Well, we all know that when it comes to fantasy fiction, it's usually the swords that get the front seat in the MC's arsenal. So what do you think is the most underrated fantasy/medieval weapon in literary fantasy?
I'll start with the Spear. I've seen a few fantasy protags use it as their weapon; it's usually the arms of the other characters, but not the main one.
Oh...that makes sense.I would say the contrary spear is overrated these days. Everyone says spears are underrated, not noticing that there are many now advocating the usage of spears. Seems to be a recent trend.
As for my choice, I like halberds.
I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not, but bows can't shoot a 90kg projectile over 300 meters either. Neither can catapults. The trebuchet is the superior siege weapon; though cannons were used during the late medieval period to great effect, e.g. 1453 Ottoman capture of Constantinople, cannons do actually get written into fantasy novels, while I have never seen a trebuchet.I know you're talking about bows. Bows show up quite frequently as weapons used by side characters. The question was not the most effective medieval weapon. If it was, I'd be backing you all the way on bows. However, since the question was "underrated," I gotta stick with military pick. As I said, you don't even see side characters using them.
I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not, but bows can't shoot a 90kg projectile over 300 meters either. Neither can catapults. The trebuchet is the superior siege weapon; though cannons were used during the late medieval period to great effect, e.g. 1453 Ottoman capture of Constantinople, cannons do actually get written into fantasy novels, while I have never seen a trebuchet.
This man is the only evidence alive that shows just how versatile archery can be.Bow.
I'm surprised that there's not many characters depicted using bows both as ranged and melee weapon
Dude warpick is a good one.A Warpick. (As in a sharp pickaxe.)
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Slingshot, flail, bo, sai, kunai(?), hammer, and club.
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I meant sling because I knew about DvG.Ok, so, a slingshot is a toy, not a weapon. However, you may be confusing it with a sling, which is actually an incredibly deadly weapon and definitely worth making the list of most underrated weapons.
A sling is a common farmer's weapon made from woven thatch and used primarily by shepherds to fight off wolves who are threatening their sheep. Those shepherds who regularly practice with a sling can be DEADLY accurate with the things. It was the weapon that David slew Goliath with. Some people are trying to argue Goliath probably had acromegaly and had trouble seeing and all that stuff in order to under-cut David's victory. But, no. The reason people feel the need to do that revisionist version is because they don't actually understand how deadly a sling actually is, mostly because they are confusing it with a slingshot which is a toy.
Yeah, a sling can very easily kill someone in one hit, you don't need some rare brain tumor condition in order to go down from a single hit by a sling. A sling can hurl a 1Kg rock straight at someone's head at over 60MpS. I don't care who you are and whether or not you are wearing a helmet, that WILL kill you. Plus, it has range. Primitive slinging cultures could consistently hit a target at 150 feet. They were freaking snipers with those things. That's hunting level accuracy, they could actually use those things to hunt and kill game.
I was harping on how underrated a warpick was before. Well, time to revise that. A sling is the most underrated weapon. It is so underrated that even though it appears in historical texts and the bible, and is a weapon available in D&D, it STILL gets underestimated and underrated by people. Getting underrated in the works in which it appears is the very definition of underrated, and definitely slots it a step beyond the warpick which is just not mentioned.
(video for info on just how effective the sling is as a weapon.)