Guild Wars 2

Recently started playing my necro again and am using a power roaming build with d/d.

for my off set, generally staff is always taken, why is that over axe/x? it is for kiting, utility, pierced auto attacks? if it is better, how much better is it?

Thanks!

Utility and the fact that staff is the strongest weapon in DS aside from traited Axe (of which the latter requires you to give up valuable traits)

It is also the only “power ranged” weapon we have…

in my opinion and when i take the staff over axe is when i want the fear and condi cleanse

axe has really bad rep because its our weakest weapon still (haven’t tested number) but it isnt that bad

Axe and well of suffering = huge damage from a power necro. No? And at 600 distance at that.

Laserbolt.6731:

Axe and well of suffering = huge damage from a power necro. No? And at 600 distance at that.

Agreed. Not sure why people say Axe is the weakest weapon. Axe is dominant and I take it 100% of the time over staff. Staff is for condies…I believe you are a power necro (Don’t use a condi weapon). I chuckle inside when someone tells me they are a powermancer and they are holding a staff. Brb while I go hit someone for 10k+ with Axe 2. 15k Axe2 against glass cannons and some of you tell him to use staff because you have a little more ranged reach. Lol please. Use the axe ….you won’t be disappointed.

You loose valuable traits by using Axe mastery?? LOL? You are a powermancer…you want damage…. Axe mastery also carries into DS and Lich if you had your Axe equipped before going in. That is a TON of extra damage in both those modes.

Then again, I just tested Dagger vs axe, and the dagger does kill faster, even with just the #1…and it hits 2 people as well.

GhOst.4019:

Laserbolt.6731:

Axe and well of suffering = huge damage from a power necro. No? And at 600 distance at that.

Agreed. Not sure why people say Axe is the weakest weapon. Axe is dominant and I take it 100% of the time over staff. Staff is for condies…I believe you are a power necro (Don’t use a condi weapon). I chuckle inside when someone tells me they are a powermancer and they are holding a staff. Brb while I go hit someone for 10k+ with Axe 2. 15k Axe2 against glass cannons and some of you tell him to use staff because you have a little more ranged reach. Lol please. Use the axe ….you won’t be disappointed.

You loose valuable traits by using Axe mastery?? LOL? You are a powermancer…you want damage…. Axe mastery also carries into DS and Lich if you had your Axe equipped before going in. That is a TON of extra damage in both those modes.

Axe is mathematically the weakest weapon, plus it gives little utility. Staff gives just as much damage in DS, and I’m pretty sure it doesn’t effect Lich, but I’m not positive. And you don’t need to lose chill of death for it, either, or the poison, fear, and condi transfer.

Plus that 15k you’re talking about is negated almost entirely with a dodge, or running through the necro because axe requires that positioning.

To me, anything I can do with axe I can do better with dagger or DS. There’s just no situation it excels in.

As a power necro who has been playing as a D/Wh+A/D for 1,5 year, I’ll tell you this:

Axe is totally different Power gameplay than build with a Staff.

First, it’s not as great midfighter. It’s not even the case of CC as Banshee’s Weil provides very good CC on shorter cooldown. But it hasn’t got the regen, no second condition transfer, less poison uptime and LF gain in clash combat.

Axe version is a roamer, my dear.

After long time when I tried just switching Staff for Axe and going with typical Power Necro build as “DS #1” I figured out that it just doesn’t work. And that Axe can wreck many builds 1v1, 1v2 or 2v2.

So I switched “DPS” runeset to Runes of Speed. “Wtf?!”. Yes, I feel like that 25% speed for this kind of play is totally necessary. And that extra Vitality is way more handy than extra Power or bonuses from Traveler’s.

My next step was throwing Unyielding Blast out of the window and replacing it with Near to Death, with both Weakning Shroud and Spiteful Spirit (sic!). Axe isn’t a weapon with capability of AA spam. You want to get good Unholy Feast benefits and burst with Rending Claws, then what? 6 second DS really defines the gameplay.

I could say many things about this build and weaponsets but I’ll make it short.

Dagger/X+Axe/X is great against stealthers, “evaders”, zerks and in supporting your teammates with immense pressure when you hop on called target and unleash your rotation. It’s no long-term teamfighter, it isn’t great against dedicated bunkers/celemonkeys.

