To Those Of You With Both Mandau And Twashtar...

How often do you use each of them? Do you tend to just use one of them with some other offhand (fire thokcha?) or do you ever actually dualwield them? My impression is that it's generally non-optimal to dualwield them and, as such, getting both wouldn't be particularly advisable.

Thoughts?

not to be an ***, but

http://www.ffxiah.com/forum/topic/20245/mandau-vs-twashtar/

probably better to consult that rather than starting the 10th mandau/twash thread.

I dual wield mine. Mandau95 to the main, Twashtar90 to the offhand. If I didn't have a Twashtar90, then I would just get one because there just aren't any high dmg/low delay daggers available besides these two. Well, to correct myself, they're both medium delay daggers, but still.

There are a lot of tempting daggers found in the .dat files, especially that 150delay/+5triple attack dagger, but ultimately, I don't think anything's going to beat 99Mandau/99Twashtar, which is what I'm aiming for.

I've read that thread and it's somewhat similar, but I'm not asking for a comparison between the two daggers, which is what the majority of the topics and posts I've found cover. I'm asking about which circumstances each dagger ends up being used for on players who have both.

There are a couple of posts agreeing with the sentiment that dualwielding them is silly, but they are from May of last year and don't account for newer daggers and the latest information released about the final stage relics and empyreans.

I was hoping to hear responses like this:
"I have both and I prefer to use Mandau/Thokcha for low pdif situations but Twashtar/Coruscanti otherwise."
"I have both and I only use Twashtar on my DNC."

Hopefully that clarifies it. Thanks.

Edit: Thanks, Ihina!

STR Thokchar is better than offhanding 90 Twashtar. Try out Motenten's spreadsheet.

It's also a worst offhand than 99Twashtar.

Why should I put time and effort into the STR Thokchar when I can continue my efforts going for 99Twashtar.

You could build a STR dagger in a matter of days, and have it be better for the months it will take you to get 99 Twashtar.

Or I could finish my Twashtar99 a few days earlier.

You're right, I'm sure there is never ever a time when you are in game with nothing to do.

Sure there are.

But when I'm doing nothing, I'd rather be doing nothing.

If I felt like doing something, I would be out farming for more heavy metals, rather than be out making an ultimately useless weapon.

lol cant argue with that =)

Assuming they never change it so that you get more than 17 (20 at 99) DEX from Twashtar in your offhand, I can't fathom it being more useful than a Coruscanti or perhaps Asteria (I personally need more info on the second effect), and that is taking into account that the severe DMG mod isn't even currently working. I'm quite certain that SE intentionally gimped offhanding these weapons because of the relative bonuses that 2handers wouldn't get (in b4 relic/mythic/empyrean grips come out). Obviously they aren't bad choices to offhand, they are quite strong, but they offer nothing but unmodified DPS. If I personally had both, I would DW both, but I don't. I only have Twashtar, only plan on having Twashtar, and thus, will play to it's strengths.

On a side note, and with nothing empirical to back it up, I think most people DW Emp/Relic because it makes their *** hard.

Edit: and before it even gets asked, preliminary tests show that Mandau is a tad bit better than Twashtar at 99. Twashtar offers DNC variety. I guess that is the compromise.

I am a big stickler about number crunching and optimizing gear for everything. Moreso than most people i know by a long shot. But at a certain point, you just have to let it go. I currently have a 90 twash and planning to start a relic soon (either gun, or mandau, not sure yet). If i go for mandau, I will DW them. Even if my every quantitative and optimizing fiber tells me that (insert other dagger) is 1% better for offhand.

If you have both, wear em both. If you put THAT much work into your thf, then you have earned the right to give up 1% DPS while you beat the pants off every other thf you will (realistically) run across anyway.

If you have that much effort you have earned the right to put aside that excessive optimization (that i am a huge supporter of) and just have fun. If you wanna see a giant tornado animation today, put in Twash main. If you wanna stab with the golden TK model, then you get mandau off the bench.

TLDR: If you actually manage both daggers to 99, then have a little fun and have your cake and eat it too. Why else make a 99 cake cutter? Dont sweat the 0.5% more damage when you are that far ahead of the thf curve.

Or learn how to .dat mod lol

This is essentially what I was saying, just a little more detailed. They aren't bad weapons to dual-wield, but you're likely going to get more in terms of actual DPS out of a complimentary offhand dagger. If you have them, dual-wield them, I said I would. You can't trash on someone for wanting to know what is optimal though, as was the point of the thread, and as is a responsible practice. to each their own. Just don't be misleading intentionally.