weapon

Force - Amount of blunt kinetic energy inflicted.
Sharpness - Amount of edged damage inflicted.
Unbalance - Amount of toppling force inflicted.

These match up directly with the defensive values of armor. You can learn all of an items stats with the lore command.

The total pain inflicted is computed by adding the force of the weapon plus your strength bonus, minus the force absorb of your foe's armor. That number is added to the sharpness of your weapon minus your foe's sharp absorb. This produces the final pain inflicted. Balance is computed similarly, but with only a single value.

A word about your strength bonus: it is capped by the force value of your current weapon. If you are
wielding a weapon which has a low force value, you will get very little benefit from strength. This is
especially applicable for berserkers, who get a large strength bonus when berserking. If your weapon
does only a medium amount of force, you will not get the full value of your berserk strength.

The quality of the weapon affects your ability to wield it at high skill levels.

If your current style does not have any attacks with the weapon you are using, you will not be able to swing at all and will simply surrender the offensive when it is your turn to swing.