2H vs Dual Discussion

"

Modchristian89 wrote:

dual strike is also "ONLY" one ability and it hardly stands a chance against this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHO-Gmi83BE

Dual strike does like 70% more damage than that.

Dual Wielding gives 10% More attack speed and 15% Block chance. As others have said, it is meant to slightly more offense than 1H + Shield, but less than 2H. It has nothing to do with 'raw' attack speed, although the 10% more attack speed can be pretty powerful if you stack a lot of increased attack speed in passives or gear.

Also, if we want to make a very simple comparison, it's better to compare the best DPS you can get moreso than comparing early game items which are not necessarily meant to be equivalent in terms of level or attribute requirements.

So to compare better, let's take an unsupported single target skill. Dual Strike with unmodified dual Royal Axes gives 94-174 x 1.21 = 162 dps. Double Strike with a Vaal Axe gives you 82-137 x 1.15 x 1.4 = 175 dps. You get slightly more still with 2H, but less than 10% more DPS for losing 15% block chance. And the DW scales better with any skills or modifiers that add flat damage or attack speed, so all in all Dual Wielding is certainly competitive with 2Hers in the late game.

The benefits of 2Hers are mainly that you get the potential for two separate 5/6Ls, and it's cheaper to get one great 2H weapon than two 1Hers. The first point especially is non-trivial, since in practice you'll probably either put Melee Splash on your Dual Strike or use another skill for AoE damage and that costs a lot of DPS.