Guild Wars 2

Hi folks!

I’m new to rangers. I kinda want to try dual wield axes, pprimarily for coolness factor.

Is there a way to make this work buildwise? Or are axes a bad choice atm?

Thanks for your opinions!

Axe 5 on an Asura is hands down the best combat animation in game, pure win. Other than that axes don’t have much going for them unfortunately. Damage isn’t great and utility is better on pretty much all the other options.

That’s not to say you can’t make it work if you try hard enough, but Shortbow for skirmishing and greatsword or sword+everything in melee play in a different league alltogether.

It just doesn’t fit my current builds well, but when I ran a clerics/healing bunker build, it was excellent, especially fighting ranged opponents.

I use dual axe + longbow atm and have gotten great success, it has good damage, can easily apply 5 stacks of bleeding, chill, and weakness, both chill and weakness are on the stronger end of conditions you can apply, with -66% movement speed and +66% recharge time on chill and -75% damage and endurance regen on weakness, pair that with an ice drake + owl/snow leopard and the enemy can’t do kitten.

The #4 is lack luster for everything other than applying a large amount of a combo field affect, but it’s pretty amazing at that, hits infinite enemies (no, not just 5) up to 2 times and applies the projectile finisher effect on each one hit, and is 100% finish chance.

I’d say if you’re going with a main hand axe then torch is probably your best bet, but personally I prefer a short bow and then going with a high evasion sword/dagger combo.

Really not sure I’d be comfy going with an axe combo to replace my shortbow really, defiantly wouldn’t want to replace my sword/dagger combo with them.

But hey, whatever works for you man.

dual wielding axes makes no freaking sense. they completely antagonize each other. MH axe is a condition weapon, OH axe is….i dont know wtf it is. defensive/power/crit hybrid? OH axe sucks.

Why does everyone think Dual axes are bad? Geez, I guess no one knows how good things are until someone bludgeons them in the face with a “pro” player using it…

MH axe is -ok- for conditions but its better for power because its damage is, you know, kinda based in raw damage unless you want to rely solely on a 5stack of bleed for damage that is, I know I don’t…

Durzlla.6295:

Why does everyone think Dual axes are bad? Geez, I guess no one knows how good things are until someone bludgeons them in the face with a “pro” player using it…

MH axe is -ok- for conditions but its better for power because its damage is, you know, kinda based in raw damage unless you want to rely solely on a 5stack of bleed for damage that is, I know I don’t…

I agree. Just because condition builds use axe doesn’t mean that is all it’s there for. Explore possibilities and don’t be so close minded, every weapon in the game was designed for some use, combinations take a player’s effort to find and make useful.

Jazenn.7526:

Durzlla.6295:

Why does everyone think Dual axes are bad? Geez, I guess no one knows how good things are until someone bludgeons them in the face with a “pro” player using it…

MH axe is -ok- for conditions but its better for power because its damage is, you know, kinda based in raw damage unless you want to rely solely on a 5stack of bleed for damage that is, I know I don’t…

I agree. Just because condition builds use axe doesn’t mean that is all it’s there for. Explore possibilities and don’t be so close minded, every weapon in the game was designed for some use, combinations take a player’s effort to find and make useful.

Example of a build that doesn’t use conditions (offensive) is my 100% chill ranger build, so OP… i can backpedal away from 100blade warriors and gain distance, and they can’t even bulls rush to close the gap xD… oh yeah, and bunkers just fall over and curl up in a ball because all their CDs get boned horribly… i smell a nerf if this goes viral…

Durzlla.6295:

Why does everyone think Dual axes are bad? Geez, I guess no one knows how good things are until someone bludgeons them in the face with a “pro” player using it…

MH axe is -ok- for conditions but its better for power because its damage is, you know, kinda based in raw damage unless you want to rely solely on a 5stack of bleed for damage that is, I know I don’t…

It’s not terrible, but relatively to other options? Yea, it’s inferior.

Mainhand axe is good for applying multiple bleeds at once for condition builds, but that makes it pair well with a torch in PvP.

If it did equal or greater direct damage than a bow, then there would be a lot more people using it, but for now, you’re better off not using it in any difficult content.

That being said, it is a very fun combo and I loved using it while leveling and when I do easy dungeons.

Dahkeus.8243:

Durzlla.6295:

Why does everyone think Dual axes are bad? Geez, I guess no one knows how good things are until someone bludgeons them in the face with a “pro” player using it…

MH axe is -ok- for conditions but its better for power because its damage is, you know, kinda based in raw damage unless you want to rely solely on a 5stack of bleed for damage that is, I know I don’t…

It’s not terrible, but relatively to other options? Yea, it’s inferior.

Mainhand axe is good for applying multiple bleeds at once for condition builds, but that makes it pair well with a torch in PvP.

If it did equal or greater direct damage than a bow, then there would be a lot more people using it, but for now, you’re better off not using it in any difficult content.

