Thread: Halberd Threat?

Hey captains

I currently only have a lowbie cap, but a question that's been bothering me is why do halberds have inherent threat buffs? I see they have threat boosting or reducing skills, but i still dont see why a weapon for a class that isn't considered a main tanking class would have that buff. I'm hoping there's an answer I don't know and thought this would be the place to ask

Better that you are ahead of your mini on the threat list.

Originally Posted by vertigo07

Hey captains

I currently only have a lowbie cap, but a question that's been bothering me is why do halberds have inherent threat buffs? I see they have threat boosting or reducing skills, but i still dont see why a weapon for a class that isn't considered a main tanking class would have that buff. I'm hoping there's an answer I don't know and thought this would be the place to ask

It's a nice bonus for a couple of reasons:

1. as Davoramir said, staying about the minnie in threat is quite important and the halberd helps this.

2. Captains have a defined role as an off tank, even though most don't trait to do this. the extra threat makes this tanking alot easier, and offsets out lower dps compared to many other classes.

3. Because all of our shouting isn't scary enough and as we don't have a shield to bang the scariest looking weapon in the game is required.

Hope it helps

What Votan said.


+1 rep for No3.



And captain can be very decent tank, not as awesome as guardian but decent enough to take the beating instead of other squishies (healers).

Didn't want to start a new thread for this, since we're discussing Halberds and all. But if a person does not plan on raiding at all, and only doing 3 man and some 6 man groups, and solo questing/skirmishes, how crucial is it that they use a halberd?

I read some posts that said its pretty much mandatory for the DPS aspect, but is it that big of a deal if I prefer to use 2hswords?

Just curious. The sound effect of the sword is more to my liking. :P

Generally Captains will use a halberd or a 2h sword as there are 2% damage bonus's assosiated with both, 2% of a captains DPS isn't that much though =p so not really crucial

Originally Posted by Awarewolf

But if a person does not plan on raiding at all, and only doing 3 man and some 6 man groups, and solo questing/skirmishes, how crucial is it that they use a halberd?

I read some posts that said its pretty much mandatory for the DPS aspect, but is it that big of a deal if I prefer to use 2hswords?

You are most likely reading old guides/posts, or listening to people who are still spouting yesterday's conventional wisdom. After weapon speed normalization, all 2h weapons start with the same damage and speed (halberds used to be slowest weapons and with a wider damage range, which were both good for a variety of reasons). The 2% bonus on halberds/GS is small potatoes compared to getting the right legacies on your LI. Ideally we'd all get halberds or GS with our legacies of choice. But you are much better off with a 2H club with telling mark legacy than a GS without. At lower levels (pre LI) you are better off picking the highest DPS (and stats/etc).

Before MoM when traits and what not did not exist yet, the halberd +threat was really the only chance Captain's at at being able to off-tank.

Now with all the LI's and trait lines, it is not as important as it was before.

A dagger with great legacies does more than a halberd with mediocre ones. No, I wouldn't use a dagger either, but that is just because I want to look cool... it has nothing to do with game mechanics. Legacies are the most important component of a captain's weapon.

For two-handers (and, in addition to dps, the advantage of a two-hander is more power efficient), they are all pretty much the same. Use the one you like most. the 2% difference is nice but not a deal breaker, and other factors are probably a wash. I personally prefer swords for the minuscule increased hit.

i rock a dagger for one hand stuff.

mostly because it was the only one hander i could find with the legacies i wanted.

I just bought a one handed club with tier five telling mark and tier five to arms as starting legacies. I'm willing to give it a try as my grouping/Moors weapon. Bam, bam!

Originally Posted by Awarewolf

Didn't want to start a new thread for this, since we're discussing Halberds and all. But if a person does not plan on raiding at all, and only doing 3 man and some 6 man groups, and solo questing/skirmishes, how crucial is it that they use a halberd?

I read some posts that said its pretty much mandatory for the DPS aspect, but is it that big of a deal if I prefer to use 2hswords?

Just curious. The sound effect of the sword is more to my liking. :P

Already answered but i like to add more salt.

Doesn't matter much since weapon normalization (that i still think its silly) though we got Halberd, sword/greatsword +2% dmg bonuses that give us a little boost. Also don't forget the weapon "little perk" like Halberd's threat, sword bonus on hit, Axe's sunder, Dagger's crit chances, etc.. Depends what you need.

Oh this is great news. I won't feel bad using any weapon I desire then, great tips all around. Thanks, guys!

I've never been so excited with a character before, in any MMO. I used to play healers in every game, but man this Captain is the most fun I've had since... well, I don't know, I can't remember. A druid in EQ maybe, circa 1998? :-P

Only level 21 at the moment, but I'm sure it just gets better. Thanks again.

For DPS on a technicality I would say a 2H Sword is better just because it has the 2% man-trait bonus as well as inherent bonus to hit, so you'll get less misses increasing your DPS ever so slightly.

As has been mentioned on legendaries legacies are more important. I just decided to go with a 1H weapon instead of a 2H, but look for the legacies you need and fly! 2% isn't a big deal and we aren't there because of our DPS anyways. (unless it's an all-captain run!)

Originally Posted by seyahat

I just bought a one handed club with tier five telling mark and tier five to arms as starting legacies. I'm willing to give it a try as my grouping/Moors weapon. Bam, bam!

I've intentionally been trying out the 1 handed club in the moors and it is actually not horrible. While dps is not its forte, thats ok. What it is good for is the small chance to slow the target. Thats invaluable in the moors. If you can't kill it, you can at least slow it with a random hit so that the hunters behind you can kill it. Mace would also be useful as it has a small chance to stun, but I don't think I've seen a leg mace yet. Sometimes a good slow or stun makes the difference between a dead creep and a fleeing creep.