Newbie tips to dual wielding.

first lets talk about the mechanics of dual wielding.

all 1 handed weapons can be dual wielded in any combination except for wands. you can only dual wield 2 wands and can not pair it with a melee weapon.

while dual wielding, you will gain 10% increased attack speed, and 15% block chance. majority of the attacks will alternate between weapons and the attack speed of each weapon will determine the amount of time it takes before you swing the alternate weapon.

because of this, you must have similar weapons of similar damage in order for this to provide any benefit. if 1 of your weapons is weaker, you could be doing less damage than if you were just using the 1 stronger weapon.

the exception to this is when using the ability cleave and dual strike. this will use both weapon at the same time thus it'll do combined damage and use the main hand's attack speed to determine the speed of the attack (unconfirmed, correct me if you have proof).

another exception is if your skills require a specific weapon type, it'll only use the hand which holds that weapon type, or if the skill only applies to main hand weapons such as double strike.

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now for when to use dual wielding.

GGG has stated that there is a correlation between the dps you do and your survivability. on the dps side we have 2 handed weapons, and on the survivability end we have 1 handed and a shield. dual wielding is to be in the middle.

you will never get as much damage as a 2 handed build since those weapons will have massive amounts of base damage, and you will never have the surviability as 1 handed and shield since they will have much more block and will have defense stats that you'll lack. but you will be able to do a little bit of both.

first off you'll have to choose your weapons, remember that most of the abilities will alternate between attacks so you'll want to make sure your weapons are fairly similar to each other in terms of damage, if a weapon is 10% less damage than the other, your going to do less damage than if you were using just the larger damage alone. the exception is listed above.

another thing to note is that majority of mods on a weapon will be local, meaning it only applies to that weapon and only when that weapon does the attacking. if you wish to make the most of dual wielding, you might want to look for weapons with global modifications, i'll explain more below.

Also since 1 handed weapons do have much more attack speed in general to the 2 handed weapon counter parts, dual wielding can make great use of the elemental damages. the faster you attack, the more damage they will do. making dual wielding a great build to make an elemental melee build, or one that takes full advantage of life on hit.

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Shields vs dual wielding or the mods
as I mentioned before, the mods on a weapon are mostly local so they will only apply to the weapon itself, but what mods are on a weapon that isnt on a shield? what mods will apply to both weapons and thus make it superior to a shield?

well first off, all shield mods will only have defensive modifcations, where as weapon mods will usually have mostly offensive stats with the exception of resistance and life and mana stats.

so what does a weapon have that a shield doesnt and that is not local.

life and mana leech both show up on weapons but not shields. since they are not local they will apply to all abilities that deal physical damage regardless of which weapon did the attack. the same also applies to life on hit.

both shield and weapons can roll melee/elemental gem sockets, but a weapon can roll a all gem socket. where it will increase the level of all gems by 1 for all gems socketed on that weapon.

Weapons are also able to roll the elemental damage mod to help increase the damage of elemental builds.

if your looking to make a stun lock build, dual wielding weapons can increase the stun duration which can not be found on shields.

for ranged weapons your able to also increase the projectile speed of your attacks

for casters your able to gain cast speeds, elemental damage, and even though both items can get spell damage and mana, a weapon is able to get both in 1 mod slot. which could mean more spell damage and mana potential

so if these stats appeal to you, than dual wielding would be a better choice than to use a shield. if these stats do not appeal to you, then chances are your better off with a shield.

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now for Passives

majority of the passives will work for a dual wielding build. all 1 handed passives will work and will be the most versatile you can get because this will apply to all weapon types except for wands since they usually say 1 handed melee. but because they are so versatile, they will also be much lower in value than the others. such as your basic attack damage node will provide 6% while a weapon specific will provide 8%, I suggest getting these if they help traverse to better nodes. dont go out of your way to pick them up unless they're special nodes, or if you plan to use 2 different weapon types, or if you want extra damage after you've taken all the weapon specific nodes that you wanted.

the dual wielding nodes are exactly like the 1 handed weapon nodes. except that you must be dual wielding for these nodes to have any effect, where as the 1 handed weapon nodes will also apply if your using a shield instead. some of the notable dual wield nodes are that they will heavily be increased attack speed, and dual wield blocking. the blocking will never get as high as a traditional shield, but you can get enough nodes to equal that of a shield with no passives. again, only go out of your way for dual wielding nodes if you plan to wield different weapon types in each hand, or if you want that versatility, or if you want extra damage after you've taken all the weapon specific nodes that you wanted.

all weapon specific nodes also work, and will provide the most value per node but only for that specific weapon type. because of this, you'll be locked into using 1 type of weapon throughout your game, unless you respect or if you dont mind not benefiting from those points for the time your using a different weapon. weapon specific nodes can also provide special attributes that are specific to that weapon type. such as claws gaining more life leech/life on hit, daggers gaining the adder's touch, swords being able to negate block chance, and maces being able to reduce stun threshold. so go after these nodes if your planning to stick to 1 weapon type all the time.

an example of when its best to take a weapon specific over a dual wield node is where gallantry is below the duelist area. right above it is the cruel blade node. so if you were a sword user, then cruel blades would be a clear better choice because your gaining 26% physical damage increase and 4% attack speed for 3 points while gallantry will only provide 21% physical damage and 4% attack speed for the same 3 points. though if you were using a sword and an axe, gallantry will apply those bonuses to both your weapons while cruel blade would have only applied to 1 of them.

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Hope these tips help you understand the world of dual wielding and help your choice making easier.

Thx for the tips!

hi i have done a little research but the in game tool tip and wiki is a little ambiguous. is holding a shield with a weapon consider dual wielding globally?? because some nodes say "while dual wielding or holding a shield" and other nodes only say "while dual wielding" on the passive tree...
which is it?? lol thanks! :)

hey man, im considering making a build where I use the unique mace that doubles your stun buildup as a secondary weapon, in order to stun bosses faster. Would the "causes double stun buildup" line stack if I dual wield that mace? Or would it better to just not use it at all and use a 2handed high damage one instead, since damage contributes to stun build up as well?