Polearm Weapons

Training in the Polearm Weapons skill supports the use of polearm weapons such as spears, halberds, and lances in melee combat. Polearm weapons come in both one- and two-handed varieties, and the use of two-handed polearms provides a small bonus to the wielder's defensive strength. Polearm weapons along with Two-Handed Weapons tend to be the largest and heaviest-hitting weapon types. As such, they are also by and large the slowest.

Ranks and Training Costs

Type	Square			Semi			Pure
Profession	Rogue	Warrior	Monk	Bard	Paladin	Ranger	Cleric	Empath	Savant	Sorcerer	Wizard
Max Ranks Per Level	2	2	-	2	2	2	1	1	-	1	1
Training Point Cost	7/2	3/1	-	6/1	5/2	7/2	11/3	14/3	-	14/3	14/3

Special Features

Polearms are unique in construction from most other weapons, and as such, they've a few features to them that are not available to most other weapons.

• Tripping

Characters with at least fifteen (15) ranks of the Polearm Weapons skill can make use of the TRIP verb if they have a two-handed polearm in their right hand. Effectiveness of TRIP can be increased by training in Combat Maneuvers and gaining ranks in the Trip maneuver.

• Ambushing

Two-handed polearms cannot be used to ambush from hiding - the character will only remove themselves from hiding and attack visibly. One-handed polearms are useable for hidden ambushing purposes.

• Two-handed vs. One-handed Use

Most polearms are two-handed weapons, however, some are one-handed, and others are switchable. Pilums are one-handed, while, spears and tridents are switchable between one-handed and two-handed use. Use of the GRIP verb can toggle spear- and trident-based polearms from one-handed to two-handed and back again.

Damage Factors and AvDs

Weapon	AG	Cloth	Leather				Scale				Chain				Plate				RT	Min RT	Damage Type	STR/DU
	AsG	1	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
Pilum	DF	.350	.250				.225				.175				.060				3	3	Slash/Puncture	50/150
	AvD	30	27	26	25	24	22	20	18	16	23	19	15	11	15	9	3	-3
Spear, one-handed	DF	.425	.325				.250				.250				.160				5	4	Slash/Puncture	15/130
	AvD	27	29	28	27	26	27	25	23	21	30	26	22	18	25	19	13	7
Spear, two-handed	DF	.550	.385				.340				.325				.230				6	4	Slash/Puncture	15/130
	AvD	33	32	31	30	29	34	32	30	28	36	32	28	24	33	27	21	15
Trident, one-handed	DF	.425	.350				.260				.230				.150				5	4	Slash/Puncture	70/190
	AvD	31	31	30	29	28	34	32	30	28	42	38	34	30	29	23	17	11
Trident, two-handed	DF	.600	.425				.375				.300				.185				6	4	Slash/Puncture	70/190
	AvD	29	30	29	28	27	30	28	26	24	37	33	29	25	25	19	13	7
Halberd	DF	.550	.400				.400				.300				.200				6	4	Slash/Puncture/Crush	25/150
	AvD	30	30	29	28	27	31	29	27	25	32	28	24	20	32	26	20	14
Naginata	DF	.550	.400				.400				.300				.200				6	4	Slash/Puncture/Crush	25/150
	AvD	50	50	49	48	47	51	49	47	45	52	48	44	40	52	46	40	34
Jeddart-axe	DF	.550	.425				.425				.325				.250				7	4	Slash/Crush	60/185
	AvD	30	32	31	30	29	30	28	26	24	40	36	32	28	30	24	18	12
Hammer of Kai	DF	.550	.425				.450				.350				.250				7	4	Puncture/Crush	50/190
	AvD	20	25	24	23	22	35	33	31	29	40	36	32	28	40	34	28	22
Awl-pike	DF	.600	.550				.575				.450				.350				9	4	Puncture/Crush	60/160
	AvD	15	20	19	18	17	35	33	31	29	45	41	37	33	50	44	38	32
Lance	DF	.725	.525				.550				.475				.350				9	4	Puncture/Crush	17/105
	AvD	35	38	37	36	35	39	37	35	33	53	49	45	41	50	44	38	32

Polearm Parry DS Formula

One-hand Grip polearms use the standard one-hand weapon parry DS formula.

One-hand Grip Parry DS Formula

((Weapon ranks + STR bonus/4 + DEX bonus/4 + (weapon enchant bonus/2)) × stance modifier + Stance/2 bonus (see table)

Stance modifiers are 0.2 / 0.3 / 0.4 / 0.5 / 0.6 / 0.7 from Offensive to Defensive stance, respectively.

Two-hand Grip Parry DS Formula

((Weapon Ranks + STR bonus/4 + DEX bonus/4) × stance modifier)) + (weapon enchant bonus × stance modifier) + polearm bonus + Stance/2 bonus

Stance Modifier Table

STANCE	OFF	ADV	FOR	NEU	GUA	DEF
MODIFIER	0.27	0.41	0.54	0.68	0.81	0.94

Polearm DS Bonus Table

STANCE	OFF	ADV	FOR	NEU	GUA	DEF
DS Bonus	15	18	21	24	27	30

Stance/2 DS Bonus Table

STANCE	OFF	ADV	FOR	NEU	GUA	DEF
DS Bonus	0	10	20	30	40	50

Example With Two-hand Grip Polearm

Weapon ranks 80, STR bonus 24, DEX bonus 28, weapon enchant bonus 25

Offensive Parry DS (stance modifier .27):

((80 + 6 + 7) × .27) + (25 × .27) + 15 (OFF polearm bonus) + 0 (there is no stance/2 bonus in offensive stance)

(93 × .27) + (25 × .27) + 15 = 46 DS

Defensive Parry DS (stance modifier .94):

((80 + 6 + 7) × .94) + (25 × .94) + 30 (DEF polearm bonus) + 50 (stance/2 bonus)

(93 × .94) + (25 × .94) + 30 + 50 = 190 DS

Additional Notes

Holding an item in the off hand incurs a severe parry DS penalty with two-hand grip polearms. The amount of DS retained is 1/2 the one hand polearm DS. This includes half of the one hand pole enchant DS bonus. You also lose the entire two-hand polearm bonus. You still receive the full stance/2 bonus. The parry DS formula for two-hand polearms with an item in the off hand is:

Example with item in off hand:

Weapon ranks 80, STR bonus 24, DEX bonus 28, weapon enchant bonus 25, stance modifier 0.7

Defensive stance DS:

((80 + 6 + 7 + 25) * .35) + 50 = 91

This character's defensive stance parry DS dropped from 190 to 91 by holding an item in the off-hand.

Ranged attacks (Thrown Weapons, arrows/bolts and bolt spells) bypass all polearm parry DS including the stance/2 bonus.

Weapon Damage Type Ratios

This table contains the polearm weapon critical damage type percentages for successful attacks (based on player research). As an example, the jeddart-axe will result in 54.5% crush critical damage and 45.5% slash critical damage for all attacks, or a crush to slash damage ratio of 6 to 5. The jeddart-axe does not do puncture critical damage.

Weapon	Slash %	Crush %	Puncture%
Pilum	?	0	?
Spear	?	0	?
Trident	?	0	?
Halberd	?	?	?
Naginata	?	?	?
Jeddart-axe	45.5	54.5	?
Hammer of Kai	0	?	?
Awl-pike	0	?	?
Lance	0	33%	67%

Related Articles

• Polearm guide
• Forging
• Damage factor
• Material

Resources

• http://www.play.net/gs4/info/armory/polearms.asp
• http://www.play.net/gs4/info/skills.asp
• http://www.gs4sorcerer.com