TWF: Worth while to a pair of the same weapons?

[Bolo_Grubb]

Does having 2 greensteel Lightning II rapiers increase your chance for lightning strikes?

Is having a pair of Paralyzers better then having a single paralyzer paired with anything else?

Is having a pair of Sacrificial Daggers increase my chance of level drains or am I better off using one sacrificial dagger and say a blade of the high priestess?

If you have 2 of something do you get a chance for procs on both main hand and off hand? Or do you get just the one chance?

Does it vary depending on what factors?

Please help me understand. Explain it to me like I am a 6 year old

Thank you

[BigErkyKid]

Short answer: AFAIK, yes to all the above.

PS - Simply double chaneces of proc.

[Miow]

Short answer: AFAIK, yes to all the above.

Yes, what he said. Each hit has a chance to proc.

[Therigar]

Explain it to me like I am a 6 year old

Go ask Mom.

<Sorry, couldn't resist. >

[kmoustakas]

Yes.

[Cloista]

Really simple. Sort of.

Weapons function individually of each other. Having 2 of the same weapon does 'double' your chance of getting a proc off that purey because each weapon has a chance to proc individually, so with 2 weapons you shoud in theory see twice as many procs.

The only weapon modifier that does not function this way is +# Sneak Attack (as seen on old lootgen and older named items) or the newer Deception ## (post-Ghostbaning combined version of old Deception and +# Sneak Attack) in that the Sneak Attack value is added to all attacks when that item/weapon is equipped, even if you only have 1.

For example:

2 x Lit II - both function independantly.

1x Lit II + 1x Holy of +2 Sneak Attack - Mostly Function independantly, except the attacks made with the Lit II also gains the +2 to Sneak Attack damage.

[Fedora1]

In addition to the comments above, some other effects do not benefit by having them on both weapons, such as seeker, trip, stun, etc. In other words these are passive bonuses and not "chance to proc" effects. They do not stack, only the highest bonus applies if on both weapons.

[Eth]

What others said here, but there are some things that work on both weapons even if they are only on one of the weapons like seeker, deception, sneak attack, fort. bypass, tactical bonuses (basically anything on a weapon that could be found on non-weapons, but still effects the weapon).
So wearing something like 2 x Rebellion wouldn't make much sense.

[Saekee]

excellent responses above! In addition:
Some effects are not as good for TWF. For example, Corrosive Salt tics are not maximized if both weapons have it; I believe if a new tic starts, the old one is interrupted. So one epic calomel weapon pairs well. To maximize TWF, pair the mainhand to be buffed by the offhand. Celestia is awesome in this regard. Look for similar good offhand choices--the Cutthroat smallblade; Rebellion mentioned above; etc. In low levels, pre-GTWF, it is better to use the offhand to heavily buff the main. You are looking at Lit2 which, if in both hands, will proc fine.

[SmashBang]

so with higher level weapons such as Alchemical and even Thunderforged, It is good to have identical weapons paired?

Mortal Fear on Thunderforged looks pretty good (assuming you can ever get enough ingredients), would it be best to have 2 identical thunderforged weapons both with Mortal Fear?

[Ausdoerrt]

Procs work per hit, buffs work per character.

[droid327]

In addition to what everyone's already said...

I wouldn't use two Paralyzers, or any other effect that has a duration, unless the chance to proc is very low. Especially with Paralyzers in Heroic, they go off fairly frequently - you might be better off with a Paralyzer in one hand and a straight-DPS weapon in the offhand. The second Paralyzer will only make Paralyze proc a little sooner, but it procs fairly fast as it is.

Same for non-stacking DOTs, though Paralyze is about the only affix of note I can think about that this applies to.

[Roland_D'Arabel]

The only other thing to keep in mind is the % chance to hit while you are two weapon fighting. The base to hit with an off hand weapon starts at 20%. The two weapon fighting line of feats (when all feats are taken) increases this to 80% chance. So, yes, you can get the benefit of weapon procs from dual paralyzers etc. but your off hand weapon will only hit 80% of the time.

[Aliss7]

s
Mortal Fear on Thunderforged looks pretty good (assuming you can ever get enough ingredients), would it be best to have 2 identical thunderforged weapons both with Mortal Fear?

Someone posted that they didn't see mortal fear "stacking" "appropriately" with two weapons... can't find the post now...

[dunklezhan]

In addition to the comments above, some other effects do not benefit by having them on both weapons, such as seeker, trip, stun, etc. In other words these are passive bonuses and not "chance to proc" effects. They do not stack, only the highest bonus applies if on both weapons.

Stun does actually benefit - not because the DC bonuses stack (they don't), but because the effect it has a passive % chance to proc anyway. So each hit DOES have a % chance to proc a stun regardless of whether you use your stunning feat.

[Therigar]

Procs work per hit, buffs work per character.

This is what Mom says.

[Fedora1]

Stun does actually benefit - not because the DC bonuses stack (they don't), but because the effect it has a passive % chance to proc anyway. So each hit DOES have a % chance to proc a stun regardless of whether you use your stunning feat.

Isn't that only on the really old (and rare) stunning weapons? The ones now do a straight +2,4,6,8 whatever to saves vs stun DC, in addition to some sort of -something to something saves. There is no longer a n% chance to stun or the like.

[Therigar]

The only other thing to keep in mind is the % chance to hit while you are two weapon fighting. The base to hit with an off hand weapon starts at 20%. The two weapon fighting line of feats (when all feats are taken) increases this to 80% chance. So, yes, you can get the benefit of weapon procs from dual paralyzers etc. but your off hand weapon will only hit 80% of the time.

I guess someone should point out that 100% chance to hit with main hand plus 80% chance to hit with off hand is greater than 100% chance to hit with main hand and 0% chance to hit with off hand. In other words, the chance to hit is pretty much irrelevant to the discussion which instead focuses around procs and buffs.

Now, to OP, Mom says it is all simple -- procs are independent while buffs apply to both weapons. When the probability of off hand hits is low then buffs are generally going to be better. When the probability of off hand hits is high then procs are generally going to be better. So, what the nice man has to say is valuable enough if you are not planning on hitting with your off hand. But, 80% is a lot higher than 0% so as you get bigger and stronger you might want to focus more on the procs than the buffs.

Uncle T

[Sisma]

Not to mention that lots of ehnaces, EDs and Epic Feats give more % to offhand attacks...

[dunklezhan]

Isn't that only on the really old (and rare) stunning weapons? The ones now do a straight +2,4,6,8 whatever to saves vs stun DC, in addition to some sort of -something to something saves. There is no longer a n% chance to stun or the like.

Isn't there? Shows you how long my first lifer was in their first epic life, lol. I'm just pulling my stunners out the bank as I level right now, haven't had any better ones through the lootgen so far (L11 on his 2nd life, started a couple of weeks ago).