Two-handed mace
This page answers two questions for the two-handed mace: which piece drives which stat, and which recipe gives the best result for each goal once you have unlocked pieces up to a given tier. The formulas were read out of the game's own code: they were recovered from v1.4.6 and compared method by method against v1.4.8, where none of the compared methods changed (some could only be compared by their headers; Value and price has the details). With NavalDLC active no result beats the base game, so there are no rows labelled "NavalDLC" here. How smithing works in general is in the Crafting guide; the usage, grip and blade ranges in full are in Weapon templates.
Usage and damage
The two-handed mace has three slots, pommel, handle and blade; there is no guard. It has a single usage, Two-handed mace, with the two-handed grip: 10 blades, the same with or without NavalDLC.
Pieces from the bottom up: Pommel, Handle, Blade.
| Usage | Grip | Blades in the base game | Blades with NavalDLC | Swing damage factor | Thrust damage factor | Stack size |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Two-handed mace | Two-handed | 10 | 10 | 1.053 to 2.25 | - | - |
Damage factor and stack size ranges cover every blade, NavalDLC ones included.
| Usage | Swing drag per unit of reach | Tier score multiplier |
|---|---|---|
| Two-handed mace | 1.17 | 0.8 |
Example recipe:
| Slot | Piece | Tier |
|---|---|---|
| Blade | mace_head_32 | 4 |
| Handle | mace_handle_19 | 2 |
| Pommel | aserai_noble_pommel_1 | 4 |
| Usage | Handling | Swing speed | Swing damage | Weight | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Two-handed mace | 71 | 80 | 83 blunt | 2.07 | 102 |
| Result | Amount |
|---|---|
| Tier score from the stats | 5.6847 |
| Tier score from the pieces | 3.5997 |
| Tier score | 4.8507 |
| Rounded tier | 5 |
| Value | 12,170 |
| Sell price with Trade 86, no market data | 3,088 |
| Smithing difficulty | 167 |
| Tier score factor for blunt damage | 1.45 |
Swing damage = swing strength × the blade's swing damage factor
- Swing strength: grows with the weight and with the square of the swing speed.
- Swing damage factor: a number on the blade, from 1.053 to 2.25.
The blades have no thrust, so the two-handed mace only swings. Blunt damage counts 1.45 times as much as cut for the tier score, while a two-handed-only usage counts 0.8. The example recipe deals 83 blunt swing damage and is worth 12,170.
Which piece drives which stat
- Blade: sets the swing damage factor and the damage type. It also counts most for difficulty.
- Handle: adds weight and length. The blade sits on top of it, so a longer handle means a longer mace.
- Pommel: adds weight but no length. The game counts it as if it sat past the blade tip when it works out handling, so a heavy pommel costs far more handling and swing speed than its real position would. Its appearance sets the value multiplier.
- Weight: all pieces added up. More weight means more swing strength, so more damage, but usually less speed and handling.
Loading pieces…
Best results from tier 1 to tier 5
- Swing damage: 39 with tier-1 pieces, 79 at tiers 2 and 3, 86 from tier 4.
- Swing speed: 79 at tier 1, 101 at tiers 2 and 3, 102 from tier 4.
- Handling: 71 at tier 1, 86 at tiers 2 and 3, 89 from tier 4.
- Length: 100 at tier 1, 124 at tiers 2 to 4, 151 at tier 5.
- Weight (lightest): 2.2 kg at tier 1, 1.09 kg at tier 2, 1.07 kg at tier 3, 1.05 kg from tier 4.
- Value: 205 at tier 1, 3,075 at tier 2, 7,355 at tier 3, 25,101 at tier 4, 44,277 at tier 5.
Best recipes by highest piece tier
Each row is the best recipe for one goal using only pieces at or below that tier. The highest piece tier is the highest tier among the pieces you have unlocked for the two-handed mace.
Line charts of the best two-handed mace result for each goal against the highest piece tier, 1 to 5, every piece at scale 100. Two-handed mace usage. Swing damage: tier 1 39, tier 2 79, tier 3 79, tier 4 86, tier 5 86; Swing speed: tier 1 79, tier 2 101, tier 3 101, tier 4 102, tier 5 102; Handling: tier 1 71, tier 2 86, tier 3 86, tier 4 89, tier 5 89; Length: tier 1 100, tier 2 124, tier 3 124, tier 4 124, tier 5 151; Weight (lightest): tier 1 2.2 kg, tier 2 1.09 kg, tier 3 1.07 kg, tier 4 1.05 kg, tier 5 1.05 kg; Value: tier 1 205, tier 2 3,075, tier 3 7,355, tier 4 25,101, tier 5 44,277. With NavalDLC, results are better in 0 of 30 goal and tier pairs.
