Should I Dual Wield Excalibur in AC Valhalla? An In-Depth Analysis

As a passionate gamer and content creator specializing in Assassin‘s Creed Valhalla, one of the most common questions I get asked is: Should I dual wield Excalibur?

And it‘s easy to see why.

Excalibur is hands down the most powerful weapon in AC Valhalla. The legendary sword, once pulled from the stone by King Arthur himself, stands in a league of its own when it comes to damage, abilities, and even the quest line to obtain it.

So dual wielding a weapon this strong seems like an obvious win. But as with everything in game design, there are some tradeoffs.

In this guide, we‘ll analyse the pros and cons, best combos, impact on builds, and long term viability of dual wielding Excalibur in Assassin‘s Creed Valhalla.

Pros of Dual Wielding Excalibur

Let‘s break down why opting for a dual Excalibur setup can prove extremely powerful:

1. Insane Damage Output

Excalibur isn‘t called the strongest weapon for no reason. The greatsword has some crazy high damage stats:

Excalibur Stats:

In fact according to Ubisoft, no other weapon even comes close it terms of its damage per hit capabilities.

This allows you to shred through enemies‘ health bars with just a couple of hits. Dual wielding means doubling down on this already high DPS.

2. Area of Effect Abilities

Excalibur passively applies Archified Curse to enemies on every other hit. This curse explodes after 5 seconds to damage nearby enemies.

Even better, heavy finisher and critical hits will blind surrounding enemies temporarily. This combo of AoE damage + blindness makes Excalibur uniquely powerful against groups.

3. High Stun Capability

With its 95 stun rating, Excalibur is perfect for stun locking enemies. Repeatedly landing hits will keep interrupting enemy attacks allowing you to go on the offensive.

Dual swords provide increased attack speed to trigger stuns rapidly.

4. Potential for Extreme Critical Chance Builds

Excalibur gets bonus critical chance after each consecutive hit. Combined with skills like Critical Blow this allows some ridiculous crit focused builds.

For example, popular YouTuber Leo K shared a 100% critical hit chance build using dual Excalibur. This takes advantage of Excalibur‘s innate crit chance growth mechanic.

Cons of Dual Excalibur

Of course going all in on a double Excalibur does have some disadvantages compared to a more balanced weapon + shield combo:

1. Loss of Defense Without Shield

Dual wielding axes the option to use a shield for protection. Especially early game when gear is weaker, losing that damage reduction and resistance can prove costly.

Dodging and parrying become more important to avoid getting mobbed by enemies. Stamina management also becomes trickier.

2. Requires Heavy Skill Investment

To fully optimize dual Excalibure, you likely need to divert a major chunk of your skill points into the Dual Wield tree:

Skills like Double Falx Throw, Spinning Reaper etc. are almost mandatory to boost DPS. Often compromising other playstyles in the process.

3. Not Effective Against All Enemies

The Excaliblast explosion from Archified Curse is useless against boss enemies who are often large single targets. Similarly, blindness effects also don‘t work on them.

So in select boss or animal encounters, Excalibur loses some of its advantages.

What Is The Best Weapon To Pair With Excalibur?

While double Excalibur seems interesting, most players prefer pairing it with a faster more balanced weapon. This covers some of its weaknesses against speedy enemies.

Based on extensive community feedback, here are the top 3 contenders:

1. Sepulcher Axe

This Norse themed Dane Axe offers raw damage almost comparable to Excalibur. It also generates Health on Hit to offset the lack of defense.

With the Sepulcher in one hand and Excalibur in other, you get the perfect balance of damage, defense and control.

2. Carolingian Sword

For those who prefer swords over axes, the Carolingian blade‘s speed and versatility make it an excellent pairing for Excalibur.

It lacks raw damage but makes up with Bleed on Hit and bonuses to speed after each hit. Use Excalibur for devastating strikes and the Carolingian Sword to build up combos.

3. Scimitar

Prioritising attack speed? Then go with double scimitar first to build up the hit multiplier bonus. Once maxed out, switch to Excalibur for massive critical damage.

Scimitar‘s Bleed on Hit stacks nicely with Excalibur‘s explosion curse for some quick takedowns.

Impact on Builds & Game Progression

Obtaining the Excalibur is no easy feat, available only towards the very end of the main story (Power Level 280+ recommended). So most players will already have a set build and playstyle by then.

Dual wielding Excalibur drastically shakes up many staple ability combinations and tactics used until that point in the game.

For example, popular ranged damage builds get overshadowed by the sheer melee DPS of double Excalibur. Many players respec their skill trees to optimize around critical hits, stuns etc. Defensive shields get replaced by high risk high reward dual wield combos.

However, Excalibur‘s long quest line means investing 30+ hours before getting access to it. So most gamers should already have a familiarity with various weapons and builds helping ease this transition.

Future Proofing For DLCs & Updates

Will the Excalibur remain top dog even after future DLCs and updates? History gives us some indication:

Ubisoft has a track record of not nerfing or overshadowing paid DLC gear too much. For example, post release content weapons in Origins and Odyssey remained competitive options.

However, community feedback does influence balancing efforts. For example in Valhalla Patch 1.4.0, bearded axes were intentionally buffed based on player comments.

So while the Excalibur will likely remain a top pick even after new gear gets added, some tuning of its abilities can be expected if it proves too overpowered.

Overall, the exceptional Excalibur should continue dominating the weapon charts in any foreseeable content updates or meta shifts.

After this extensive evaluation across damage, abilities, builds, and future proofing, my verdict is clear – dual wielding Excalibur in AC Valhalla is an extremely powerful setup every Eivor should try.

The raw DPS output combined with crowd control strengths make it unmatched in melee combat. Tradeoffs like lack of defense and specialized builds are manageable downsides once you learn to leverage Excalibur‘s full potential.

Combining it with a faster Dane Axe or sword covers any weaknesses in bestimm matchups Although even double Excalibur is viable if you wish to mainline damage numbers.

So while acquiring Excalibur requires investing serious hours, its benefits make the eventual payoff worth it for most melee combat fans. Especially those who enjoy mixing up builds and min-maxing ability combos.

Sure, ranged and defensive builds also have their place in late game Valhalla. But for sheer brutal results, dual Excalibur stands tall as the ultimate weapon combo!

Let me know what exotic weapon combos have you enjoyed taking into end game battles! I‘m always eager to theorycraft and test out experimental loadouts.