Quote:Enemies like gargoyles, rhinos, spitting dogs, etc. are all animals, so in the catacombs and caves area, a sword often does more damage than what is listed.Well, right earlier mentioned Gargoyles are Demons. But they bite hard so I would choose Sword / Shieldcombo to battle them anytime - unless I would have very good axe and crappy sword.
Another advantage of using Sword and Shield is that you can get 1 more prefix and sufix than with two handed weapon. +%Rezist / +Life is good combo on shield Raito. In time you will find or buy better one so you can replace your current shield.
Ivory Sword of Briliance is really weak weapon to battle monsters. But you can use it for reading books until youll find something better. In beginning you can use almost whatever weapon without problem. Later in game there are some magic properties which help you much more than other.
Like prefixes which increases both +% To Hit and +% DMG, or just +% ToHit and suffixes increasing swing speed, or worse but still usable (in normal difficulty Single Player) + All Atributes, + Dexterity or Strenght or +% leaching (mana leeching with good amount of mana is very nice and usable no matter about difficulty. But some Speed or Haste weapon is "needed" for stunlocking Mages and fighting tough battles)