Two-handed mace usage
| Goal | Highest piece tier | Pieces from | Blade | Handle | Pommel | Stat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Swing damage | 1 | Base game | mace_head_24 | spear_handle_1 | aserai_pommel_2 | 39 |
| Swing damage | 2 | Base game | mace_head_36 | spear_handle_1 | aserai_pommel_2 | 79 |
| Swing damage | 3 | Base game | mace_head_36 | spear_handle_1 | aserai_pommel_2 | 79 |
| Swing damage | 4 | Base game | mace_head_32 | spear_handle_1 | aserai_pommel_1 | 86 |
| Swing damage | 5 | Base game | mace_head_32 | spear_handle_1 | aserai_pommel_1 | 86 |
| Swing speed | 1 | Base game | mace_head_24 | spear_handle_1 | default_polearm_pommel | 79 |
| Swing speed | 2 | Base game | mace_head_35 | mace_handle_19 | default_polearm_pommel | 101 |
| Swing speed | 3 | Base game | mace_head_35 | mace_handle_19 | default_polearm_pommel | 101 |
| Swing speed | 4 | Base game | mace_head_35 | mace_handle_26 | cleaver_pommel_4 | 102 |
| Swing speed | 5 | Base game | mace_head_35 | mace_handle_26 | cleaver_pommel_4 | 102 |
| Handling | 1 | Base game | mace_head_24 | spear_handle_1 | default_polearm_pommel | 71 |
| Handling | 2 | Base game | mace_head_35 | mace_handle_19 | default_polearm_pommel | 86 |
| Handling | 3 | Base game | mace_head_35 | mace_handle_19 | default_polearm_pommel | 86 |
| Handling | 4 | Base game | mace_head_35 | mace_handle_26 | default_polearm_pommel | 89 |
| Handling | 5 | Base game | mace_head_35 | mace_handle_26 | default_polearm_pommel | 89 |
| Length | 1 | Base game | mace_head_24 | spear_handle_1 | aserai_pommel_2 | 100 |
| Length | 2 | Base game | mace_head_36 | spear_handle_1 | aserai_pommel_1 | 124 |
| Length | 3 | Base game | mace_head_36 | spear_handle_1 | aserai_pommel_1 | 124 |
| Length | 4 | Base game | mace_head_36 | spear_handle_1 | aserai_pommel_1 | 124 |
| Length | 5 | Base game | mace_head_36 | axe_craft_1_handle | aserai_noble_pommel_1 | 151 |
| Weight (lightest) | 1 | Base game | mace_head_24 | spear_handle_1 | default_polearm_pommel | 2.2 |
| Weight (lightest) | 2 | Base game | mace_head_35 | mace_handle_19 | default_polearm_pommel | 1.09 |
| Weight (lightest) | 3 | Base game | mace_head_35 | mace_handle_18 | default_polearm_pommel | 1.07 |
| Weight (lightest) | 4 | Base game | mace_head_35 | mace_handle_26 | default_polearm_pommel | 1.05 |
| Weight (lightest) | 5 | Base game | mace_head_35 | mace_handle_26 | default_polearm_pommel | 1.05 |
| Value | 1 | Base game | mace_head_24 | spear_handle_1 | default_polearm_pommel | 205 |
| Value | 2 | Base game | mace_head_36 | mace_handle_19 | spear_pommel_2 | 3,075 |
| Value | 3 | Base game | mace_head_39 | mace_handle_18 | spear_pommel_3 | 7,355 |
| Value | 4 | Base game | mace_head_34 | mace_handle_20 | spear_pommel_10 | 25,101 |
| Value | 5 | Base game | mace_head_34 | axe_craft_1_handle | spear_pommel_9 | 44,277 |
All pieces at scale 100. Weight in kg.
Every recipe here has every piece at scale 100, the piece's default size. The scale slider changes weight and length, and with them the other stats; how it works is in Scaling a piece. What the solver research found about scale is in Getting the best weapon from your pieces.
Worked example. With tier-2 pieces your best swing damage is 79, with blade mace_head_36, handle spear_handle_1 and pommel aserai_pommel_2. Tier-3 pieces do not improve it; with tier-4 pieces mace_head_32 and aserai_pommel_1 on the same handle give 86.
Practical tips
- Tier 2 is the big step. Best swing damage more than doubles, from 39 to 79, and best swing speed goes from 79 to 101.
- Tier 3 adds little. Only the lightest weight and the value improve; damage, speed, handling and length stay as at tier 2.
- spear_handle_1 for damage. It is the handle in every best swing-damage recipe.
- mace_head_35 for speed. From tier 2 it is the blade in every best swing speed, handling and lightest-weight recipe.
- NavalDLC changes nothing here. It adds no blades for the two-handed mace and no better recipe for any goal.