I think, as has been said, they are considering axes/battleaxes as polearms since they can be categorized as pole-axes. Call it a PR twisting of the words. A way to not say "No, there are no polearms."

Uldred

I just find the omission of spears odd in a game that has Wooly Mammoths, considering that humans hunted Mammoths with...spears.

Humans in the real world. Skyrim is not the real world. But i see your point.

The Lusty Argonian maids are busy polishing them all.

In answer to the thread's title "Why aren't there Spears or Polearms in Skyrim?"
I give this answer: Spears and polearms aren't in Skyrim because Bethesda didn't implement them.
Quite an obvious answer really. Most people so far on this thread have answered a question which hasn't been asked.

"Why haven't spears or polearms been implemented into Bethesda's award winning title The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim?"

I give this answer to the above question: I don't know. I suggest you ask someone at Bethesda.


You know, if one were fighting a dragon with a long polearm, one would have to forgo the use of a shield, which means one would be burnt to a crisp when said dragon unleashes its fiery breath. But, if one were to fight with a shorter spear then one could use a shield, but then the advantages of using a spear would be reduced, a sword would be of much more use. With a sword one can both slash and stab. Much easier to use in the close quarters required to fight a dragon in melee.


Ah. So, are you one of those special people who would work for years to create a game which you would then release to the world for free? Good on you. I look forward to your first masterpiece. That is, if you haven't starved to death long before you reach the programming stage.

By the way, that interview is from Morrowind's time. Over a decade ago. Time's change. It's up to Bethesda whether they want TES series to be an rpg anymore. If you don't like it, well, you simply don't play.

what would be awesome tho it simply won't happen cause it would change the gameplay I think

nunchucks, bostaffs, ropedarts (yes I been watching some old jackie chan of late)

imagine it, your hiking down the road and someone comes at you with a set of nunchucks, commence epic battle haha


there definitely should be spears/pikes in the game, or throwing spears/knives, dont forget the old ball n chain, that would be quality in this game

I've notice alot of articles have disappeared as well, and strangely not the things that are in....

You're assuming a shield would protect you from a fiery breath? The shield wouldn't catch fire if made of wood, or get too hot to hold if made of metal?

I can see Mythbusters settting up a flamethower, putting Buster behind a shield, and seeing what would happen. One would have to believe that dodging it would be better than cowering behind a shield that is more than likely smaller than you.

Yes, I realize this is a fantasy game and certain "rules" won't apply.

Hiding behind a smaller-than-you shield to protect you from a dragon's fiery breath would be about as logical as hiding beneath the sheets from the Bogeyman.

Uldred

Hah! I wish a shield protected against dragon-breath as well as hiding beneath my sheets protected me from the bogeyman! I've hidden under my bedsheets for 21 years and counting, and no bogeyman has ever managed to harm me!

So in Skyrim, people can smith weapons using the hearts of a monster.

But aren't able to create a simple knife on a stick?

Give the modders time. It's always boobs first, followed quickly by guns.

I meant not in the real world, as in, "the devlopers say what they can and cant do" but like i said, i did see his point

At Dragonbridge, there is a NPC woodcutter who said business has never been better since the civil war started.

Firewood's needed for making and Upgrading Longbows - TruStory.

It sure is flawed. Not to mention that the chief deity in the Norse pantheon and the god of war, Odin, uses a spear. And polearms have been around from the point where hominids started using weapons to the point where firearms took over a larger portion of warfare.

When did Scandinavians ever fight Rome? There are of course many Germanic tribes who fought them, who originated in Scandinavia and Northern Germany, like the Burgundians, Goths, Vandals etc, but the Roman empire never advanced past southern Germany and only got as far as the southern Netherlands, never coming close to Scandinavia proper.

Spears are for milk drinkers.
Who needs a spear when you can wack an idiot "Bandit" around the ears with an axe!

i would have liked something like spears instead of maces. does anyone actually use maces? i planned using them one time, because i got tired of swords... now he's using axes.

***Sharpened stick. No knife required.

Except to sharpen the stick.

Guys.

In the Lore, the Imperial City has thousands of occupants.

In the game Oblivion, it doesn't because the mechanic isn't implemented.

In the Lore, the Skyrim Vampires can move through ice.

In the game, they can't because the mechanic isn't implemented.

So in the TES universe, the inhabitants of Skyrim can and do use spears.

In the game, we can't, because the mechanic isn't implemented.


^^Rektoh - I can honestly say I have never used a mace. Ever. I personally owuld have liked spears instead of the kill-cam, which I never see whenthe kill is actually worthwhile....

A Bo Staff would have been good for a mage type character.

I bet I could stab with a spear (2 meters or 2.5 meters long) twise as fast as I could with any sword. Not to mention, if given a robust spear I could parry alot esier than with a sword.

I have done alot of sparring with spears, and they are not as bulky as you might think.(Not counting pikes here) If an enemy comes up close you just put the spear in the ground and hold your hand in the other end. That will make you a solid defence if you are easy on your feet. Though you cannot attack from this stance you could easaly draw a short sword and cut them if they are trying to get inside your guard.

I realy hoped for spears in Skyrim. To engage a mamoth or giant with a sword seems wierd since you want someting that can keep them at distance and someting good at piercing if they charge.

Spears would have needed their own set of animations separate from one-handed and two-handed weapons. I think it was probably awkward to include without a lot of work which would have taken resources away from something else in the game.

I don't know if spears really fit with Skyrim. They just don't seem very Nordic. And pole-arms are really designed for army formations not for use by lone fighters.

Adding a spear or pole arm??? Who uses them? MACE'S FTW! But they should add flails and halberts.

You mean except for a very large portion of the infantry before and during the Middle Ages up until the end of the renaissance? Not that many I guess, but as said that's provided you don't count all the people who used them. Flails, however, were not used that much except for in the Hussite wars, and those were agrarian tools modified for warfare and not your stereotypical fantasy flail. And a halberd is a polearm, FYI.

Like you said, Goths were originally from Scandinavia. A Gotland still exists in Sweden, in fact.
The history of Rome itself spans a massive stretch of time, and Scandianvians hand plenty of time to be in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varangian_guard with them. (A sharp eyed reader will probably notice the spears in the illustrations on that page...)

As an interesting aside, one possible origin for the word "German" is the celtic-origin word "Gar", which means spear.

The could have cut out the slow motiion kill moves, NPC's babbling everyt time I walk by them, NPC's talking every time I just want to shop, NPC's talking in general, and used those resources to include spears, staves, halberd, and pikes.