Advice wanted re dual-wielding in Entro

[Dragonboneman]

I've been dabbling in Entroband a little and I have a question - when should berzerkers start dual-wielding?
I tried wielding two weapons right from the start with one character and died quickly because I couldn't hit a damn thing due to the massive to-hit penalties.

[Djabanete]

I try to start dual-wielding ASAP with zerkers. When I come across a unique or dangerous monster, I unwield one weapon so I have a better chance to hit. This way there is no real risk associated with training the skill, which, BTW is a very slow skill to learn.

Not that I have all that much experience with zerkers, but this method always seemed the best to me.

Question: is it true that Main Gauches and Wakizashis have hidden to-hit bonuses (when in your off-hand)? I seem to have read that somewhere... if that's the case, it might be worthwhile to train your dual wielding using one of those in your off-hand.

[Dragonboneman]

Thanks for the quick response!

[Atriel]

Main Gauches and Wakizashis do halve the penalty of dual
wield if used in the off hand weapon...

Really, the only classes good (viable) at dual wielding are
Berzerker, Fighter, Samurai, Rogue and Ninja.

For the skill to raise, it is needed to hit high-level monsters.
As the above classes start with 4000 in the skill and
still the penalty is huge, i can see why it is really hard to try
one of the classes that can´t max dual wield.
Maxed, penalty is pretty low.
You start raising the skill (at 4000) hitting monsters around mlvl 20.
You start raising the skill (at 0) hitting monsters around mlvl 5.
Monsters at mlvl 50 or more will always raise skill.

To counteract penalties, it is a must with anything other than berzerk
to carry !hero and ?bless.

[AnonymousHero]

IIRC the 'Spec' gauntless set the dual-wield penalty to zero. So with 'Spec' any character should be able to dual-wield pretty well...

Of course 'Spec' means permanent aggravation, so...

[Dragonboneman]

Originally Posted by Atriel

You start raising the skill (at 4000) hitting monsters around mlvl 20.

Does that mean that if you're playing 'zerker it's pointless dual-wielding at the start of the game, and you should just concentrate on developing weapon proficiency until you start encountering lvl 20 monsters?

[Djabanete]

Originally Posted by Dragonboneman

Does that mean that if you're playing 'zerker it's pointless dual-wielding at the start of the game, and you should just concentrate on developing weapon proficiency until you start encountering lvl 20 monsters?

Which, for a zerker, is the start of the game...

It's a valid question (which I don't know the answer to) just not terribly useful since zerkers take about 15 minutes to get to that level.