If you’re looking for quick, engaging, “not typical necro-ish”, very “in your face” build when you have to play very risky and be fast with your decisions and you’re still not scared of it, feel free to PM.

GhOst.4019:

Laserbolt.6731:

Axe and well of suffering = huge damage from a power necro. No? And at 600 distance at that.

Agreed. Not sure why people say Axe is the weakest weapon. Axe is dominant and I take it 100% of the time over staff. Staff is for condies…I believe you are a power necro (Don’t use a condi weapon). I chuckle inside when someone tells me they are a powermancer and they are holding a staff. Brb while I go hit someone for 10k+ with Axe 2. 15k Axe2 against glass cannons and some of you tell him to use staff because you have a little more ranged reach. Lol please. Use the axe ….you won’t be disappointed.

You loose valuable traits by using Axe mastery?? LOL? You are a powermancer…you want damage…. Axe mastery also carries into DS and Lich if you had your Axe equipped before going in. That is a TON of extra damage in both those modes.

I am glad you are taking your liking into Axe, but you can at least show some less bias towards those who utilize staff within a power build…

I gave reasons why Staff is more commonly used than Axe – if you disagree, fine, but there is no reason to throw a tantrum and act like a kid because I am dissing your favourite weapon…

Also – Chill of Death > Axe Mastery

I have been finding that most builds are geared towards staff because you could put them into soul marks for a heavy shroud build and not losing points to chill of death. I still want to find a build that incorporates axe into power somehow… But I find I am always stuck with a staff equipped in wvw not only for range, but team support, aoe damage, and pierces.

Techyo.6732:

I have been finding that most builds are geared towards staff because you could put them into soul marks for a heavy shroud build and not losing points to chill of death. I still want to find a build that incorporates axe into power somehow… But I find I am always stuck with a staff equipped in wvw not only for range, but team support, aoe damage, and pierces.

When you go for Axe instead of Staff, you don’t ever trait into Axe Training instead of ChoD. It’s only good way to go in PvE.

Not every Power Build camps #1 DS that much. I mean, sure I do use 1-3 Life Blasts once I hop into Shroud, but it’s a filler, not the main damage source.

I never said Axe was greater than Dagger lol…Dagger 1 is far superior…Also why are you bringing PvE into this? He said he is roaming…aka WvW. So he will be in 1v1/ 1v2’s etc, where the axe is far more superior to staff. Axe2 is a face wrecker…you don’t Axe2 until his didges are used (which is fairly quickly if he wants to survive your wells and dagger AA). Also Axe2 does not require position as it tracks its target automatically. He can jump through hoops or run through you 4 times….you character will auto swivel and never loose track. You can easily use a focus for the boon strip which also gives you a 4% increase damage on #4 (that right before Axe2).

I am not ragging on staff users….but in a roaming situation…There is no way it can keep up with the Axe. You can still keep CoD if you want, for slightly less damage (which in a 1v1 will still be more than staff).

Also…you say after you Axe2, what do you do for 6 seconds? Whatever the kitten you want…DS? Switch and use dagger That Retal/ cripple to keep him in range for your dagger AA’s. Out of DS you should be 80% on dagger minimum. If you go something like Dagger —> Axe2 —>DS-—>Axe2—→Dagger…(he won’t last that long) but it is the best finisher. If the player doesn’t want to die while you are in death shroud he will use every block/ dodge he has. Pop out with an Axe2 that he can no longer do anything about and he will be dead. Fights normally don’t last over 10 seconds as a power necro…20 seconds if they got a lot of blocks or invuls.

I guess i just wish axe had a higher range, id rather keep chill for my d/d as it is a devestating combo landing them and im only stuck on the 300-900 range and staff just seeems lackluster for that job and Id have to trait axe for it and lose my d/d additions.

Axe is a minionmancer weapon and a good one at that. Dagger is a better power weapon and scepter is a better condition weapon, but the axe can do things that these can’t—like stack vulnerability for your minions/teammates. Also the cripple is better IMO. Dagger’s is clunky and scepter’s needs to be targeted. I don’t like using them much, but axe’s is smooth and is a great AOE—again teammates and minions will benefit and this keep melee types off of you.

GhOst.4019:

I am not ragging on staff users….