That being said, it is a very fun combo and I loved using it while leveling and when I do easy dungeons.

Still, it has its uses. Just because its not popular doesn’t mean it isn’t viable. Even if you tried it(which I’m sure plenty haven’t), it still might not fit your particular playstyle or build enough for you to like it. Means nothing about the weapon’s viability.

I luve my dual axes … now if I only could be able to move while using whirling defence … I would be eating opposition zergs! So not fun when they runaway from me :/

I don’t think anyone said it’s bad or awful, but there are many other choices that give you better options.

Durzlla.6295:

Example of a build that doesn’t use conditions (offensive) is my 100% chill ranger build

yep dual axe chill stack is good.

for the ones who believe axe is condi—axe is not a condi weapon, it is hybrid. axe 1 is 100% physical, axe 2 is physical/bleed, axe 3 is non-scaling condi ( chill + weakness ). axe 2 is the only skill that can scale with condi dmg & chill / weakness duration is increased by investment in the power tree.

dual axe is a full power spec. note that nearly everything an ele does is a ranged attack, even d/d. engis also ( 100 nades ). axe 5 is very stronk.

faeral.7120:

Durzlla.6295:

Example of a build that doesn’t use conditions (offensive) is my 100% chill ranger build

yep dual axe chill stack is good.

for the ones who believe axe is condi—axe is not a condi weapon, it is hybrid. axe 1 is 100% physical, axe 2 is physical/bleed, axe 3 is non-scaling condi ( chill + weakness ). axe 2 is the only skill that can scale with condi dmg & chill / weakness duration is increased by investment in the power tree.

dual axe is a full power spec. note that nearly everything an ele does is a ranged attack, even d/d. engis also ( 100 nades ). axe 5 is very stronk.

5 is strong but 4 is next to useless outside of throwing it through a combo field, it’s up to each ranger to decide if 5 is strong enough to lose a decent 4 or if they feel the 4 is fine. Personally though I’d rather have the huge fire damage of the torch or the high damage of the horn in a power/crit build.

Jazenn.7526:

Dahkeus.8243:

Durzlla.6295:

Why does everyone think Dual axes are bad? Geez, I guess no one knows how good things are until someone bludgeons them in the face with a “pro” player using it…

MH axe is -ok- for conditions but its better for power because its damage is, you know, kinda based in raw damage unless you want to rely solely on a 5stack of bleed for damage that is, I know I don’t…

It’s not terrible, but relatively to other options? Yea, it’s inferior.

Mainhand axe is good for applying multiple bleeds at once for condition builds, but that makes it pair well with a torch in PvP.

If it did equal or greater direct damage than a bow, then there would be a lot more people using it, but for now, you’re better off not using it in any difficult content.

That being said, it is a very fun combo and I loved using it while leveling and when I do easy dungeons.

Still, it has its uses. Just because its not popular doesn’t mean it isn’t viable. Even if you tried it(which I’m sure plenty haven’t), it still might not fit your particular playstyle or build enough for you to like it. Means nothing about the weapon’s viability.

Oh, I love the weapon set and the playstyle is fun. It’s not that it’s not “viable”, but the problem is that it’s overall inferior to other options.

If dual axe could put out the same or greater damage as a bow or 1h sword build or if it could provide more group utility, I’d run with it in a second, but bows and such are fun too and I don’t have to lower my group’s potential by running going that way.

Thanks for all the great feedback folks.

Durzlla – Would you mind linking your build or if not, give ma an idea of where to start in creating something similar?

I tried searching the forum, but came up empty.

ps … I luve the axes, coz they can “shoot round corners” :p
target something close to edge on keep walls, hit quickness, spam #1.

It’s not inferior, it is just as viable as any other ranger weapon. When it comes to combos axe is greater than any other 4 or 5 skill on our weapons. Thats one place where it is definitely superior. Also best weapon for multiple targets/aoe. Only bonfire/barrage are comparable skills and they are only one skill on the weapon. It can put out plenty of damage, especially against 2+ targets. For example, in say a 3v3, I bet dual axe can put out more damage than shortbow, even with piercing arrows. Of course this is untested, but just as viable as your claims against the usefulness of dual axe.

Jazenn.7526:

It’s not inferior, it is just as viable as any other ranger weapon. When it comes to combos axe is greater than any other 4 or 5 skill on our weapons. Thats one place where it is definitely superior. Also best weapon for multiple targets/aoe. Only bonfire/barrage are comparable skills and they are only one skill on the weapon. It can put out plenty of damage, especially against 2+ targets. For example, in say a 3v3, I bet dual axe can put out more damage than shortbow, even with piercing arrows. Of course this is untested, but just as viable as your claims against the usefulness of dual axe.

- Piercing arrows will give just as many or more projectile combos, depending on how many mobs you face. Offhand axe does give a whirling finisher, which is unique, but not substantial enough to offset the heavy single target dps loss.

