Newb duel wield question

[nostalgiaquest]

How does duel wield work and how does weapon speed affect it? Does it "proc" off a main hand swing or is it on its own timer? Wondering if I should get a offhand that's faster than my main or not.

[Jimjam]

I have read that the off hand has a chance to swing when the primary hand swings. In my experience this is not the case, when using a long delay primary and a fast secondary I see the secondary swing in between primary swings.

As such, I believe the off hand attacks at its own delay, with a chance to swing each time it's delay period expires.

Also, note the off hand has a chance to proc it's spell each time it's delay expires, even if duel wield fails to produce a swing. As such, many players opt to start duel wielding with a weapon that procs (at low skill duel wield produces very few swings).

[jarlerop]

Offhand has its own timer, and no damage bonus unlike mainhand. Therefore, if you have two equal ratio weapons, put the one with the lowest delay in mainhand to get more frequent hits with damagebonus (its independant of weapon damage). Basically, only ratio matters when choosing offhand weapon.

Procs happen on an average per minute basis, and its the same on all weapons regardless of their delay if i understand it right. If i recall, offhand should proc about half the times of the main hand.