Bear skill/weapon thoughts need advice

[DaSphinx]

Ok so im a fairly new PL player. Got a bear lvl 24 now.

Skills Question
After reading a bit here on the forums that people say to not have all 3 Slash skills. I ask why?
I'm not trying to build just a pure tanker bear. I want to actually kill some monsters quickly. And I can spam all 3 slashes in a row which don't miss and stomp on top of that. rather than waiting for my weapon to swing normally.

Seems like i'm lowering my possible DPS without it. The knockback on the skills does not hit them far enough away from me that it seems to matter. It's not like Stomp where they're blown away. I don't see it becoming a problem in a group, but then again i'm still only lvl 24.

Weapon questions - Is there a reason to use a 1 handed sword at all ever? Their max damage is like half of what axes or board and nails have.

I found a couple Conqueror's Board and Nails pink and I have yet to see anything come close to it. 113 or so DPS it gives me. feel like im going to have this till im 40 or so.

is DPS the most important attribute to look for? or should max damage also be considered despite a lower dps?

Thanks guys!

[CelticStyle]

Imo, tankers need hp regeneration, and defense the most. Mana regeneration can be really useful too because if you have 7+ mana regen, u can spam your attacks endlessly without having to use manapots. Tankers use one hand cause the shield adds more bonuses. 2hand weapons is used for when u drop your tank and go as support by increasing your damage by almost two times. when during pvp, I use gurgox hammers to fight warrior and shield with sword for rest jobs.
My skill build maxed out everything except level 2evade level1 taunt and level1beckon. I screwed up cause beckon is suppose to be maxed. So I thing basically IMO, Max out everything except level1evade and taunt and vengeful slash.

[CelticStyle]

And besides. My 1hand wep does pretty much as my 2h wep due to shield bonuses.

[CelticStyle]

If you are really into tanking, check out the warrior's section. There's a really good tank guide.

[Baked-Potato]

Click the link in my sig if you want to read a good guide about Bears. It should answer your questions. Its only about tanking though because that is what the Bear is meant to be.

[Royce]

If you want to be a damage bear, go ahead and max all three slashes. I don't think it's optimal for a tank, but if you want max damage, that's fine (I assume you are going Str/Dex to raise hit% or on average you will only land 2/3 slashes ). There is no point at all to 1-handed swords, except at level 50 where the scimitar (a fairly poor weapon on it's own) completes a set with a nice set bonus. In fact if you're trying to max damage, may as well go 2-hand sword or hammer. The Board and Nail is pretty OP for its level, but if you can upgrade to an iceberg frost hatchet at 30 (or frozen longsword or titanic hammer if you decide to go 2-hand), then that's a good move. At 35 go to trident/pitchfork (breaks armor) if you're going the 1-hander route. DPS is overrated since it does not take target armor into account, and damage tends to be a more significant stat, especially as you get to higher levels.

[FluffNStuff]

At 50 you need all three slash skills, but there is no reason to max them all. You get good damage add from certain weapons and just having a point or two in the skill gives you that damage. Just make sure Super Mega Slash is at least 2 for the 10 point armor reduction. Another thing to consider is that mention your weapon swinging normally. When you are spamming skills, you will not see the weapon swing, but you are still doing attacking with it at the normal rate, it is just the animation that is missing. Also, best weapons for skill spamming:
Level 0-30: Two hand sword of that level or peppermint hammer if you are lucky to have bought the plat item.
Level 30-35: Iceberg Hammer
Level 35-50: Bastard Sword of Legend
Level 50+: Gurgox Hammer of the Rift