No, you were ridiculing them by saying you “Chuckle when you see a Powernecromancer using a staff”

This, my friend was uncalled for and childish

GhOst.4019:

but in a roaming situation…There is no way it can keep up with the Axe. You can still keep CoD if you want, for slightly less damage (which in a 1v1 will still be more than staff).

Only in your experience can Staff not keep up…
One of my favourite Necromancer who frequently roams uses Staff and is hella succesful with it As you can see here

If you feel that Axe suits your style better, so be it, but don’t make things up from your own experience…

Also, no, the damage is not comparable between Staff and Axe, so saying things in a sense of “Axe does more damage in a 1v1” is simply false… It is your own experience that makes you think that way – it is not a fact, and I can assure you that there are as many imaginary 1v1’s in which a Staff is better than an Axe…

All in all, save your breath when you try to inform people about things – Especially when the question is Why Staff is frequently taken over Axe/x and not what is better…

Mazdan.2071:

Also the cripple is better IMO. Dagger’s is clunky and scepter’s needs to be targeted.

Err what? Since when does Axe not need to be targetted? O.0

Unless you meant Unholy Feast, both the Auto-attack, as well as Ghastly Claws need a target… That is 2/3 that need it – which is the same as Scepter

I use staff d/w on all power necro builds, it’s rare for me to ever use axe. Having a fear, a transfer and a poison/chill pretty much insta cast is too nice and soulmarks is awesome. I even use s2 to force opponents movement.

Brandon, Axe does more damage 1v1 indeed, at least when playing with NtD and not camping it. I’m now talking about 1v1s against non-bunkers.

Axe is always better for bursting Thieves and Mesmers for example.

Rym.1469:

Brandon, Axe does more damage 1v1 indeed, at least when playing with NtD and not camping it. I’m now talking about 1v1s against non-bunkers.

Axe is always better for bursting Thieves and Mesmers for example.

In what respect?
I am inclined to believe the numbers on paper might show that it does, but if in practice these numbers cannot reach, then Staff very much does more damage…

I mean literally, you can stand 1200 units away from one another, and I bet you that Staff hits more

When playing competitively “Does more damage” is simply wonky… It is not as solid as in PvE because there are tons of factors that can decide whether it does or not – which is my point within this thread…

GoogleBrandon.5073:

Rym.1469:

Brandon, Axe does more damage 1v1 indeed, at least when playing with NtD and not camping it. I’m now talking about 1v1s against non-bunkers.

Axe is always better for bursting Thieves and Mesmers for example.

In what respect?
I am inclined to believe the numbers on paper might show that it does, but if in practice these numbers cannot reach, then Staff very much does more damage…

I mean literally, you can stand 1200 units away from one another, and I bet you that Staff hits more

When playing competitively “Does more damage” is simply wonky… It is not as solid as in PvE because there are tons of factors that can decide whether it does or not – which is my point within this thread…

Indeed, it will vary from playstyle to playstyle. As I’ve described above I use Axe as a part of my burst rotation. It’s roughly jumping out of DS one chain, UH and Claws, then back to Shroud or Dagger. In a period of 2-3 seconds I will get much better pressure from Axe than from Staff. I use NtD a lot, regular Power builds do not.

Of course the longer you remain in Axe weaponset, the worse and Staff has that advantage.

But based on my specific playstyle (mind me that I skipped that part, sorry), I just find Axe better for 1v1s. I also simply don’t 1v1 bunkers like Fire Field Warriors where Staff is better, my build plays very Mesmer-like and I focus on quick support and engagements.

Rym.1469:

Indeed, it will vary from playstyle to playstyle. As I’ve described above I use Axe as a part of my burst rotation. It’s roughly jumping out of DS one chain, UH and Claws, then back to Shroud or Dagger. In a period of 2-3 seconds I will get much better pressure from Axe than from Staff. I use NtD a lot, regular Power builds do not.

Of course the longer you remain in Axe weaponset, the worse and Staff has that advantage.

But based on my specific playstyle (mind me that I skipped that part, sorry), I just find Axe better for 1v1s. I also simply don’t 1v1 bunkers like Fire Field Warriors where Staff is better, my build plays very Mesmer-like and I focus on quick support and engagements.