- Piercing arrows also gives more AoE dps in most situations unless you simply don’t position yourself to take advantage of this mainly because of just how much more an arrow from a bow damages compared to an axe hit.

- I’ve done the testing and unless you’re only going against 2 targets (where the axe hits the original target twice from deflection), you’ll get more damage from a piercing arrow. If you don’t believe me, go out to the mists and try out the testing yourself.

Believe me, I wish I was wrong. My norn looks awesome with axes, but enemies simply die faster when I use a bow.

axes are horribly ineffective outside of condi builds (axe/dagger or axe/torch). OH axe abilities are so stupidly bad. #5 roots you and only deflects projectiles. the opponent can just wait until the cast is done, or just switch to melee/interrupt you. you have no evades at a much shorter range, therefore no flow in battle (this is why LB is such a horrible weapon, as opposed to SB, which has the best evade in the game).

if you wanna talk combo fields, lets talk SB and swords. SB through frost field applies chill much better than anything else. leaps through frost = frost armor. leaps through water fields = extra 6k heals. somebody mentioned some sort of chill build. well, my condi ranger does that without giving up his tankiness and damage. axe#3, sb through frost field, snow owl.

in conclusion, axes are a skirmishing weapon due to their range. they suck because axe OH is horribly gimp and you have no evades. axe MH only works in power/crit PVE scenarios, and in condition builds in pvp.

Dahkeus.8243:

Jazenn.7526:

It’s not inferior, it is just as viable as any other ranger weapon. When it comes to combos axe is greater than any other 4 or 5 skill on our weapons. Thats one place where it is definitely superior. Also best weapon for multiple targets/aoe. Only bonfire/barrage are comparable skills and they are only one skill on the weapon. It can put out plenty of damage, especially against 2+ targets. For example, in say a 3v3, I bet dual axe can put out more damage than shortbow, even with piercing arrows. Of course this is untested, but just as viable as your claims against the usefulness of dual axe.

- Piercing arrows will give just as many or more projectile combos, depending on how many mobs you face. Offhand axe does give a whirling finisher, which is unique, but not substantial enough to offset the heavy single target dps loss.

- Piercing arrows also gives more AoE dps in most situations unless you simply don’t position yourself to take advantage of this mainly because of just how much more an arrow from a bow damages compared to an axe hit.

- I’ve done the testing and unless you’re only going against 2 targets (where the axe hits the original target twice from deflection), you’ll get more damage from a piercing arrow. If you don’t believe me, go out to the mists and try out the testing yourself.

Believe me, I wish I was wrong. My norn looks awesome with axes, but enemies simply die faster when I use a bow.

Show me the testing results with video please. I don’t think its so easy to align 3 targets for a sustained period of time so that you could match the number of hits an axe will put out on the same three targets. Not to mention the effort required to do so would be a detriment to your ability to move freely, especially when you factor in flanking you would need to be doing to get the extra damage from bleed that would allow the bow damage to surpass the axe’s in a single strike. Easily possible in nothing short of a battle(around 10 opponents). And even if the bow does out the axes in this case, it is at the cost of 20 trait points in order to do so. All speculation from my end though. Show me those tests and put my doubts to rest.

Aside from all that crap, one weapon doesn’t need to be better than the other overall, and I don’t believe that. I’m just trying to say it is equally viable.

nerva.7940:

axes are horribly ineffective outside of condi builds (axe/dagger or axe/torch). OH axe abilities are so stupidly bad. #5 roots you and only deflects projectiles. the opponent can just wait until the cast is done, or just switch to melee/interrupt you. you have no evades at a much shorter range, therefore no flow in battle (this is why LB is such a horrible weapon, as opposed to SB, which has the best evade in the game).

if you wanna talk combo fields, lets talk SB and swords. SB through frost field applies chill much better than anything else. leaps through frost = frost armor. leaps through water fields = extra 6k heals. somebody mentioned some sort of chill build. well, my condi ranger does that without giving up his tankiness and damage. axe#3, sb through frost field, snow owl.

in conclusion, axes are a skirmishing weapon due to their range. they suck because axe OH is horribly gimp and you have no evades. axe MH only works in power/crit PVE scenarios, and in condition builds in pvp.

Have to disagree. Axe 4 is dull, just damage,yea, but still damage is damage, and when combo’s and lots of opponents around, it has potential. Axe 5 doesn’t let you move, but it either forces your opponent to take damage and vulnerability, reflects their own damage, or if they “wait”, give you space and time to recover, essentially being a knockback in that case. Many skills can be interrupted and many weapons don’t have evades, this applies to far more than just axe. If you get interrupted, continue playing as you would with any other weapon and skill. There are evades outside of weapon skills. Axe also isn’t limited to certain settings. I see no reason why a build only works in PvE or only in pvp.

