1handed weapons worth using in extended endgame?

[Viashino_wizard]

I'm currently trying to complete my first 15-rune run. Right now I've got a DsFi of Mahkleb, and since I found a whip of Electrocution really early I've been training M&F and Shields, planning to upgrade to a Demon Whip once I find one. Is it viable to keep using a Demon whip in the extended endgame, or should I eventually just switch to a Great Mace?

[pratamawirya]

If your defense is good enough, I think one-hander is viable in extended endgame. I played a DsFi once who never abandoned Oka, and his +9 demon blade and large shield destroyed everything including Cerebov. But perhaps a big part of the success can be attributed to the said character's rN++ and torment resistance mutations.

[and into]

I'm currently trying to complete my first 15-rune run. Right now I've got a DsFi of Mahkleb, and since I found a whip of Electrocution really early I've been training M&F and Shields, planning to upgrade to a Demon Whip once I find one. Is it viable to keep using a Demon whip in the extended endgame, or should I eventually just switch to a Great Mace?

To answer the general question, yes, you can win 15-rune games using 1-handed weapons the whole time. But really, this isn't something you should worry about; you haven't even found a demon whip yet and you have no clue what other types of weapons you might get. You should aim to use whatever weapon is best, taking into account not only base damage, but enchantment, brand, and skill investment for your character. If that happens to be a 1-hander, then wear a buckler or (if it makes sense for your characer) a shield. If a significantly better dire flail or great mace is available by whatever point, then use that and no shield, and train M&F to sufficient levels to use it well.

Do note that shields don't protect you from a lot of the most dangerous stuff, both in 3-rune games and (doubly so) in 15-rune games. While interesting in theoretical debates over usefulness of shields, that's something you also don't need to worry about, because in almost any realistic scenario for a guy who melees a lot, it is best to wield your best weapon, and so it all just comes down to whether that happens, at any given point, to be 1-handed or 2-handed. Outside of early game that is usually a 2-hander, but not always.

[Azrael]

Is it possible? Yes.
Doesn't mean you should do it, though. Your best defense in Crawl is a ridiculous offense, and two-handed weapons give enough of a damage boost to make one-handed weapons largely noncompetitive.

[mopl]

One of the Crawl rules says that you should always develop your character regarding what you have, not what you plan to get !

If you currently have a good demon whip, use it (and if you switch to TSO for extended, a blessed scourge is a very good weapon).
Of course 2h weapons do more damage.

Is it viable to keep using a Demon whip in the extended endgame, or should I eventually just switch to a Great Mace?

To answer striclty, yes, Demon whip is viable

[ackack]

A good demon whip will kill everything in extended that actually needs killing. You would probably be advised if you stick with the dwhip to skip lots of the pan/hell lords, especially Cerebov and Antaeus. If you have lots of slaying and some extra potions of might you could try it, but without access to a sacred scourge there just aren't dwhips that are going to do tons of damage to those guys. Of course, you're probably advised to skip those guys most of the time even with a good 2h weapon.

[XuaXua]

Demon tridents and trishulas are good endgame weapons which can be used with a shield.

[siprus]

If you get crazy slaying bonuses one handed weapons usefulness is increased compared to 2h weapons. If in addition to decent slaying bonus you find a decent shield which gives resistances, I'd see one handed weapons as a decent option, if you don't find crazy good 2h weapon. If you find shield of resistance, and you haven't already enchanted your 2h weapon, I would go with 1h weapon..

[Viashino_wizard]

Well I've currently just hit level 27 with DSBe. Between 2 rings of slaying and a few artefacts, he's got about +18 in slaying bonuses. I think I'll be sticking with my Demon Whips