Swordsman Archive

When you play SWG!

I know this is an issue already, but being new to the swordsman profession, and a weaponsmith, I need to express my dissapointmet that the highest weapon certification for a SWORDsman is a HAMMER!!! Duh?

ppfft... I still want my scythe

Yeah, limbik is right. We are SWORDSman, not HAMMERman. Our last cert should be some kind of sword, not a retarded hammer. I want a cool looking sword too, like a cleaver, but it does more damage.

How about a Massive Claymore, laddie?!! Ach! Instead of the wee hammer, the Swordsman gets certed for a big, nice, sword. Standing between 60-75 inches from pommel to point, doing 124-450 dmg @ 5.5 spd. And the ability to inflict massive wounds. And kill lots of Englishmen.

I wish they'd change the name to "2 Handed Melee Weaponsman" or something already, just so we can stop getting this same post over and over.

But if you think about it logically, a hammer WOULD be better than a sword in this age, a time when futuristic armors able to take blaster bolts exists. I am not going to mention lighter weapons since they are primarily used against unarmored foes. Of course this is all hypothetical since this IS a fictional universe....

In a nut shell, meleeweapons started with clubs and blunt objects. Over time people got tired of getting hit by clubs and blunt objects so they started padding themselves withsimple armors.ect. Well, Technology advanced, and weapons. Instead of a blunt stick they stuck a point on it. You got spears now. Armor had to take another. This step was metal armors, which are really a game of comprimises. Light armors like chainmail offered more mobility, but heavy armors while greatly hampering any movement, where nearly impervious to normal melee weaponry. Non standard weaponry would consist of unusually large swords, short hafted axes, and heavyweapons (mace, hammer).

Now against a well armored foe, the enourmous swords worked well if you could hit precisely. If the flat of the sword hit the opponent (other than the head, which would have been the equivalent of getting wailed in the head by a metal baseball bat. Concusion anyone?), or if it was a glancing blow the entire attack would prove to be ineffective. And in order to get a sword with enough weight, to deal damage even on a glancing blow they would have to be awkwardly large. And that large weight would be spread along an enourmous hunk of metal (figure something like a greatsword 6ft or a full blade 7ft), making it incredibly unbalanced, similar to swinging around a plank for wood...only heavier.

A hammer on the other hand, against a heavily armored foe can be very effective. They are a heavy, unbalanced weapon, which is far more compact than the larger swords mention earlier. This allows for quicker attack, and better accuracy.The effects of a large hammer against even the best of armor can be devestating. The heavy weight of the hammer all compacted as close to the tip, allows the hammer to deliver crushing blows even on a glancing hit. Against armors this is especially dangerous, because there is a great potential of it damaging the joints of it, restricting movement even further. A direct hit is devestating to say the least. On most heavy plate, or banded armor it litterly rips it to shreds. Failing to do this, the massive amount of potential energy built up during swing is released on impact, and transfered into body. So if the armor doesnt give, the body underneath is going to be shattered.

Now applying this to the star wars galaxy. Armor has advanced even further, enough to stop raw bolts of energy from burning out your insides in one shot. Supposedly according to the EU, stormtrooper armor is only vulnerable to attacks at the joins and flexible points of the armor (crackshots). And that is just some mighty basic stuff if you ask me (hey, the stormies are everywhere). If you take something like Composite Armor, and take a normal sword to it, you are going to barely leave a scratch. (unless its a crackshot, and most large swords do not have that much accuracy. fencers would be better against this kind of enemy). You could say it was a vibro blade, but that would make it even heavier with the generator on it, plus i am not sure you can even apply vibroweaponry to the entire length of a blade that is that large. So instead the enemy will only feel the kinetic impact of the sword. And as explained above, a sword with enough weight and length to create damage in an amount that can actually hurt the body under the armor would be unweildy.

If the composite armor can effectively nulify most of the damage from a blast of pure energy, and from the cutting edge of a blade, it surely will not buckle from a hammer. But, the impact of the hammer would still transfer its kinetic energy into the armor. Alot of kinetic energy. And from there, theenergy only has one place to go. Into the person, and the results would not be pretty. Now powerhammer are supposedly a powered weapon of some sort, but I am not sure how much more effective it would really make it. Since they are a blast damage weapon, i can only assume that it amplifies the potential energy of the hammer somehow.

But that is the short and long of it. Against heavily armored foes, hammers are by the most basic laws of physics far more effective than a sword, regardless of the swords size. Against lightly armored foes, and unarmored foes though, swords of a normal size are far more effective. We are called Heavy Swordsman, and we do have swords of a size equivilant of the long sword. The fact that we have a hammer is moot, so long as it has a short haft, like the powerhammer, it is wielded in virtually the same way as a long sword. And as I stated above, hammers do have a distinct advantage in a society wear the majority of people wear heavy armor in combat. Thus making it a better weapon than a sword, and our best weapon. I have always felt that the hammer gave a bit of realism to a galaxy that for all of its fantasy, wants to be realistic and believable.

Thanks for the time, and dont forget, Swordsmen rock!

...because we're not meant to be truly swordsman. We're the two-handed weapon melee class. The only reason we're called Swordsmanis because there's no easy to say term for "Two-Handed Weaponeers".

we need more and better weapons

Yes it's lame but....

Can't think of any sword type that would do blast damage instead of kinetic.

I'll stick with the hammer.

Doesn't mean that the best weapon you use is a hammer, does it? Even though that's the last thing that they 'allow' when you master the profession, but it doesn't mean that the most effective weapon always is a hammer. Doesn't sword do a different kind of damage and probably would be faster? No?

i like my samuari 2 handed sword. I think that should be our profession sword. Highlander style. w00t.

Ximma, you need lessspare time..

But he actually got a very strong point, had kind of a laugh myself when I saw that the Swordsman's ultimate weapon is a hammer.. Doesn't make much sense..

But in your mind translate Swordsman into Heavy Melee Specialist or something , and I think it is possible to get titles like "Battlemaster" and such.. Right?

Ximma, good points and all but uh... you said futuristic and we ALL know starwas happned a 'Long Time Ago" i mean jeesh c'mon man!