Guild Wars 2

Are there any viable power axe necro build mainly for wvw and pve (both)

Please let me know thanks.

I use Axe/Focus for PvP, never been fan of the dagger. However for PvE/WvW the axe i believe isn’t too good since enemies usually move in mobs, so wells are your main source of damage. Plus dagger hits multiple enemiies at close range, good for PvE but not WvW

I run the meta build but with axe mastery I also do a mix of beserker and knight cause I don’t like being so squishy. Axe doesn’t do as much damage as a dagger one on one but it’s better for positioning and a controlled spike damage with #2 to burn the last bit of life out of someone.

I run a 6/6/0/0/2
V/VIII/XII
VI/VIII/XII
II

I run assassins Armour with chest n leggs being knights and accessories and ring are PTV with backpiece n amulet as besk.. its not the most dps but it is suited for my needs inc fracts.
I use ofc axe/warhorn and axe/dagger mostly with focus when i know a boss will be boon heavy,

In wvw I also use axe/focus but mostly staff. Axe has great uses for recharging lifeforce (#2) and unholy feast (#3) is beast, but there doesnt seem much need to trait it. Its definately for a power build so take your pick basically.

Axe is terrible because axe 1 is terrible.

Also, you get all of your life force from axe 2, which s easily negated (you could also take Warhorn, but in order to get life force from that you need to be in melee). Offhand dagger and focus have poor life force generation. Focus is also very poor outside of PvE vulnerability generation (and vulnerability generation is worthless because everybody does it and you hitvthe cap without even trying).

Axe is basically a worse version of warrior rifle.

I played primarily axe for a long time. Using staff as an offhand, casting staff marks as a “bomb” and constantly weapon swapping, it is doable but still underpowered..

In WvW, you can take axe/dagger for a weapon swap set, using strong skills axe 3 and dagger 5. But, if you do that, you should probably take scepter instead for the stronger scepter 2 and poison on auto attack (poisoning downed players kills most of their rallied HP it’s important). Or just stick with dagger/Warhorn.

I always looked at axe as a setup weapon rather than a a primary weapon. You can spike a high amount of vuln with axe/focus during the weapon swap down time, use the channel and then dagger is usually ready again. Just rinse and repeat since the cooldowns pretty much line up perfectly.

Dictan.4186:

I always looked at axe as a setup weapon rather than a a primary weapon. You can spike a high amount of vuln with axe/focus during the weapon swap down time, use the channel and then dagger is usually ready again. Just rinse and repeat since the cooldowns pretty much line up perfectly.

Agree thats the best use for axe,

Axe + staff is going to be weaker then dagger + staff…. however I have done ok with the dagger as main axe as a setup weapon as Dictan said.

Axe is fine for MM builds, and any general tanky power build that doesn’t want staff. The AA isn’t amazing, assuming you don’t animation cancel it (you literally double its AS if you do), but the AA isn’t there to be used all the time, it is filler. Go into DS, don’t camp the Axe weapon set, and you don’t actually need to auto much.

Axe/focus or Axe/warhorn are great for group/zerg WvW gameplay. You pick axe over dagger because of the range issue. Dagger is great when you can get within melee range and have a nice 1 vs 1. But in group/zerg WvW gameplay, you aren’t going to find many 1 vs 1, and you definitely won’t find too many melee range opportunities.

People always compare dagger to axe, and it’s like no duh, dagger does better auto attack damage. If I was solo roaming on a power build, I would definitely take dagger over axe. But in group/zerg gameplay, axe is simply the better choice for the extra range, the aoe (axe 3), and small ranged burst (axe 2).

As for focus or warhorn, take focus if you want a slight dps increase and be a tad more offensive. Take warhorn for more defensive gameplay, and reliable swiftness + life force regen.

But as noted above you’ll be using staff a lot in WvW due to 1200 range aoe. So make sure you have staff as a swap.

thanks all for the replies

I never managed to find an axe build that was more effective than a dagger build. The small range increase compared to the dagger just isn’t enough to compensate. It would need the same range as a mesmer GS for example.

We arent that frontline-ish since we dont have the escapes and invuls front line classes do. Necros that get that close are locked down and die quickly soon after… Axe is almost too close …its great for a quick lifeforce recharge and the aoe is great to fire off when things are in skirmish mode and not stand-off. The dagger suffers from any kind of range setback or cripple; axe keeps on tickin’ where dagger is lucky to even score a hit.

Bottom line, nothing really matches staff in wvw (its essential part of kit that is demanded by commanders) but axe has some utility that is great.

HeadCrowned.6834:

I never managed to find an axe build that was more effective than a dagger build. The small range increase compared to the dagger just isn’t enough to compensate. It would need the same range as a mesmer GS for example.

600 range in WvW often effectively allows you to burst someone down without stepping into the red circles of death. It makes a pretty big difference. Also one of the duties for ranged is to finish downies so they don’t rally, and I find axe a pretty effective weapon for that.

Dagger is definitely superior if you’re solo roaming or expecting to do 1 v 1’s. But axe do a good job in group/zerg gameplay in WvW, along with staff. Since you have to be within 900 range to drop wells, you really aren’t that far from 600 range. But that’s a huge difference from being within melee range, where you’ll likely be stepping in some really nasty stuff.

A friend of mine runs Axe with his minion Necro in WvW. He loves popping Axe 3 and having 30 seconds worth of retaliation on him and his minions. Claims spinning Warriors and Thieves just melt.

Unfortunately beyond that, I’m not sure how his build is set up.

Short answer: no

Long answer: The axe has some niche uses, mainly with a Death Perception DS build with the 10% axe damage trait because that %damage increase applies to the Life Blast. Also Axe 2 is good at refilling your LF and deals decent spike damage. As a main tool in a build however, it is vastly subpar (the auto attack is awful) and the vulnerability it causes does not make up for your lack of dps, despite your party benefiting from it.

Axe AA is only useful to MMs to stack vulnerablity to increase brainless meatbag(minion) damage .