Whirling Defense can be pretty devastating if you snare someone first, forcing them to take all the damage. But since main-hand axe is mainly condition damage, you’re going to be better of with an off-hand torch.

a way to make OH axe viable:

- #4 needs to be a NUKE. so maybe 3-4k crit one way
- #5 needs to be cast while moving

Kasama.8941:

Whirling Defense can be pretty devastating if you snare someone first, forcing them to take all the damage. But since main-hand axe is mainly condition damage, you’re going to be better of with an off-hand torch.

By mainly condition damage you mean one skill?

Jazenn.7526:

Dahkeus.8243:

Jazenn.7526:

It’s not inferior, it is just as viable as any other ranger weapon. When it comes to combos axe is greater than any other 4 or 5 skill on our weapons. Thats one place where it is definitely superior. Also best weapon for multiple targets/aoe. Only bonfire/barrage are comparable skills and they are only one skill on the weapon. It can put out plenty of damage, especially against 2+ targets. For example, in say a 3v3, I bet dual axe can put out more damage than shortbow, even with piercing arrows. Of course this is untested, but just as viable as your claims against the usefulness of dual axe.

- Piercing arrows will give just as many or more projectile combos, depending on how many mobs you face. Offhand axe does give a whirling finisher, which is unique, but not substantial enough to offset the heavy single target dps loss.

- Piercing arrows also gives more AoE dps in most situations unless you simply don’t position yourself to take advantage of this mainly because of just how much more an arrow from a bow damages compared to an axe hit.

- I’ve done the testing and unless you’re only going against 2 targets (where the axe hits the original target twice from deflection), you’ll get more damage from a piercing arrow. If you don’t believe me, go out to the mists and try out the testing yourself.

Believe me, I wish I was wrong. My norn looks awesome with axes, but enemies simply die faster when I use a bow.

Show me the testing results with video please. I don’t think its so easy to align 3 targets for a sustained period of time so that you could match the number of hits an axe will put out on the same three targets. Not to mention the effort required to do so would be a detriment to your ability to move freely, especially when you factor in flanking you would need to be doing to get the extra damage from bleed that would allow the bow damage to surpass the axe’s in a single strike. Easily possible in nothing short of a battle(around 10 opponents). And even if the bow does out the axes in this case, it is at the cost of 20 trait points in order to do so. All speculation from my end though. Show me those tests and put my doubts to rest.

Aside from all that crap, one weapon doesn’t need to be better than the other overall, and I don’t believe that. I’m just trying to say it is equally viable.

Dude, I’m not going to film and upload a video just to show you something you can prove for yourself in about the same amount of time it would take for you to watch.

Dahkeus.8243:

Jazenn.7526:

Dahkeus.8243:

Jazenn.7526:

It’s not inferior, it is just as viable as any other ranger weapon. When it comes to combos axe is greater than any other 4 or 5 skill on our weapons. Thats one place where it is definitely superior. Also best weapon for multiple targets/aoe. Only bonfire/barrage are comparable skills and they are only one skill on the weapon. It can put out plenty of damage, especially against 2+ targets. For example, in say a 3v3, I bet dual axe can put out more damage than shortbow, even with piercing arrows. Of course this is untested, but just as viable as your claims against the usefulness of dual axe.

- Piercing arrows will give just as many or more projectile combos, depending on how many mobs you face. Offhand axe does give a whirling finisher, which is unique, but not substantial enough to offset the heavy single target dps loss.

- Piercing arrows also gives more AoE dps in most situations unless you simply don’t position yourself to take advantage of this mainly because of just how much more an arrow from a bow damages compared to an axe hit.

- I’ve done the testing and unless you’re only going against 2 targets (where the axe hits the original target twice from deflection), you’ll get more damage from a piercing arrow. If you don’t believe me, go out to the mists and try out the testing yourself.

Believe me, I wish I was wrong. My norn looks awesome with axes, but enemies simply die faster when I use a bow.

Show me the testing results with video please. I don’t think its so easy to align 3 targets for a sustained period of time so that you could match the number of hits an axe will put out on the same three targets. Not to mention the effort required to do so would be a detriment to your ability to move freely, especially when you factor in flanking you would need to be doing to get the extra damage from bleed that would allow the bow damage to surpass the axe’s in a single strike. Easily possible in nothing short of a battle(around 10 opponents). And even if the bow does out the axes in this case, it is at the cost of 20 trait points in order to do so. All speculation from my end though. Show me those tests and put my doubts to rest.

Aside from all that crap, one weapon doesn’t need to be better than the other overall, and I don’t believe that. I’m just trying to say it is equally viable.

Dude, I’m not going to film and upload a video just to show you something you can prove for yourself in about the same amount of time it would take for you to watch.

Well I have played shortbow and I have played dual axes, if that is considered testing. I still disagree. I thought you had presentable data, but nevermind.