No worries, I respect your opininion really…

I am fully aware of Axe’s capability, but the whole “Does more damage” or “is better” is in my humblest opinion so debatable…
The thing for me is that despite me trying to like Axe, I cannot utilize it… I miss the utility Staff provides, despite liking the insane burst Focus #4 followed by Axe #2 can have… Staff works better for me, and thus I “do more damage” with it…

That being said, I never said Axe was bad or does bad damage – I just stated why people prefer certain things over one another… I know a multitude of Necromancers who utilize Axe rather well…

GoogleBrandon.5073:

Rym.1469:

Indeed, it will vary from playstyle to playstyle. As I’ve described above I use Axe as a part of my burst rotation. It’s roughly jumping out of DS one chain, UH and Claws, then back to Shroud or Dagger. In a period of 2-3 seconds I will get much better pressure from Axe than from Staff. I use NtD a lot, regular Power builds do not.

Of course the longer you remain in Axe weaponset, the worse and Staff has that advantage.

But based on my specific playstyle (mind me that I skipped that part, sorry), I just find Axe better for 1v1s. I also simply don’t 1v1 bunkers like Fire Field Warriors where Staff is better, my build plays very Mesmer-like and I focus on quick support and engagements.

No worries, I respect your opininion really…

I am fully aware of Axe’s capability, but the whole “Does more damage” or “is better” is in my humblest opinion so debatable…
The thing for me is that despite me trying to like Axe, I cannot utilize it… I miss the utility Staff provides, despite liking the insane burst Focus #4 followed by Axe #2 can have… Staff works better for me, and thus I “do more damage” with it…

That being said, I never said Axe was bad or does bad damage – I just stated why people prefer certain things over one another… I know a multitude of Necromancers who utilize Axe rather well…

All in all that is what I was saying..May have come out a bit wrong so, Mah bad. In a roaming situation u want damage and you want it fast. There is hundreds of people out there and if you take too long to kill, your 1v1/ 1v2 becomes greatly higher, quickly. Axe is just a “buffer” you nail right before going into DS and then coming back out (If they still alive). You never sit on you Axe skillz and you probably wouldn’t be sitting on your Staff skillz either, unless they port away out of range. Dagger does so much damage that you need to be there most of the time when not in DS.

In my experience, they are always dead in under 15 seconds unless they are Celest/ Bunker. Therefore you second weapon set (Axe or Staff) is only tapped on a couple of seconds. (For these couple of seconds I would rather do 10-15k damage then a fear and a chill…but that’s me). You rarely will see any Cele or Bunker build out roaming in the fields…they are with the zergs. Anyone else Roaming around will be in a full glass or pretty close spec.

Also by in the aspect of the OP post on roaming..using staff will give him no mobility because he can’t have a warhorn with his MH D/D setup. This is a big loss as well. I am just suggest best outcome for him. If he doesn’t want mobility then that is also his choice; but I personally would never drop my warhorn for roaming.

I guess you haven’t met the dire perplexity condi theives.

Axe is good when traited and the target is not already maxed out on vulnerability. If vulnerability is already capped, then go dagger or staff. Axe is particularly good for minion masters as the minions do their job without stacking vulnerability. You can greatly improve minion damage output just by keeping a vulnerability stack on an enemy.

What gives axe a bad reputation is other jobs like Engi can hand out vulnerability like it was candy so it is easy to cap it. Then, axe is losing out on its biggest advantage. If you are in a group in a dungeon, watch the vulnerability stack and decide whether axe is useful or not. Remember, 25 stacks of vuln on a boss is equal to 25 stacks of might on everyone, continuously. Just 10 stacks of vulnerability does more extra damage than a lot of fancy ascended stats, foods, and runes. Watch the stack of vulnerability to see if you are in a group short on it.

In solo play, axe tends to have better dps than staff but staff has a broader range of utility. Staff gives the longest range, regen, condi-transfer, a burst, and a fear.

I don’t think op is asking in a pve context

NeXeD.3042:

I don’t think op is asking in a pve context

Naw, he wasn’t. Seems like every few posts someone tries to sneak PVE in there.

Did not realize the OP’s question was PvP only. Does it make a difference if axe’s main limitation is PvE only?

I guess I’m stupid but I don’t understand that question.

But fears, condi transfers and poison and chill are more useful against another player than they would be against mobs.

