Pikes skill

General Information

Historically a pike is a long thrusting spear, used often by infantry units to combat heavy cavelry from a distance. The long shaft and deadly point of the pike turned a horseman's own momentum against them, impaling the horse under its own weight. Within Dragonrealms, there are two classes of pole arms: halberds and pikes. Almost all spears and javelins fall under the Pike weapon category in Dragonrealms. Unlike traditional pikes, many pikes in Dragonrealms can also be thrown, such as the short hunting spear sold in Arthe Dale. Examples of pikes within Dragonrealms include spears, javelins, and throwing spears.

Given the diversity of weapons represented by pikes they are a surprisingly versatile weapon class. Generally, pikes come in two varieties: heavy and powerful pole-range hitters and lighter melee-range hitters (many of which can also be thrown using the heavy thrown skill). The weapons light enough for new players to use do not tend to be very powerful; likewise, the truly dangerous pike weapons tend to be very cumbersome and heavy, making pikes a somewhat tricky class for newer players to use.

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). Unlike some other weapon categories, however, the difficulty of learning pikes as a new player eventually pays off quite well, as there are several rare Festival pikes available which are arguably among the most powerful weapons in the game. These pikes all weigh in excess of sixty stones, however, so they are certainly not recommended for younger players.

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.

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 and Heavy thrown, light with decent damage, good for new players)
• short steel spear (Festival pike/short staff swappable. Decent damage, also good for beginners but too expensive for new players.)
• ox-togue spear with a stout iron-studded haft (Pike/Quarter Staff swappable, more powerful than short steel spear but probably too heavy for younger players. Also rare and expensive.)