Jazenn.7526:

Kasama.8941:

Whirling Defense can be pretty devastating if you snare someone first, forcing them to take all the damage. But since main-hand axe is mainly condition damage, you’re going to be better of with an off-hand torch.

By mainly condition damage you mean one skill?

Winter’s Bite deals both chill and weakness, and Ricochet’s damage is very weak on its own, without a combo field like Bonfire. I don’t see how you can justify main-hand axe as a direct damage weapon with the low base damage that its got.

Winters bite doesn’t deal condition damage. Combo finishers aren’t all condition damage related. Only the 2 on axe deals condition damage. You can justify it by it’s ability to spread damage on multiple foes. It’s base damage isn’t so low as to not be viable outside of conditions.

Kasama.8941:

Jazenn.7526:

Kasama.8941:

Whirling Defense can be pretty devastating if you snare someone first, forcing them to take all the damage. But since main-hand axe is mainly condition damage, you’re going to be better of with an off-hand torch.

By mainly condition damage you mean one skill?

Winter’s Bite deals both chill and weakness, and Ricochet’s damage is very weak on its own, without a combo field like Bonfire. I don’t see how you can justify main-hand axe as a direct damage weapon with the low base damage that its got.

This depends on if you only have 1 target or multiple targets. The axe will land 480-520 per bounce so upto 1560 per toss. A SB might hit faster but for only slightly more – 540 per hit so in the about the same time frame the Axe is dealing more damage over all than the SB.

While you can drop your bonfire and switch to the SB for flaming arrows I think in a mob the Axe works better.

Jazenn.7526:

Kasama.8941:

Whirling Defense can be pretty devastating if you snare someone first, forcing them to take all the damage. But since main-hand axe is mainly condition damage, you’re going to be better of with an off-hand torch.

By mainly condition damage you mean one skill?

It’s a 1h weapon. You don’t need to have more than one skill dealing condition damage and the reason it’s noteable as a condition damage is because it’s the only weapon that can put up 5 stacks of bleeds in one attack. For PvE, this doesn’t mean much, but in PvP where burst and the ability to stack up conditions before your enemy can remove them is big, especially when you can pair this with the torch, which is pretty much the best condition weapon Rangers have.

Dahkeus.8243:

Jazenn.7526:

Kasama.8941:

Whirling Defense can be pretty devastating if you snare someone first, forcing them to take all the damage. But since main-hand axe is mainly condition damage, you’re going to be better of with an off-hand torch.

By mainly condition damage you mean one skill?

It’s a 1h weapon. You don’t need to have more than one skill dealing condition damage

Using this logic our sword is a condi weapon as well…

Durzlla.6295:

Dahkeus.8243:

Jazenn.7526:

Kasama.8941:

Whirling Defense can be pretty devastating if you snare someone first, forcing them to take all the damage. But since main-hand axe is mainly condition damage, you’re going to be better of with an off-hand torch.

By mainly condition damage you mean one skill?

It’s a 1h weapon. You don’t need to have more than one skill dealing condition damage

Using this logic our sword is a condi weapon as well…

…unless you read the rest of the sentence:

Dahkeus.8243:

It’s a 1h weapon. You don’t need to have more than one skill dealing condition damage and the reason it’s noteable as a condition damage is because it’s the only weapon that can put up 5 stacks of bleeds in one attack.

Hopefully you can understand the difference between a poison and 5 stacks of bleeds dropped at once.

Also, I took a couple seconds to pull numbers on axe vs short bow. With no talents, runes, etc. in the mists, the axe takes down the heavy golem in 1:17 (and that’s with a couple bounce backs happening when it’s only 2 targets). The shortbow does the same job in 0:51.

In other words, the axe did about a third less damage.

Dahkeus.8243:

Durzlla.6295:

Dahkeus.8243:

Jazenn.7526:

Kasama.8941:

Whirling Defense can be pretty devastating if you snare someone first, forcing them to take all the damage. But since main-hand axe is mainly condition damage, you’re going to be better of with an off-hand torch.

By mainly condition damage you mean one skill?

It’s a 1h weapon. You don’t need to have more than one skill dealing condition damage

Using this logic our sword is a condi weapon as well…

…unless you read the rest of the sentence:

Dahkeus.8243:

It’s a 1h weapon. You don’t need to have more than one skill dealing condition damage and the reason it’s noteable as a condition damage is because it’s the only weapon that can put up 5 stacks of bleeds in one attack.

Hopefully you can understand the difference between a poison and 5 stacks of bleeds dropped at once.

Also, I took a couple seconds to pull numbers on axe vs short bow. With no talents, runes, etc. in the mists, the axe takes down the heavy golem in 1:17 (and that’s with a couple bounce backs happening when it’s only 2 targets). The shortbow does the same job in 0:51.

In other words, the axe did about a third less damage.

