found this interesting so im posting for others
Quote:
Steve "Moorgard" Danuser: Dual wield is approached entirely differently in our game as compared to EverQuest. There is no separate offhand delay; you swing equally with both hands. Nor is there a minimum damage number attached to certain weapons and not others; the basic idea is that dual-wielded and two-handed weapons of the same level and tier (quality) will have the same DPS over time. The advantage to using two weapons is that you get twice the opportunity to hit, and you may get higher stat bonuses by virtue of having two slots filled instead of one. But the days of dual wielding being vastly superior to using a two-hander are over.
There is also another type of one-handed weapon that allows the use of a shield. These weapons cannot be dual-wielded, but they do only somewhat less damage than a two-hander of the same level and tier. The advantages to using a shield are the additional stats and chance to block an attack. Not all melee classes will be able to use all types of weapons; these will vary by class and subclass.