ranked weapons
* There is no bonus stamina drain like [[Mace Fighting]]

== Weapon comparison ==
For the following comparisons the weapon-user has 100 Weapon Skill, 100 Stamina, 100 Tactics, 100 Anatomy and 100 Strength, and the weapons are of exceptional quality. The defender has 0 Weapon Skill and thus will be damaged every hit, furthermore the defender has no armor.

=== Average damage per hit ===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; width: 35%;"
|-
! colspan="5" style="font-weight:bold;" | Top 10 weapon-ranking by average damage per hit
|-
| Rank
| Weapon
| Max Hit
| Av Dmg/Hit
| Av Dmg/Sec
|-
| 1
| Crossbow, Heavy (2-H)
| 57
| 35.63
| 4.75
|-
| 2
| style="font-weight:bold;" | Halberd (2-H)
| 50.35
| 29.45
| 9.82
|-
| 3
| Crossbow (2-H)
| 44.65
| 28.03
| 6.73
|-
| 4
| Bow (2-H)
| 42.75
| 27.55
| 7.35
|-
| 5
| style="font-weight:bold;" | Bardiche(2-H)
| 44.65
| 26.60
| 9.22
|-
| 6
| style="font-weight:bold;" | Battle Axe (2-H)
| 39.9
| 24.70
| 9.88
|-
| 6
| style="font-weight:bold;" | Large Battle Axe (2-H)
| 39.9
| 24.70
| 9.88
|-
| 6
| style="font-weight:bold;" | Two-Handed Axe (2-H)
| 40.85
| 24.70
| 9.88
|-
| 6
| War Hammer (2-H)
| 38
| 24.70
| 10.21
|-
| 10
| Black Staff (2-H)
| 35.15
| 23.28
| 10.86
|-
| colspan="5" style="font-weight:bold;" | The best 10 one-handed weapons by average damage per hit
|- style="font-weight:bold;"
| Overall Rank
| Weapon
| Max Hit
| Av Dmg/Hit
| Av Dmg/Sec
|-
| 12
| War Mace
| 32.3
| 22.80
| 9.73
|-
| 13
| Maul
| 32.3
| 22.80
| 9.12
|-
| 13
| style="font-weight:bold;" | Viking Sword
| 36.1
| 22.80
| 9.12
|-
| 13
| Mace
| 34.2
| 22.80
| 9.12
|-
| 19
| Hammer Pick
| 35.15
| 22.33
| 8.93
|-
| 21
| style="font-weight:bold;" | Longsword
| 35.15
| 21.85
| 10.2
|-
| 21
| style="font-weight:bold;" | Long Sword
| 35.15
| 21.85
| 10.2
|-
| 25
| War Fork
| 34.2
| 20.90
| 12.54
|-
| 26
| War Axe
| 29.45
| 20.90
| 11.15
|-
| 27
| style="font-weight:bold;" | Broadsword
| 31.35
| 19.95
| 11.97
|}

''Swordsmanship Weapons in the above tables are '''bold''' formated.''

As seen in the table above, the '''Halberd''' is only beaten by the '''Heavy Crossbow''', which in return is much slower and thus deals less than half the damage per second as the Halbert. This abilities make the Halberd that popular in [[PvP]], where the heavy hit after a combination of spells often means death to the opponent. One-Handed weapons do significantly less damage per hit than two-handeds do, yet they allow to equip a shield in the other hand. In this category the [[Mace Fighting|mace weapons]] are slightly better than the sword weapons.

=== Average damage per second ===
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center; width: 35%;"
|-
! colspan="5" style="font-weight:bold;" | Top 10 weapon-ranking by average damage per second
|- style="font-weight:bold;"
| Rank
| Weapon
| Max Hit
| Av Dmg/Hit
| Av Dmg/Sec
|-
| 1
| Short Spear (2-H)
| 34.2
| 20.90
| 13.93
|-
| 2
| Spear (2-H)
| 38
| 21.85
| 13.4
|-
| 3
| Quarterstaff (2-H)
| 30.4
| 20.90
| 13.38
|-
| 4
| Kryss
| 30.4
| 18.53
| 13.09
|-
| 5
| War Fork
| 34.2
| 20.90
| 12.54
|-
| 6
| style="font-weight:bold;" | Cutlass
| 30.4
| 19.95
| 11.97
|-
| 6
| style="font-weight:bold;" | Broad Sword
| 31.35
| 19.95
| 11.97
|-
| 8
| style="font-weight:bold;" | Katana
| 28.5
| 18.53
| 11.86
|-
| 9
| style="font-weight:bold;" | Scimitar
| 32.3
| 19.95
| 11.44
|-
| 10
| style="font-weight:bold;" | Double Axe (2-H)
| 37.05
| 22.80
| 11.25
|-
| 23
| style="font-weight:bold;" | Halberd (2-H)
| 50.35
| 29.45
| 9.82
|}

''Swordsmanship weapons in the above table are '''bold''' formated.''

The table above shows that the swordsmanship weapons aren't dealing a very high damage per second. They're clearly topped by the fencing weapons, which do a low damage per hit, but still the highest damage per second, due to their high hit-speed. The '''Broadsword''' and the '''Cutlass''' are the best swordsmanship weapons as for damage per hit and thus the swordsmanship weapons of choice if it's for killing monsters, where a surprising hard hit within a combo isn't relevant. The '''Halberd''' however is a pretty bad choice for [[PvM]], dealing 18% less overall damage than the Broadsword and even 30% less than the '''Short Spear'''.

== Notes ==
''[[Halberd]] is hardest hitting, yet slowest melee weapon, and ranks top 2 of all weapons for damage per hit. A favorite amongst [[Skill Templates|tank mages]].''

''[[Katana]] is of the fastest weapons in the game, and can be used with a [[shield]].''

== See Also ==
[[Archery]] - [[Fencing]] - [[Mace Fighting]] - [[Swordsmanship]] - [[Wrestling]]
[[Category:Weapon Skills]]
[[Category:Skills]]