I'm in chapter 2 and so far, the main weapons seem more effective in most situations, and even if it were useful in some specific situations, changing weapon is quite slow, so I'd like to know if I missed something.
There seem to be no point of using the secondary weapons slots, except to carry & sell them.
The only one I can find some use, is the torch, but I prefer the cat potion...
So, is there any use for secondary weapons, except for selling ?
Played through the Witcher - Never really had to use the secondary weapons.
Plowing through the net, I found the following information on secondary weapons:
Axe - good to break shields
Torch - lights dark places (obvious), supposedly good against plants
Dagger - can inflict pain, used sometimes for finishers (only cosmetic)
Clubs, flails and maces - can stun foes
Hammers - can knock down enemies
Torches can be occasionally handy if you really hate using the Cat potion, but for the most part, no, they're only good for selling.
They will always do less damage and provide less utility than a Witcher fighting style.
Late in the game, you may want to carry two Steel Swords with different damage characteristics using the heavy secondary slot, but it's pretty unnecessary min-maxing, and generally just more trouble than it's worth.
Axes are great against echinopses and archespores as it makes them stun.
Torches are great agains those plants too and also against bloedzuigers as they are all sensitive to fire. According to wiki:
Early in the game, torches are a quicker and safer anti-Archespore weapon than Geralt's swords. Each hit will stun it and occassionally incinerate it.
