User blog comment:AtheistUntoDeath/Which of these Champions would win? part 6/@comment-24073465-20140607202953/@comment-24946635-20140608000007

Before I get to dissenting opinions, I want to agree on Pantheon's shield, Olaf's mental toughness and unpredictability (as bonuses,) Olaf's physical strength, and the fact that Olaf's berserker rage will give him a big edge. Those are good points, and they're the things that make this fight close to even. I do hope you reconsider your stance on long-range combat after I examine it a little in-depth.

I believe that you have mixed up Greek and Roman warfare styles, given Deadliest Warrior's experts too much credit, and were a little off on Pantheon's equipment.

Javelins are deadly. As I mentioned earlier, classical Greek warriors believed that a javelin had 100% lethal potential, even punching through a full breastplate (the thin pelt has no chance.) I know that many people were put off by DW's portrayal of the javelin, but it's not a fair judgement. The Spartan experts were VERY good at most of the stuff, but they're n00bs with javelins, and they failed pretty hard because they weren't experts at using javelins (no shame, I'm not either). It's a very difficult weapon to master, but Pantheon HAS mastered it and Olaf hasn't. This helps out Pantheon a lot, since that means Olaf can't throw the javelins back at him (with lethal force and accuracy.) And if you're thinking that the javelins can't be thrown back at all, remember that Pantheon is stylistically Greek. That means that (Roman) pilum are out, javelins are in. And javelins can be thrown back.

Also, as for the fact that the battle is a duel, this helps. Pantheon would have trained to use javelins in a dueling sense, aiming at single targets. It was the Romans that came up with the idea of having heavy infantry, like hoplites or principes, throw javelins/pilum en masse.

Pantheon's weapons are bronze? No. . . in fact, Spartan spears could be iron-tipped, and Panth's classic skin clearly does not have a bronze spear-tip. I'd say that that looks like iron. And Pantheon's shield is bronze, but it's very thick and has an iron rim in the skins. As far as I can tell, only the Myrmidon skin might have a bronze-rimmed shield. A rim of soft iron was a common feature of high-end shields, since it can 'grab' your enemy's weapon and slow him down. (This wasn't a normal feature for Spartans, but it's in the skins... historical accuracy is sometimes not 100% for Riot.) In contrast, his breasplate does appear to be bronze in almost every skin where it's visible and the normal shape. (Ruthless skin is a Romand-style breast-plate and looks more like iron.) In short: ignoring the fact that Pantheon's equipment is magical, it's still definitely not just bronze.

As for throwing axes, you're dealing with a rather over-rated weapon. In-game, the axe damages you regardless of which end of the axe hits you or at what angle, but in reality, the axe will only be lethal if it hits with the blade part. Then, you say it has more range, but does it really? Olaf had better either embed the axe in Pantheon's shield (trade axe for shield.... good trade) or kill Pantheon, since after he throws it, he won't get it back. So he can't just throw it the instant he gets within range, he has to wait until he can make it really count. If he misses, Pantheon can simply take the axe and stick it in his belt. Or chop its handle in half. Who knows what exactly he'll do, but he's not giving it back. But, as I already stated, Olaf doesn't have the skill required to return fire with javelins that Pantheon chucks at him. So at long-range, Pantheon has a HUGE advantage, because Olaf gets 1 shot, 2 shots max, which dearly cost him if he misses, but Pantheon has as many shots as he has time/javelins (prob 2 or 3) which cost him almost nothing if he misses.

As a final point, hoplite-style armor was in fact reusable and was often passed down generations. Middle-age plate mail, what Westerners normally consider the epitome of armor, was NOT reusable and had to be custom, but Greek armor didn't have the kind of complex, interlocking systems that required that close of a fit. It's a minor point of historicity.

I also apologize for a wordy post.