The most underrated fantasy/medieval weapon...

[AkalE]

Honesty I want to see sickles and pitchforks. Maybe a butcher's knife and just sharp cutlery.

 

[CL]

Diseases.

I remember reading a Dragonlance story about one heroic soldier that had pushed himself towards spreading a sickness he carried into the heart of the invading enemy army. I no longer recall how he managed it, but what he had done was wiped out enough of their force to end this invasion. Other than that one story, I don't believe I've seen many novels with characters using biological warfare like that. I don't believe "War of the Worlds" would count here because, technically, no mentioned character had intentionally used this against the Martians; it was a fluke victory by default.

 

[ChubbyLiv]

Pikes?

 

[Assurbanipal_II]

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.

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.

 

[Watchman]

under Rated fantasy weapon? I’d say armor cause you‘d think of it as something to protect yourself with instead of a weapon

 

[Deleted member 29316]

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.

Oh...that makes sense.

Well, in any case, my MC's fighting with a matchlock and bayonet, which is close to a spear/pike.

 

[OneSixSeven]

I'd say a fantasy version of this 'attachment'. Someone has to feature it -insert that guy's laugh-

 

[Lys]

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.

 

[Stratothrax]

A Warpick. (As in a sharp pickaxe.)

 

[Jemini]

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 just didn't read close enough.

Anyway, trebuchets were in Lord of the Rings. They were also in Age of Empires, and I think I've seen them pop up about as frequently as cannons in written works. The main reason trebuchets don't come up much is because siege weapons in general don't have an opportunity to show up much. But, when there are siege weapons, trebuchets are not entirely uncommon at all.

 

[SailusGebel]

The most underrated weapon is a shield. Well, technically it's more of an armor than a weapon, but it can be used in the offense. And it can be crazy good in the offense as well. If we aren't talking about power fantasy where anyone can slash anyone apart, but more reasonable ones, it's probably the one that gets the least attention. All while being very influential, see the roman empire. Personally, I've never read a novel where shields were used as they intended, no matter what kind of shield it was. They've never used to actually bash people, or hide your movement from the eyes of the opponent, hell they aren't even used to throw it to distract the opponent. A large tower shield or a small buckler. Or that abomination that combined and fused a small shield with a knight glove and had some spikes attached as well. It's always used more as an accessory or used by a cannon fodder. It's such a waste because, in combination with a shield, every weapon starts to shine in a new light.
And if we are talking about an actual weapon. Flamberg was banned by a pope at some time because it was that nasty. This can be a misconception, but the fact that these rumors even exist kind of proves the point of how harmful it was. If I remember it correctly the only other weapon that was once banned was a crossbow. But once again, I may be wrong. Still, no one uses it. I know that flamberg is a two-handed sword and swords are popular, but the thing that made flamberg special is the wounds that it inflicted. The wounds that would soon start rot and so on.

 

[xluferx]

The REAL warhammer, all those fancy armor would be worthless against the mighty hammer

 

[BenJepheneT]

Bow.

I'm surprised that there's not many characters depicted using bows both as ranged and melee weapon

This man is the only evidence alive that shows just how versatile archery can be.

 

[Discount_Blade]

A Warpick. (As in a sharp pickaxe.)

Dude warpick is a good one.

 

[Ophious]

A mace, have yet to see a protag fight using it. I've seen many side characters use it but never the main character

 

[Jemini]

'-'
Slingshot, flail, bo, sai, kunai(?), hammer, and club.

X

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.)

 

[Nahrenne]

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.)

I meant sling because I knew about DvG.
Sorry that I used the wrong word.

X

 

[Discount_Blade]

Kind surprised everyone ignored my Greatsword one. I thought that would garner some responses but alas I failed. V.V

 

[Discount_Blade]

Oh, Warscythe and a Falx. I don't think I've ever seen a Falx mentioned.

The Falx was specifically used by the Thracians and later on the Dacians. It didn't really grow famous until the Roman Emperor's Domitian and Trajan's Dacian Wars in which they and the Roman Legions faced large tribal armies armed with these things.

 

[NotaNuffian]

...hmm, so far I have seen some good recommendations like Non-sword related (swords are popular because versatility, easy to make and pick up by anyone) and long range weapons like bows and slingshots.

First to note with bows and slings though, they cannot puncture plate armor, dent it perhaps or maybe puncture after repeatedly hitting the same spot. But all in all, the ranged weapons shine when mass fired, because RNG is a thing and when you throw that much shit at your enemies, some shots are bound to hit.

Kind of why we have guns though.

Ps. For puncturing, either you use something heavy enough or throw it fast enough, it will pierce, iirc a CN novel once had a MC use a bow bigger than himself that can fire arrows at mach one. The arrows did not just impaled his foes in the field, it turned them to mush. Abit like taking anti-material rounds to your face.

I was going for sling, bola and pocket sand (biased because my MC is using them), you know, for range and melee (a weight attached by string = makeshift flair), bola for tripping and pocket sand for IN YOUR FACE attack.