My point is that a weapon having 1 condition damage skill doesn’t mean its a condition weapon. Axe is not only viable in condition build. All ranger weapons are viable. Despite what you say, these are my opinions. By the way, axe is not a autoattack weapon like the shortbow is. How about use each skill once in succession and see which one does more damage? Neither is a fair test, they are different weapons that are played differently.

Jazenn.7526:

Dahkeus.8243:

Durzlla.6295:

Dahkeus.8243:

Jazenn.7526:

Kasama.8941:

Whirling Defense can be pretty devastating if you snare someone first, forcing them to take all the damage. But since main-hand axe is mainly condition damage, you’re going to be better of with an off-hand torch.

By mainly condition damage you mean one skill?

It’s a 1h weapon. You don’t need to have more than one skill dealing condition damage

Using this logic our sword is a condi weapon as well…

…unless you read the rest of the sentence:

Dahkeus.8243:

It’s a 1h weapon. You don’t need to have more than one skill dealing condition damage and the reason it’s noteable as a condition damage is because it’s the only weapon that can put up 5 stacks of bleeds in one attack.

Hopefully you can understand the difference between a poison and 5 stacks of bleeds dropped at once.

Also, I took a couple seconds to pull numbers on axe vs short bow. With no talents, runes, etc. in the mists, the axe takes down the heavy golem in 1:17 (and that’s with a couple bounce backs happening when it’s only 2 targets). The shortbow does the same job in 0:51.

In other words, the axe did about a third less damage.

My point is that a weapon having 1 condition damage skill doesn’t mean its a condition weapon. Axe is not only viable in condition build. All ranger weapons are viable. Despite what you say, these are my opinions. By the way, axe is not a autoattack weapon like the shortbow is. How about use each skill once in succession and see which one does more damage? Neither is a fair test, they are different weapons that are played differently.

I did a conservative comparison without conditions (the shortbow time was while attacking from the front).

If I use splitblade on cooldown and attack from the back with shortbow while using Poison Volley, here are the numbers from 5 tests on how long it takes to down the golem:
short bow: 16 seconds
axe: 28 seconds (25 if you count trials where the axe bounced between 2 targets for part of the time).

And before you say it, I know you can’t keep up strafing all the time, so yes, if you stand in front of your enemy when you use the shortbow, but always get 5 stacks of bleed from splitblade, you will do more damage with axe…when you have no talents.

When you consider scaling, things tip in the favor of the shortbow. I redid the tests with 30 marks, 30 skirmishing, runes of the ranger, and sigils of accuracy. The only talent that was picked up to affect weapon damage was honed axes. With this setup, if I attack only from the front (using poison volley once with short bow), here are the numbers:
Short bow: 11, 11, 10, 11, 10
average = 10.6
axe: 15, 14, 15, 13, 14
average = 14.2
In other words, even when you attack only from the front, even when you use splitblade on cooldown, even when you talent into honed axes, and even when you gear for precision/crit damage, the short bow STILL comes out ahead.

If you still want to believe that axes do equal or better damage, then feel free to, but I’ve wasted enough time trying to show you the reality on this issue.

That would mean they deal equal or greater damage because the axe (both main and off hand) are AoE weapons, if its a messily 4seconds behind the short bow WITHOUT using winters bite (which hits like a truck) then in a situation the axe shines it’ll be doing a lot more overall damage.

As said earlier you have to realize the axe is not an auto attack weapon, you’re supposed to use its skills often, that’s why they have such ridiculously short CDs , it’s also the only non thief weapon that -doesn’t- have a CD reduction trait.

Durzlla.6295:

That would mean they deal equal or greater damage because the axe (both main and off hand) are AoE weapons, if its a messily 4seconds behind the short bow WITHOUT using winters bite (which hits like a truck) then in a situation the axe shines it’ll be doing a lot more overall damage.

As said earlier you have to realize the axe is not an auto attack weapon, you’re supposed to use its skills often, that’s why they have such ridiculously short CDs , it’s also the only non thief weapon that -doesn’t- have a CD reduction trait.

You…do know that Winter’s Bite has the same weapon damage as Ricochet, right?
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Winter's_Bite
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Ricochet
It also has double the cast time.

As for the axe not being an auto-attack weapon, go back and read my last post as that was addressed, considered, and tested.

If you’re not even going to read what I post and are going to try to argue that something like Winter’s Bite is a high dps skill, then don’t expect a reply next time…this is getting stupid.

Dahkeus.8243:

Durzlla.6295:

That would mean they deal equal or greater damage because the axe (both main and off hand) are AoE weapons, if its a messily 4seconds behind the short bow WITHOUT using winters bite (which hits like a truck) then in a situation the axe shines it’ll be doing a lot more overall damage.

As said earlier you have to realize the axe is not an auto attack weapon, you’re supposed to use its skills often, that’s why they have such ridiculously short CDs , it’s also the only non thief weapon that -doesn’t- have a CD reduction trait.

