badbeaver wrote
Dual wielding one-handed weapons is, well, kind of silly - handles on one handed weapons aren't designed to be used with two hands. Try to use a knife with both hands. And they don't generally require much strength to use, so what's the point anyway?
The point? More leverage, namely, when used when wrestling to deal more damage like break bone or to free your weapon in a bind. That's just one thought.
badbeaver wrote
Only dexterity influences attack speed. As far as I know, if you double-wield, weapons attack just as quickly as they usually would if you one-handed them.
So wouldn't duel wielding two weapons double your damage output?
You don't see people duel wield handguns, melee weapons while they're not nearly as precise as guns, they wouldn't be just twice as effective as using one weapon in two hands.
Ischaldirh wrote
My knowledge of game mechanics is a bit dated, so take this with a grain of salt. But as I recall, in game, damage and accuracy are influenced by strength. A weapon has a minimum strength required to use it, determined (primarily? exclusively?) by it's mass. For each point of strength above that minimum, you get a bonus to damage and accuracy (hence the "This weapon is difficult to use" messages - you aren't getting full benefit because you aren't strong enough). This is capped at some point (+5? not sure).
However, you can wield some (most) weapons in both hands (daggers, short swords, long swords - notable exceptions, one handed only). This means you are using the strength of BOTH arms, rather than the strength of only one arm. So, you can use the two-handed sword. But if you are strong enough to swing a two-handed sword with one hand, you don't really get any benefit by putting your other hand on it.
So, to answer the original question, yes, arm strength is doubled (or thereabouts) when using a weapon with both hands. However, beyond a certain point, more strength doesn't provide any benefit, thus rendering the point moot for smaller weapons. And when your right arm is made of steel, every weapon is small.
There's a flag in the item script for a weapon being able to be two-handed.
But that sounds about right. So you do get a bit of damage bonus if strength is higher than weapon's requirement. Though I'm sure if you had super strength, using a weapon would still help with piercing damage or range. You would just break the weapon really fast as the drawback; thus you'd want a tough weapon like a mace or a club.