What kind of weapons to use in Unepic?

Question

I have the same problem I had in Legend of Grimrock:

I don't know which weapon skills should I level? It is obvious that I can't level all of them and there is no clear explanation about them.

• It seems so far that maces is a must since there are a lot of armored opponents and maces are the fastest armor-piercing wepons.

• Axes are not worth it because they are slow and you still need to be in melee range.

• Swords are fast, but using them means melee combat.

• Polearms are quasi ranged so by using them you can avoid a lot of damage.

• Bows need ammo and they are situational.

• I don't have any experience with wands yet.

I think that maces and polearms are the most effective. Am I right?

Answer 1

This are short descriptions of all weapon types taken from their webpage:

• Swords: They are used specially to attack monsters that can bleed, as they cause cuttings. However they are much less effective against monsters that don’t bleed or things made of iron or wood, like barrels or armors.
• Daggers: Lethal against all bleeding monsters if attacked from behind, as the damage and the critic change is multiplied. Moreover your attack is much faster, as daggers are the lightest weapons you can find.
• Maces: They are meant to smash. Specally effective against skeletons, rotten barrels y and protected monsters.
• Axes: Axes are a mixture of swords and maces, as they cause cuts to bleeding monsters, and their hits are good enought over solid objects. Their main drawback is their low speed.
• Polearm: Their biggest advantage is that they have longer scope that the rest of melee weapons. They are specially useful against monsters that is better to keep far.
• Bow: Obviously are used to attack from far distances, though they are less effective against non-bleeding monsters.
• Wands: Wands shoot all types of magic bolts. Their effects are very destructive and they have fast attack, but they have limited charges.

You will need to focus on leveling at least two of the weapon types. You will need one type for "monsters that can bleed" such as swords, daggers, polearms or bows and one weapon type for smashing crates and killing monsters with armor, skeletons and any other enemies that "don't bleed" such as mace, axe and perhaps certain polearms (not 100% sure about whether some polarms are good for this).

Needlesly to say polearms, bows and wands are quite useful against ranged enemies such as mages, unless you're fast and skilled enough to reach them with short-range melee weapon before they get a chance to hit you.

Each weapon type has it's advantages and disadvantages over other weapon types, which ones you should use really depends on your personal preference. My best advice would be that you try using a weapon of each type and see which ones fit your style the most and then level those up.

Answer 2

Note that Daggers may also be an option. They're known for being the fastest weapon in the game and backstabbing deals a lot more damage.

Axes while slow, deals consistent damage to both living and undead types. It seems to do fairly well against armours too. Making this a versatile melee weapon if you can stand its slowness.

And though bows require ammo to fire, I've noticed you can pick up a decent amount of them from looting barrels and killing stuff, however magic bows require rare and expensive arrows, and will drain your gold like crazy. Short arrows particularly are in decent supply.

The game can be tough if you play pure melee, magic or anything. Consider a main weapon of your choice, a secondary (put fewer points in), and invest some points into magic for 'should all else fail' moments.

Since you've already completed the game you can experiment with other combinations, all weapons have strengths and weaknesses and it's quite possible to clear the game however you'd like.

But since your post appears to favour maces. Why not try Mace + Dagger, and either bow or magic for range? Or swords and wands? Variety is key!