You…do know that Winter’s Bite has the same weapon damage as Ricochet, right?
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Winter's_Bite
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Ricochet
It also has double the cast time.

As for the axe not being an auto-attack weapon, go back and read my last post as that was addressed, considered, and tested.

If you’re not even going to read what I post and are going to try to argue that something like Winter’s Bite is a high dps skill, then don’t expect a reply next time…this is getting stupid.

Well I -thought- it was winters bite that was hitting hard…. Now there’s a mystery on my hands on what’s hitting my enemies so hard… Maybe it’s my drakes chomp…

My bad.

Can’t see why it wouldn’t work. But unfortunately Axe offhand has 1 really good skill, and 1 awful one. At range (which is what mainhand Axe forces you to fight in) the #5 is useful only defensively. I prefer Axe offhand better in melee (1h sword) because I can utilize both #5’s functions. Still, #4 is a wasted skill and while #5 looks cool & is highly functional, there are better options.

Mainhand axe works better with Warhorn or Torch. At range, they’re just such better weapons.

Dahkeus.8243:

Jazenn.7526:

Dahkeus.8243:

Durzlla.6295:

Dahkeus.8243:

Jazenn.7526:

Kasama.8941:

Whirling Defense can be pretty devastating if you snare someone first, forcing them to take all the damage. But since main-hand axe is mainly condition damage, you’re going to be better of with an off-hand torch.

By mainly condition damage you mean one skill?

It’s a 1h weapon. You don’t need to have more than one skill dealing condition damage

Using this logic our sword is a condi weapon as well…

…unless you read the rest of the sentence:

Dahkeus.8243:

It’s a 1h weapon. You don’t need to have more than one skill dealing condition damage and the reason it’s noteable as a condition damage is because it’s the only weapon that can put up 5 stacks of bleeds in one attack.

Hopefully you can understand the difference between a poison and 5 stacks of bleeds dropped at once.

Also, I took a couple seconds to pull numbers on axe vs short bow. With no talents, runes, etc. in the mists, the axe takes down the heavy golem in 1:17 (and that’s with a couple bounce backs happening when it’s only 2 targets). The shortbow does the same job in 0:51.

In other words, the axe did about a third less damage.

My point is that a weapon having 1 condition damage skill doesn’t mean its a condition weapon. Axe is not only viable in condition build. All ranger weapons are viable. Despite what you say, these are my opinions. By the way, axe is not a autoattack weapon like the shortbow is. How about use each skill once in succession and see which one does more damage? Neither is a fair test, they are different weapons that are played differently.

I did a conservative comparison without conditions (the shortbow time was while attacking from the front).

If I use splitblade on cooldown and attack from the back with shortbow while using Poison Volley, here are the numbers from 5 tests on how long it takes to down the golem:
short bow: 16 seconds
axe: 28 seconds (25 if you count trials where the axe bounced between 2 targets for part of the time).

And before you say it, I know you can’t keep up strafing all the time, so yes, if you stand in front of your enemy when you use the shortbow, but always get 5 stacks of bleed from splitblade, you will do more damage with axe…when you have no talents.

When you consider scaling, things tip in the favor of the shortbow. I redid the tests with 30 marks, 30 skirmishing, runes of the ranger, and sigils of accuracy. The only talent that was picked up to affect weapon damage was honed axes. With this setup, if I attack only from the front (using poison volley once with short bow), here are the numbers:
Short bow: 11, 11, 10, 11, 10
average = 10.6
axe: 15, 14, 15, 13, 14
average = 14.2
In other words, even when you attack only from the front, even when you use splitblade on cooldown, even when you talent into honed axes, and even when you gear for precision/crit damage, the short bow STILL comes out ahead.

If you still want to believe that axes do equal or better damage, then feel free to, but I’ve wasted enough time trying to show you the reality on this issue.

I already said what I have to say, throwing more numbers is wasting your own time. Axe is not an auto attack weapon and it distrubute damage among multiple opponents better imo. But whatever lol.

To the OP, I use axe mainhand almost exclusively, apart from specialty situations like graveling burrows where the axe is bugged and I’m forced to use dreatsword . I normally use warhorn & torch offhands, each with a Sigil of Battle, which gives 20 sec (modified to 30) of 3 stacks of Might on weapon swap, which I do on the 10 second cooldown. I trait Offhand Training to shave the cooldown on Bonfire & Hunter’s Call to 20 seconds, so they don’t interfere with keeping Might up.

Given that setup, there are two PvE situations that I use an axe offhand (with another Battle sigil) rather than the warhorn. In both places, what I’m doing is throwing Bonfire, immediately switching to the axe offhand, then popping Whirling Defense. What this does is serve two helpings of ouch to the mobs on me, as well as throw a dozen or so fire bolts around from the whirl finish. These do no damage, but stack an extra second of burning on whatever they hit. Since I do this move when stuff is up on my face, the bolts are more likely to hit something.

