Guild Wars 2

gimme some feedback here. If one were to go 30 spite, either they’re going some kind of power-well build or some death shroud burst…if it’s such a thing. Is it useful, because axe seems fairly pretty good for inflicting 2 vulnerability on every hit. (possibly for pvp, but how about for pve/Wvw?)

But I do see how just about every1 in pvp or Wvw is just crazy about MM or some sort of ridiculous condi burst because its obvious…look at how many bleeds necro has, or look at how many skills/traits inflict insane chill durations…

30 in spite is actually taken in essentially every high damage build there is, so yes its pretty strong.

Axe isn’t that great, really. Its okay in PvE where you can set up really high damage 2s and staff is meh for power builds, its okay in PvP if you are a bunker-y Necro without staff, and its okay in WvW if you aren’t using dagger in a power build. It also makes for a decent hybrid weapon.

However in general Axe is a situational weapon, not an instant-pick.

30 Spite is what most non MM/healer necros go (and even some MMs) simply for the Grandmaster trait. It gives conditionmancers fire on crit (which ticks over 1k per sec on strong condition builds), and 20% damage on a 50% target which is a strong DPS boost for power builds.

As % damage is the strongest DPS boost in the game, building around these boosts is the key for the best DPS. The meta DPS build for Necro is 30 Spite for the Close to Death, 25 curses for Target the Weak (another % damage increase) and crit chance (precision stat + DS flipping for fury) and 15 Soul Reaping for Last Gasp (a nice survival trait) and Unyielding Blast (which gives you some solid AoE when needed).

As for axe, yes it’s auto is solid vuln stacking. On targets without “unshakable”, it stacks vuln to 15-16 assuming uninterrupted attacking and you’re 30 spite for the condition duration. Focus 4 is enough to get you to 25. On bosses, however, you’re probably going rolling 5 in real combat situations from Axe auto. There’s a clincher, though – Axe auto is WEAK. If you’re solo, the Axe vulns don’t come close to covering the DPS gap of DS or Dagger. If you’re in a party, then comes the question of what’s more important: 5% party DPS or 75% more for you? Personally if vuln support is key, I’d much much rather burst vuln with focus and well, then apply it from DS auto… the longer vuln duration from the trait covers the slower attack even on bosses so it actually stacks higher while not costing you real DPS. Because of this, Axe auto is pretty much useless for any build. You’re giving up DPS to apply vulns in not even your highest stacking way. Essentially it’s a temporary use support weapon. Axe 2 you clap if you need some Life Force. Axe 3 is your support aspect – you basically hit Axe 3 for AoE cripple and retaliation. Pair this weapon with another support weapon – Warhorn for W5 or OH Dagger for a weakness cast and condition remover. You click your supporty stuff then switch to your REAL weapons.

Since “Axe” is not a real DPS weapon, Axe Training becomes a rather weak trait. The only place I see it is on a DS build that uses Axe/x and Dagger/x as that trait would buff your DS DPS… any other build type would be better supported by other traits.

TL;DR – Close to Death is worth it for any Power type build. Axe Training is only worth it to DS builds that don’t use staff as Axe itself is crap DPS.

Bhawb.7408:

30 in spite is actually taken in essentially every high damage build there is, so yes its pretty strong.

Axe isn’t that great, really. Its okay in PvE where you can set up really high damage 2s and staff is meh for power builds, its okay in PvP if you are a bunker-y Necro without staff, and its okay in WvW if you aren’t using dagger in a power build. It also makes for a decent hybrid weapon.

However in general Axe is a situational weapon, not an instant-pick.

WvW zerg wise, It depends. Axe is the go to because of axe 3. Mainly the boon strip but the retal is nice to paired WH. If your going for single target damage, for the most part you would use life blast so Axe training would make it easier to have highest possible with having to switch to staff. But your right the damage is meh, unless your running a lot of zerker it won’t do notable damage, tankyer builds won’t see that kind of damage.

CMstorm.8679:

But I do see how just about every1 in pvp or Wvw is just crazy about MM or some sort of ridiculous condi burst because its obvious…look at how many bleeds necro has, or look at how many skills/traits inflict insane chill durations…

Just to say, while we do have the easiest chill application, its also the lowest duration on average (3 seconds). Its just cond duration is broken on us just how boon duration is on guardians/ele, crit on warriors and thieves and… idk whats the core stat for engie ranger and mesmer, sorry.

Axe #2 is really weak so any axe traits are kind of pointless and wasted. Close to death is about a 9% damage boost overall which isnt great but it is one of necros best modifiers.

spoj.9672:

Axe #2 is really weak so any axe traits are kind of pointless and wasted. Close to death is about a 9% damage boost overall which isnt great but it is one of necros best modifiers.

Best case scenario, with axe training and all party boosts, I’ve hit for ~26k with Ghastly Claws. When you consider the cast time, that’s pretty underwhelming. Factor in the god awful AA you’re left with while its on cd, and it gets even worse.

I don’t think I’ve ever taken axe training outside of the 30/10///30 DS build to push DS#1 damage.
Axe on a necro is just… weird. #1 is low dps and stacks vulnerability (could synergize with minion builds). #2 is just… why… #3 is amazing for wvw zerging in my opinion and I use it before going back into DS in pve if there’s something like protection on the target.

I just recently joined gw2, and maybe axe was good at one point, but atm it feels like a weird utility weapon more than anything.

Bawi.9541:

I just recently joined gw2, and maybe axe was good at one point, but atm it feels like a weird utility weapon more than anything.

No, it was worse before. It’s actually been buffed a few times, as unbelievable as that may sound.

I’d like to see a 10% straight damage boost to all 3 axe skills, an additional 10% boost to the axe training trait, and cleave on at least 3 targets. I will now stop derailing this into another “how to fix the axe” thread.