Just some food for thought on this topic is the Axe Training major trait. Yeah it drops the recharge 20% just like Dagger Mastery trait, but unlike the dagger mastery trait it increases weapon damage by 10% while wielding an axe, including your off-hand weapon. This single trait puts axe on par with main hand dagger DPS while maintaining range—and that doesn’t even take vulnerability stacking into consideration. Here are the numbers and math if you’re interested.

On the down side, axe can’t hit multiple enemies with significant DPS at once like the dagger can. Why not just use both?

How is Staff stronger for Death Shroud? Is there a trait that makes it so?

Staff base attack damage is higher so switching to staff before using deathshroud you get a little boost in damage.

NeXeD.3042:

Staff base attack damage is higher so switching to staff before using deathshroud you get a little boost in damage.

If you are using Axe Mastery that is the higher boost going into DS. 10% damage increase on Life Transfer and LB’s is a lot of extra damage.

Kain Francois.4328:

How is Staff stronger for Death Shroud? Is there a trait that makes it so?

No there isn’t . Here is the order: Staff> Axe> Dagger (Without Mastery)
Axe> Staff >Dagger (With mastery)

Weapon strength
With Mastery: Axe > Staff >Dagger
Stats of weapons effecting DS LB:
Staff Strength: 985-1111
Axe Strength: 857-1048
Axe With Mastery Strength: 924-1152 (Lower bottom end than staff, Higher top end)
Dagger: 924-981

GhOst.4019:

NeXeD.3042:

Staff base attack damage is higher so switching to staff before using deathshroud you get a little boost in damage.

If you are using Axe Mastery that is the higher boost going into DS. 10% damage increase on Life Transfer and LB’s is a lot of extra damage.

Kain Francois.4328:

How is Staff stronger for Death Shroud? Is there a trait that makes it so?

No there isn’t . Here is the order: Staff> Axe> Dagger (Without Mastery)
Axe> Staff >Dagger (With mastery)

Weapon strength
With Mastery: Axe > Staff >Dagger
Stats of weapons effecting DS LB:
Staff Strength: 985-1111
Axe Strength: 857-1048
Axe With Mastery Strength: 924-1152 (Lower bottom end than staff, Higher top end)
Dagger: 924-981

I don’t believe that’s all accurate. Staff is equal to axe with axe mastery in DS, not less. And I also believe that axe only affects skills 1-3 in DS, so life transfer will do less damage with traited axe than staff.

Roe.3679:

GhOst.4019:

NeXeD.3042:

Staff base attack damage is higher so switching to staff before using deathshroud you get a little boost in damage.

If you are using Axe Mastery that is the higher boost going into DS. 10% damage increase on Life Transfer and LB’s is a lot of extra damage.

Kain Francois.4328:

How is Staff stronger for Death Shroud? Is there a trait that makes it so?

No there isn’t . Here is the order: Staff> Axe> Dagger (Without Mastery)
Axe> Staff >Dagger (With mastery)

Weapon strength
With Mastery: Axe > Staff >Dagger
Stats of weapons effecting DS LB:
Staff Strength: 985-1111
Axe Strength: 857-1048
Axe With Mastery Strength: 924-1152 (Lower bottom end than staff, Higher top end)
Dagger: 924-981

I don’t believe that’s all accurate. Staff is equal to axe with axe mastery in DS, not less. And I also believe that axe only affects skills 1-3 in DS, so life transfer will do less damage with traited axe than staff.

How can you not say that is accurate? Look at your weapons…the highest one will scale for the most damage. These are exact weapon stats …. Maybe it doesn’t scale with Life Transfer (I could have been wrong) but LB is the main focus anyway.

The higher base weapon damage of a staff causes life blast to do more damage than an axe with axe mastery traited.

GhOst.4019:

Roe.3679:

GhOst.4019:

NeXeD.3042:

Staff base attack damage is higher so switching to staff before using deathshroud you get a little boost in damage.

If you are using Axe Mastery that is the higher boost going into DS. 10% damage increase on Life Transfer and LB’s is a lot of extra damage.

Kain Francois.4328:

How is Staff stronger for Death Shroud? Is there a trait that makes it so?

No there isn’t . Here is the order: Staff> Axe> Dagger (Without Mastery)
Axe> Staff >Dagger (With mastery)

Weapon strength
With Mastery: Axe > Staff >Dagger
Stats of weapons effecting DS LB:
Staff Strength: 985-1111
Axe Strength: 857-1048
Axe With Mastery Strength: 924-1152 (Lower bottom end than staff, Higher top end)
Dagger: 924-981

I don’t believe that’s all accurate. Staff is equal to axe with axe mastery in DS, not less. And I also believe that axe only affects skills 1-3 in DS, so life transfer will do less damage with traited axe than staff.

