Polearms
The usefulness of polearms are somewhat hard to describe; they are basically powerful enough, albeit somewhat inaccurate, and two of the named weapons (Vermis and Mjolak) are in this category.
However, almost always both of your hands (or a hand of extreme strength) are required to wield them, severly limiting your choice of equipment. And handles of polearms are heavier than ones of any other weapons, which means scrolls of harden/change material is less effective than using them on most other weapons.
There are 3 sorts of weapons in the 'polearms' category; the spear, the scythe, and the halberd.
Although the quarterstaff is could be viewed as a polearm, in IVAN it is actually classed as a blunt weapon.
Types of Polearms
Spear
Spears are a fairly common weapon, and likely one of the first you will encounter as they are employed heavily by kobolds. Spears are generated with a wide variety of materials.
Spears are only able to deliver piercing damage, and have a larger size than most weapons, leading to a higher strength requirement but also a larger block modifier.
Their block modifier is severely limited however by their low roundness (only 10).
Their strength modifier is the second lowest of all two-handed weapons, making them quite fragile.
Spears have a low primary material density, meaning changing the material of a spear will not make it significantly heavier. However, they instead have a very large secondary material density (2500!) leading to them being heavier than standard weapons with no way to alleviate this. Spears feature a shaft made of pine wood.
Spears are attached to the god Cruentus.
PROS:
- Common
- Accurate for a two-handed weapon
- Light for a two-handed weapon
- Great beginner's polearm with low ASTR requirement
- Polearm skill carries to halberds and scythes
- Decent block modifier
- Lower ASTR requirement allows it to be dual wielded early
- Vermis
CONS:
- Fragile
- Occupies both hands by default
- Pales in comparison to halberds and even scythes
- Below average damage for a two-handed weapon
Scythe
Scythes are very similar to spears in all but appearance and damage type. Scythes slash and are slightly bigger in size and heavier than spears. However they are significantly more rare.
Like spears they have a small primary material density, but huge secondary material density (1800). Scythes feature a shaft made of fir wood and spawn with a very limited number of primary materials. A combination of a heavier shaft material and larger primary material density makes scythes slightly heavier than the average spear.
Scythes have the smallest strength modifier of all two-handed weapons, and thus are incredibly fragile regardless of primary material.
Despite the scythe's slightly larger size, it still features a roundness of 10 which severely limits its blocking potential while the additional size further raises its ASTR requirement.
Scythes feature an additional damage bonus against plants, and are attached to the god Mortifer.
PROS:
- Accurate for a two-handed weapon
- Light for a two-handed weapon
- Low ASTR requirement
- Higher damage than spears
- Bonus damage to plant enemies
- Polearm skill carries to halberds
- Decent block modifier
CONS:
- Rare and not worthy of rarity
- Very fragile - blocking with it will break it quickly
- Occupies both hands by default
- Below average damage for a two-handed weapon
- No artifact weapon
Halberd
Halberds are by far the best polearm weapon in the game, though initially impractical for new players due to their high strength requirement. As such it is recommended that a player intending to use halberds train themselves up by using either a spear or scythe beforehand.
Halberds can both slash and pierce.
Halberds have a slightly smaller size than spears or scythes but make up for it by having a drastically larger main material volume. As such they are much more heavy and unwieldly than their other polearm brethren. Halberds have a shaft made of birch wood.
Unlike their siblings however, halberds have a much bigger strength modifier and form modifier which makes them both sturdy and powerful, and with double the roundness they also garner a significantly higher block modifier.
Halberds are aligned with Cruentus.
PROS:
- Second most powerful standard weapon in the game
- Highest block modifier out of all standard weapons
- Sturdier than spears and scythes
- Mjolak
CONS:
- Rare
- Inaccurate
- Heavy
- Occupies both hands by default
- Very high strength requirement largely restricts one-handed use
