Many new players will often confuse Dual wielding and Two Handed Weapon in Path of Exile. In fact they are two different concepts. There have a guide maybe can help you.
One Handed is a keyword which applies to the use of weapons which can take up the Main Hand or the Off Hand equipment slots.
Different from one-handed is Two Handed Melee Weapon, it must take up both Main Hand and Off Hand equipment slots.
And The Dual wielding must using two one-handed weapon, either the same type or different type.
Whenever the player equips two one-handed weapons of any type, dual wielding grants the following stats:
- 10% more Attack Speed while Dual Wielding
- 15% additional Block Chance while Dual Wielding
- 20% more Attack Physical Damage while Dual Wielding
The attack speed bonus is applied multiplicatively with other attack speed modifiers. These bonuses to dual wielding can be increased via passive skills. Weapons do not have to be of the same type to receive dual wielding bonuses.
The majority of attack skills in Path of Exile will alternate between equipped weapons for attacks, swinging first with the main hand and then with the off-hand weapon. The resulting attack speed is the average of the two weapons’ attack speed, so the total time for a pair of attacks is as if each weapon attacked once.
It is possible to dual-wield wands. However, players cannot wield a wand in one hand and a melee weapon in the other.
Interaction with skills
While dual wielding, when you use an attack skill you will use the skill with your main hand then use it on the off hand, alternating with each use. Whirling Blades is a special exception, which deals damage with a random weapon on hit.
When using a weapon-specific skill while dual wielding, both weapons must be compatible with the skill in order for the skill to be usable. For example, you cannot use Reave while you have both a dagger and a sceptre equipped.
Simultaneous attacks: Cleave, Dual Strike, Riposte
