Rules on double weapons

[UngeheuerLich]

no, light blade that does only d6 damage!

 

[eriktheguy]

Oh, well then thank goodness. I always thought that rogues benefited pretty crazily from taking double weapons. For one feat it was an increase in damage die, +1 ac, and of course a d8 offhand weapon. It was nuts.
I'm glad that Wizards had the balls to say "okay guys, we really screwed up, heres a fix'.
Now about expertise...

 

[CovertOps]

no, light blade that does only d6 damage!

To be precise, for the cost of a feat you can have a double sword (light blade) that does d6/d6, has the off-hand and defensive properties and a +3 proficiency bonus. So vs. having 2 short swords you get +1 AC. For a rogue I'd go with the Cutting Wheel instead for a feat and wield it off-hand for +1 AC, or a Parrying Dagger both of which have the defensive property and are one handed. The Parrying Dagger has the advantage that it works with the Rogue +1 to daggers in case you need to attack with it.

 

[abyssaldeath]

Don't forget that with magic double weapons both sides gain all the benefits of the enchantment. Nice 2 for one deal.

 

[Dice4Hire]

Don't forget that with magic double weapons both sides gain all the benefits of the enchantment. Nice 2 for one deal.

That is the bonus of double weapons, it is a lot easier to keep both ends at the maximum plus.Overall, I think the tradeoffs between double weapons and wielding two weapons are rather well done.

 

[MatthewJHanson]

If he is using a barbarian power* or a basic attack he does not get an extra attack. He only gets an extra attack when the power clearly says so.

...

*as far as I know, I haven't played one.

Primal power introduced a new build for two weapon barbarians.