When you need to completely destroy an incessant fool for daring to breathe your precious air, a Two-Handed weapon will most certainly yield you the best results. I’ve always been about wielding the biggest weapons in Dungeons & Dragons, and for BG3, that is no exception. When you swing a blade bigger than your character’s body, you want it to hurt. A lot. So, if a Two-Handed weapon is your fancy, or you’re simply new to the ruleset of Dungeons & Dragons, allow me to break down this weapon archetype for you.
What is the Two-Handed archetype in Baldur’s Gate 3?
Two-Handed is a specific trait applied to specific weapons in Baldur’s Gate 3. Compared to other traits, Two-Handed boasts the greatest variety of weapons out of them all. Weapons that have Two-Handed as a qualifier tend to utilize theStrengthability score in most cases, but there are a few that utilizeDexterityinstead to calculate the damage of successful attacks.
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All Two-Handed Weapons in Baldur’s Gate 3
BG3 classifies Two-Handed weapons as weapons that require specifically two hands. Surprising, I know. The reason is that Larian Studios does not want you to use more than one of these types of weapons at a time. As such, you may see a few unusual outliers in the following list.
Glaives
Glaives are Slashing-based (1d10) melee weapons that use the Strength ability score to calculate damage. They come with an additional trait called Extra reach that allows them to land attacks further away from their target.
Notable Glaives include theDrakethroat Glaive, which can be purchased from Roah Moonglow at Moonrise Towers (Act 2), andThe Dancing Breeze, a uniqueFinesse weapon, which can be purchased from Exxvikyap in Rivington (Act 3).
Greataxes
Greataxes are Slashing-based (1d12) melee weapons that require the Strength ability to score to wield effectively. They focus on dealing cleave damage through their skills but make fine weapons for single-target fights.
Notable Greataxes include theHellfire Greataxe, which can be found in the Sorcerous Vault of Sorcerous Sundries (Act 3), andSethan, which can be purchased by Ferg Drogher in Rivington (Act 3).
Greatswords
Greatswords are Slashing-based (2d6) melee weapons that use Strength as their primary stat for damage. Massive blades with skills that make them solid all-rounders, you’re able to never go wrong with one in any of BG3’s encounters.
Notable Greaswords include theBalduran’s Giantslayer, which can be obtained by killing and looting the dragon Ansur (Act 3), theSilver Sword of the Astral Plane, which is acquired by using the Command: Drop spell on Kith’rak Voss (Act 1), and theSword of Chaos, which is dropped bySarevok(Act 3).
Greatclubs
Greatclubs are Bludgon-based (1d8) melee weapons that utilize Strength as their main stat for dealing damage. Their only notable trait is their ability to always deal two Bludgeoning damage, even if you miss.
Unfortunately, there are no powerful Greatclubs in BG3, and I don’t recommend using or building around them, as there are many better options for every situation.
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Halberds
Halberds are Slashing-based (1d10) melee weapons that use Strength as a main stat for damage calculation. Like Glaives, they all have the Extra Reach trait attached, meaning they can land attacks from further distances than other weapons. They also have the unique skill Rush Attack, which lets them charge forward before landing an attack.
Notable Halberds include the following:
Heavy Crossbows
Heavy Crossbows are Pierce-based (1d10) ranged weapons that utilize Dexterity as their main stat. These are the strongest ranged weapons, by damage, in the entire game, and come with the Piercing Shot skill that gives you a chance to the Gaping Wounds status on a target.
Notable Heavy Crossbows include theFabricated Arbalest, which is dropped by Enver Gortash. Alternately, you can obtain it by completing the Get Gortash’s Netherstone questline in Wyrm’s Rock Fortress (Act 3). There’s also theHellfire Engine Crossbow, which is craftable in theSteel WatchFoundry (Act 3).
Light Crossbows
Light Crossbows are Pierce-based (1d8) ranged weapons that use Dexterity as their damage calculation stat. As the name suggests, they are lighter cousins of the Heavy Crossbow and contain the exact same features.
Sadly, there are no notable Light Crossbows in the game, but this isn’t a huge problem as there is no reason to ever use one when Heavy Crossbows exist.
Longbows
Longbows are Pierce-based (1d8) ranged weapons that utilize Dexterity as their primary stat for damage. Much like Greatswords, they are very well-rounded and have a few solid options.
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Mauls
Mauls are Blugeon-based (2d6) melee weapons that use Strength as their primary stat modifier for damage calculation. Like Greatclubs, they can deal damage to a target even if an attack misses completely. However, unlike Greatclubs, there are a few useful weapons in this category.
Notable Mauls includeFoebreaker, which is found in the Karsus Vault of Sorcerous Vault (Act 3), andCorsegrinder, which is dropped by Stone Lord Agents in Rivington (Act 3).
Pikes
Pikes are Pierce-based (1d10) melee weapons that use the Strength ability score to determine damage rolls, and come with the Extra Reach perk that extends the distance from which they can strike their targets. Pikes also have access to Rush Attack, which remains a useful extra skill for moving and attacking at the same time.
The only notable Pikes are theBreaching Pikestaff, which is found in the Ancient Lair of the Lower City Sewers (Act 3), andThe Impaler, which has not been found in-game, but in BG3’s item database. Once we learn where this Pike comes from, we’ll update this section.
Shortbows
Shortbows Pierce-based (1d6) ranged weapons that use Dexterity as their main ability score for damage. They function like smaller, more compact Longbows, so they are nearly identical from a functionality standpoint, with damage being the only real outlier. Fortunately, there are a few solid Shortbows in BG3.
Notable Shortbows include theDarkfire Shortbow, which is purchased from Dammon in Last Light Inn (Act 2), and theVicious Shortbow, which is purchased from Echo of Abazigal in the Murder Tribunal if you become an Unholy Assassin.
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