Pikes skill

General Information

Pole arms fall into two categories. Nonstandard weapons such as glaives and halbers are usually (but not always) considered halberds, while items more closely resembling spears tend to fall into the pike category.

Pikes tend to be extremely heavy and favor puncture damage. Many are also heavy thrown weapons, and a good number of them are usable with one hand, freeing the other for a shield, a second weapon, or spellcasting, as certain spells require a free hand. This is unusual for heavier weapons, so it is considered one of the primary assets of the pike. Many pikes can also hit from pole range, and Barbarians and Paladins can use them to parry ranged weapons with them at that distance.

Sadly, the pike templates available to players to forge are all rather useless, being extremely poor in regards to weight versus damage (extremely heavy, not very powerful). Pikes sold at stores tend to either be overwhelmingly heavy or extremely weak. The effective combos for pike weapons are inferior to those used for other weapons, and even a pike weapon with high damage appraisal will pale in comparison to other heavy weapons, like halberds, twohanded edged, and twohanded blunt. Much of this is the result of a change by GM Ssra, who was of the opinion that pikes were historically a weak weapon for one-on-one combat, and had planned to implement some sort of bonus for using the weapon in a group. This development never came about, and the weapon seems to currently be in a state of flux.

Note: Pike skill can be used during jousting.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Advantages

• Many weapons available hit from pole range, often giving pike users the first hit in a melee engagement.
• Potential for heavy damage
• Respectable versatility in weapon and tactic selections

Disadvantages

• Most powerful pike weapons tend to be heavy, making pikes somewhat difficult for younger players to learn.
• Truly heavy damage maneuvers are all puncture-based, and puncture maneuvers like thrust and lunge have notable defensive penalties associated with them. Use with caution when hunting at-level.
• Not as accessible or as potentially powerful as halberds.

Guild-Specific Abilities

• Barbarians can WHIRLWIND with any pole or melee weapon. This will attack all targets within range of their chosen weapon (melee or pole), including hidden targets. Hidden targets will be pulled from hiding if hit by whirlwind. WHIRL can also be used to one's self or another free of webbing. Requirements: 350 in the weapon skill and 32 agility.

Recommended Weapon

• short hunting spear -- Pike/HT, good for new players.
• ngalio -- One handed, so can be used with a shield, available from the Wooden Shack in Leth Deriel.
• short steel spear -- Pike/SS swappable, good for new players but expensive, from festival merchant.
• Ox-tongue spear with a stout iron-studded haft -- Pike/QS swappable, from festival merchant.