Thinking about making a Page, and I haven't found a guide that discusses the pros and cons of each. Obviously more defense with a shield and more damage with 2h weapons. Anyone with a little more in-depth explanations? I'd also love to hear opinions on which is better (I'm specifically making a BW Page).
http://royals.ms/forum/threads/sires-complete-mapleroyals-warrior-guide.8474/ Read "3. Choosing your weapon"
Better depends on what you want. For me, 1h is better since it allows me to wear the most awesome shield in the game: the Silver Aquila 8)
If you're going to be a BW Page there's really no choice but to go for a 1 hand weapon. Any 2h-BW weapon will be way too slow to be viable. Let me just make clear that if you do go the BW route, you will be forced into having an end-game weapon of a crushed skull (or be severely crippled into doing the dps of a snail) and since a Paladin's main attack (Blast) has a shorter physical range with a 1 hand weapon than a 2 hand weapon, you will have difficulty in reaching a few lengthy places. Paladins already have an issue with hitting a few parts of bosses such as Zakum and HT even with a 2-hand weapon and although I haven't tried bossing with a 1H weapon myself, I definitely don't think it'll be much fun jumping off of platforms just to reach a Zakum arm or a Horntail arm. The distance Blast can reach is significantly different between a 1h weapon and a 2h weapon so be careful of what you choose. Going for a sword mastery instead gives a lot more flexibility in end game weapons. You have enough SP to max out both masteries in second job but in third job you will have to choose which charges to max.
Thank you for sharing that! Did you read it? He doesn't go into detail about 1h vs 2h. But thank you for the reference! Well crap. Lol. That makes me eternally sad. Perhaps I do have to go after a 2h sword after all. My initial plan was 1h blunt weapon, to be honest. I read about skullcrusher being mandatory.
From my understanding of damage for warriors, 2H weapons have a 1.2x multiplier when it comes to weapon attack damage. Early on, 2H swords have pretty much the same attack as most 1H weapons so if you have an attack shield, you'll benefit and do more damage with a 1H weapon+Shield. Later on during end game, 2H weapons really shine because at that point, you'll have a lot more gear with weapon attack to utilize the 1.2x weapon attack damage boost over the 1h+Shield option. Also, you'll be considering using high attack potions such as Heartstoppers and onyx Apples, making 2h weapons even more appealing. Not sure if this answered your question, but I just thought you'd like to know.
In general one handed options will provide more DPS end game if you're willing to devote the funding to get the faster sword/bws and a good attack shield, while 2h weapons are much easier to fund and benefit more from buffs like Speed Infusion