This works nicely when getting overrun by melee mobs, as in CoF when defending Maggs. The other place that it’s handy is on Alpha in CoE. My guild likes to bumrush him into the one of the stacks of crates, both to avoid the red circles (he doesn’t do those at point blank range) and to make it easier to bust people out of crystals. Since he’s just one guy, he catches fewer flaming bolts, but WD will pop crystals, give him some pain, and stack vulnerability.

General PvE, though? Always an axe mainhand with torch & warhorn offhands.

To the comment about axe mainhand being lower DPS than shortbow, this is true only on a single target. The axe is slower, but harder hitting per shot. Against multiple targets, it’s more total direct DPS. They are different tools for different purposes. Shortbow is better at burning down a single target, especially if you can flank. Axe is better at bringing pressure on a group of mobs. What other class has a ranged aoe autoattack?

Daemon Hawk.9406:

To the OP, I use axe mainhand almost exclusively, apart from specialty situations like graveling burrows where the axe is bugged and I’m forced to use dreatsword . I normally use warhorn & torch offhands, each with a Sigil of Battle, which gives 20 sec (modified to 30) of 3 stacks of Might on weapon swap, which I do on the 10 second cooldown. I trait Offhand Training to shave the cooldown on Bonfire & Hunter’s Call to 20 seconds, so they don’t interfere with keeping Might up.

Given that setup, there are two PvE situations that I use an axe offhand (with another Battle sigil) rather than the warhorn. In both places, what I’m doing is throwing Bonfire, immediately switching to the axe offhand, then popping Whirling Defense. What this does is serve two helpings of ouch to the mobs on me, as well as throw a dozen or so fire bolts around from the whirl finish. These do no damage, but stack an extra second of burning on whatever they hit. Since I do this move when stuff is up on my face, the bolts are more likely to hit something.

This works nicely when getting overrun by melee mobs, as in CoF when defending Maggs. The other place that it’s handy is on Alpha in CoE. My guild likes to bumrush him into the one of the stacks of crates, both to avoid the red circles (he doesn’t do those at point blank range) and to make it easier to bust people out of crystals. Since he’s just one guy, he catches fewer flaming bolts, but WD will pop crystals, give him some pain, and stack vulnerability.

General PvE, though? Always an axe mainhand with torch & warhorn offhands.

To the comment about axe mainhand being lower DPS than shortbow, this is true only on a single target. The axe is slower, but harder hitting per shot. Against multiple targets, it’s more total direct DPS. They are different tools for different purposes. Shortbow is better at burning down a single target, especially if you can flank. Axe is better at bringing pressure on a group of mobs. What other class has a ranged aoe autoattack?

I thought I was the only person who used almost solely mainland axe xD, and Staff Eles also have a ranged AoE auto attack, which is why my ele uses a staff lol. I’ve always been more of a fan of WDing in my ice trap for chill, but then again I feel our builds fill vastly different roles!

Durzlla.6295:

I thought I was the only person who used almost solely mainland axe xD, and Staff Eles also have a ranged AoE auto attack, which is why my ele uses a staff lol. I’ve always been more of a fan of WDing in my ice trap for chill, but then again I feel our builds fill vastly different roles!

Cool! I find Eles weapon sets confusing as heck, but then I’ve never played one. Learned something new. Thanks!

And yeah, I’m a supportive beastmaster, and half the reason I pump might is to load it on my pet with Fortifying Bond. That likely is very different from your focus.

Yea, in the end, choose what you like. I mean, while there are some performance differences, there’s not really any content that requires you to truly min/max to succeed. I mean, my wife runs a staff ele with a dps-focused because it works and that’s what she enjoys.

If axes are really what you enjoy and you can use them well, then there’s nothing to keep you from really getting ahead. Very high level fractals are really the only place that will restrict you, but honestly even if you run with a perfect min/maxed build, you will never perform as well as something like a mesmer or guardian of equal gear/skill anyways.

Dahkeus.8243:

Yea, in the end, choose what you like. I mean, while there are some performance differences, there’s not really any content that requires you to truly min/max to succeed. I mean, my wife runs a staff ele with a dps-focused because it works and that’s what she enjoys.

If axes are really what you enjoy and you can use them well, then there’s nothing to keep you from really getting ahead. Very high level fractals are really the only place that will restrict you, but honestly even if you run with a perfect min/maxed build, you will never perform as well as something like a mesmer or guardian of equal gear/skill anyways.

Lol the highest I’ve ever gotten was lv 7 in fractals then I got bored of running the same thing over and over again, I was never much of a “raider” for the same reason xD.

My build is more around keeping the enemies from going anywhere by using chills, also have big AoE DPS through my drake and burst through my bird.