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So i got all excited about using an awesome miniature as the basis of a character for starfinder, but his 2 swords wont work (in any believable/satisfying way) with multi-weapon fighting. I have another miniature i'm basing a character around who has 2 pistols, who i'm going to be using MWF with, but; i really want to try and squeeze as much usefulness as possible out of the fact that i'm holding 2 weapons both in order to optimize my 2 pistol dude and to see if there's any way to build a 2 sword character who actually has some appreciable benefits to dishing out the creds for 2 weapons.
So far i've got the following as pluses:
- having 2 different damage types allows you to swap between them without having to draw/sheathe
- double the ammo (including melee, as some have charges) and have an immediate backup if you're disarmed
what other advantages can people think of?
thanks! :)
You can make a good two knife character if you go melee operative. They get the ability to make a lot more attacks with a full attack action, so if you make an Operative with decent strength and take multi weapon fighting and weapon focus, you can do pretty good.
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Yeah, Operatives can make good use of paired batons, knives, or pistols via Multiweapon Fighting. Maybe not quite optimal, but handy.
For the two swords...yeah, it's pretty much just the stuff you list. It's not really a mechanically advantageous thing to do in Starfinder. Not with two of the same weapon anyway.
A, say, sword and taclash character can be awesome, using the sword for attacks and buying the Feats to be good at trip and disarm and using the taclash for those.
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Actual multi weapon fighting is rough. BUT. there are a few cases where holding two weapons at once (though not attacking with them the same round) is useful. Say, if one weapon is unwieldy, you can hold a different weapon in your other hand for AoO. Or one melee weapon uses charges, and the other doesn't. Use the analog (and typically less damaging) weapon for mobs. Use your powered weapon (that you eventually need to reload) for powerful opponents, or desperate moments.
Same for pistols. Plasma pistol in one hand for lined up shots. A single target pistol for otherwise.
Or, one of, say, electric damage, the other, slashing or piercing. That way, if you run into DR, you don't need to draw a different weapon... you already have it in hand.
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For an operative use your operative weapon for normal attacks and then an advanced melee weapon (feat or multi-class for proficiency) for AoO.
MDC
This is generally a pretty bad idea, actually. Unless you invest immensely heavily in Str anyway.
-2 to hit for +2 damage at 1st level is a really bad trade, so this gets started slow-to-nonexistent. In fact, the -2 to hit for +14 damage at 12th level is finally just barely worth it (making average damage go from 10.5 to 14, assuming Weapon Focus in both). The -2 to hit for +55 damage we're talking at 20th level is actually quite good (+23 DPR on AoO).
But this whole thing assumes an extra level appropriate weapon and three Feats spent purely on this trick, plus a rather heavy stat investment in Str (14 to start, leveled up every time, your second best upgrade).
It also presumed the GM is going to be consistently provoking AoOs for no apparent reason, which is dubious at best. It's a bafflingly heavy investment reliant on a GM taking pity on a bad character build by running enemies as idiots.
Critical effects can be something to look into. While its not going to happen all the time it can be a strong combo.
When full attacking in later levels you can make a lot of attacks increasing the likelihood of crits.
The combo I kind of like is knock down and staggering. Staggered while prone makes it so all they can do is stand up, or stay down and try to attack from the ground.
It will rarely happen in tandem, but looking for things with strong critical hit effects can be helpful when consistently full attacking.
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Seems like the old swashbuckling sword and pistol is pretty useful. That way if you get engaged in melee you can reply in kind without invoking any AoO and then shoot when they are not in melee range which gives you options.
As others have said melee and taclash is useful as well so you can do some combat maneuvers easier and I believe it has some reach so you are less screwed if a target is just out of melee range for some reason.