Choosing which weapons to use in Avowed is great fun. Almost all one-handed weapons can be equipped in either hand, in any combination, and your character has two loadouts that you can switch between at will—that really gives you a lot of freedom. Want to wield a shield and pistol in one slot and a wand and dagger in the other? You can!
The tricky part is figuring out which are the best weapons to use. After about four hours with a preview build of the game, during which I did a lot of switching around, I've got some good tips for combos that work in the early game, and the info you need to decide which are best for you.
And if you want some idea of the best ways to combine these weapons with abilities, check out our guide to the best builds in Avowed.
Best weapon combos
If in doubt, it's a safe bet to have one melee-focused loadout and one ranged-focused loadout. That gives you plenty of flexibility—you can open fights with a few shots, but not be at a defensive disadvantage when the enemy reaches you. A good example would be using an axe and shield with an arquebus. You'll get great damage with your gun, but not be caught out when it's reloading.
Magic can serve the same role in that kind of set-up, simply replacing the ranged weapon with a wand and grimoire. You get a bit more versatility with magic—each grimoire contains multiple spells, and you've got the wand's attacks on top. The disadvantages are that each spell has its own cooldown before it can be used again, and the cost they have in Essence. In the early game, you can find yourself burning through Essence potions fast to keep the spell-slinging up.
You can make more unusual or focused combos, however. Using a pistol with an axe or other one-handed melee weapon allows you to threaten foes at both close and mid-range. While the pistol's reloading, just keep swinging. Bear in mind you can't block with a loadout like that, however, so you'll need to get used to ducking and weaving—or equip a more defensive pairing for your other loadout, such as a shield and spear, to switch to when things get scary.
Equally a pistol and grimoire can work nicely, giving you a backup ranged option for when your Essence runs out that's more impactful than a wand. Focus on long-range spells like Chill Blades and let the pistol handle mid-range.
Two-handed melee weapons are really good fun, particularly the greatsword, especially in combination with the Parry ability from the Ranger tree. They're not as safe as using a shield or keeping enemies at range, but the huge damage of each hit can make it a lot easier to take down key targets fast. And you can always use a more defensive or ranged choice for your other loadout, for switching to when needed.
For pure chaos, I've had a blast (pun intended) with two pistols. The reload time on these is short enough that with two, you can get a pretty steady rhythm of shots by alternating between them, and it's super satisfying strafing and dodging around getting headshots all over the place like a cross between John Wick and Blackbeard. Your other loadout can be something more defensive for safety, but I actually really enjoyed just going full blackpowder with an arquebus for my second loadout. Snipe far away targets with that, barrage close up ones with your pistols, and always be moving—turns out there are few problems gunpowder can't fix.
One combination that you might expect to work that I've had no luck with at all is using two one-handed melee weapons, like a mace and a dagger. You can't block, but you also don't seem to be able to attack any faster, because you can only swing with one weapon at a time. As it stands, I can't see an advantage, beyond the minor flexibility it offers in choosing which weapon to use for each swing. It may be that later abilities unlock the potential of this traditional style of dual-wielding, but for the early game I'd recommend going for a safer approach.
Weapon types
Melee weapons
Axe: My favourite of the melee weapons, axes have a useful balance of damage and swing speed that makes them versatile and easy to use.
Mace: Slower, but with higher damage and stun. Trickier to use, but combo well with a shield, which opens up safe opportunities to get your hits in. Add the Shield Bash ability to get even more stun on enemies and stagger them fast.
Dagger: Super fast with a high crit chance, but low damage and a short range. I haven't had much luck finding a good combo for these—the frantic attack animations feel a bit at odds with the relatively deliberate pace of Avowed's combat.
Spear: Long range and average speed makes spears a great defensive choice, especially with a shield, but I think once you get comfortable with blocking and dodging, you may find those advantages unnecessary.
Shield: Is a shield a weapon? Sort of, but you can only use it in your off-hand, so forget your dreams of dual-shielding. The easy blocking power of shields make them an amazing tool in melee combat. It's perfectly viable to not use one, but be prepared that you'll need to be sharper with your dodges and/or parries.
Greatsword: A two-handed weapon, which most importantly means you can't use it with a shield. It can still block, however, and if you grab the Parry ability you can still put up a reliable defence. Greatswords are a great, balanced option among the two-handed weapons, with a manageable swing speed and high damage. Super fun.
Great axe: Slower swing speed than the greatsword, but higher damage. I think it's a bit trade-off, at least in the early game. You really have to know when you can get a swing in and when you can't, or else need to be ready to take some hits, which isn't easy in starting armour with low health.
Great hammer: Even higher damage, but even slower, making it really unwieldy against Avowed's many small, fast enemies. The last thing you want in a Xaurip fight is a swing animation this sluggish.
Ranged weapons
Arquebus: Suffers from a long reload animation, but the damage is huge and, importantly, it fires in a perfectly straight line at any distance. That makes it easily the best sniping weapon in the game, and really easy to use.
Pistol: Shorter range than the arquebus, but one-handed and with a much shorter reload time. A great off-hand weapon to combine with melee or magic, or double them up for a faster fire rate.
Bows: The sheer power of gunpowder does make the traditional bow and arrow feel like the weaker option. It's not just about their lower damage, it's the fairly brutal drop off they have. After it's loosed, an arrow will gradually drop towards the ground, meaning you need to aim above where you want it to actually hit, depending on how far away the target is. Judging that is much harder than simply pointing and clicking with the guns, and also makes it harder to hit weak spots, further reducing your damage. The only major advantage I see in bows is that they're the best choice for stealth. Gunfire is loud—if you want to clear out a camp one patrol at a time, a bow is what you need.
Magic weapons
Grimoire: The most important weapon for any wizard. It doesn't have its own attacks, but a selection of spells (specific to each grimoire) can be cast from it. You can cast magic without one, by buying the spells as abilities instead, but even in that case they'll still be stronger if cast from a grimoire. The only downside is that they're locked to the off-hand, so you can't dual-wield books and call yourself Conan the Librarian.
Wand: These act more like ranged weapons, but firing little magical bolts instead of bullets or arrows. They pair very neatly with a grimoire, but I don't think they're actually a great option for most builds. At long range, you'll be focused on your spells, and at mid or close range, a pistol or a melee weapon will be more useful.