How can you not say that is accurate? Look at your weapons…the highest one will scale for the most damage. These are exact weapon stats …. Maybe it doesn’t scale with Life Transfer (I could have been wrong) but LB is the main focus anyway.

You said axe is more, when it is actually equal, that’s why it isn’t accurate.

I don’t take axe because a good player will avoid all of your damage when using axe. The 2 skill is so easy to avoid. Back up, or walk through them and all that damage is mitigated. Once you realize that, the weapon becomes terrible. The auto is one of the worst in the game. Sure you can get a decent amount of vuln, but the build up time is huge (If you play a mesmer you understand the difference between quickly stacking vuln and slowly stacking it). The 3 skill is amazing, no doubts about it, cripple boon removal and retal yes please. Having said that it doesn’t justify taking the weapon.

One could make a compelling argument that it is worth taking axe to get warhorn because warhorn 4 and 5 are really really good for power necros, but in general staff>>axe. Your potential damage output is lower, but looking at just skills 1-3 on both weapons and you realize why it is better. Staff auto is bigger range and grants life force. Mark of blood is bigger range, aoe, puts bleeds on your opponent, is on a lower cooldown, and grants regen. Chillblains applies chill, which is stronger than cripple, and poison. That is a lot of debuffing, and it’s at 1200 range.

Axe would be compelling if the auto stacked vuln faster, the 2 skill hit harder, and it was 900 range. Currently, you have to sit at 600 range which is not good for a class that is vulnerable to cc (600 is close enough to melee range that any good melee class will easily be able to close the gap cc and burst you). IMO, axe is just inferior against players that know what they are doing.

As I say, unless you PvE you’ll always want Chill of Death with Axe instead of Axe Training.

Power Necro’s strenght is that massive burst against low armor targets. Rending Claws+double sigil proc+Chill of Death+one LB is already a dead thief.

Roe.3679:

You said axe is more, when it is actually equal, that’s why it isn’t accurate.

It’s equal? Stop doing the math in your head, because it isn’t helping your argument. Grab a calculator if need. 1111 is NOT 10% more than 1048. Let me help you 1048 * .10=104.8 +1048= 1152.8 which is GREATER than and not equal to 1111. Once again, that damage in Axe is higher with mastery.

GhOst.4019:

Roe.3679:

You said axe is more, when it is actually equal, that’s why it isn’t accurate.

It’s equal? Stop doing the math in your head, because it isn’t helping your argument. Grab a calculator if need. 1111 is NOT 10% more than 1048. Let me help you 1048 * .10=104.8 +1048= 1152.8 which is GREATER than and not equal to 1111. Once again, that damage in Axe is higher with mastery.

Ok champ, I guess averages are a hard concept for you. Axe mastery mainhand damage is from 924-1152, average hit is 1038.

Staff is 985 to 1111, average hit is 1048. Looks like staff’s average hit is higher, and life transfer is much stronger on staff than axe.

What was that you were saying about math again?

Rym.1469:

As I say, unless you PvE you’ll always want Chill of Death with Axe instead of Axe Training.

Power Necro’s strenght is that massive burst against low armor targets. Rending Claws+double sigil proc+Chill of Death+one LB is already a dead thief.

Depends on the player. You can always run a focus and use that in place. Then you have CoD every 18 seconds which hits for 3-4.5k with 3 boons and also another 4% damage by Focus 4 first for all your other spells. All in players choice on their play style/ players you are up against.

Roe.3679:

Axe mastery mainhand damage is from 924-1152, average hit is 1038.

Staff is 985 to 1111, average hit is 1048. Looks like staff’s average hit is higher, and life transfer is much stronger on staff than axe.

Slight mathematical error in there: Axe’s weapon damage after Axe Training is the equivalent of 943 – 1153, which gives it an average of 1048. Which is indeed equal to a staff’s weapon strength. So, like Roe mentioned earlier, Axe Training brings the Weapon Strength of an axe up to par with a staff. (At least, in this example with level 80 exotics, but probably at all points in the game with weapons of equal level & rarity.)