Guild Wars 2

Hello! I’m a noob (well, I played a tiny bit at release) so don’t be too tough on me. I really like the idea of a Norn ranger dual wielding axes. Is this viable for PvE? I plan to do open world only, no dungeons (at least not for a good bit).

Thanks for any advice!

What do you mean ‘viable for open world PvE’? You could do open world pve in this game without a weapon as a ranger just having your pet kill stuff

I mean is the damage output acceptable? Is it good enough to do open world PvE without being badly behind the curve?

Like I said, I’m new.

Axe auto attack is horrible dps and only average in multi target situations. It’ll be ok, but as a new player it would make levelling more of a challenge than some other weapons. Also, once you reach late endgame open world pve (Ruins of Orr + living story) you will want to probably get a weapon with good single target damage (longbow, or sword)

OK, thank you. I wonder why they have a weapon type in game that’s so far behind on the DPS of other weapons? I mean, why even bother having it?

Victros Axe falls behind due to the issue of its auto attack requiring multiple targets to reach full strength. however as a weapon itself its concept and implementation is sound. youl want to have a single target weapon set to use though

After the patch its dps will be better. but it will still rely on a bounce attack. So use it when you have multiple mobs to fight that are spread out. and use a different weapon when there clsoe together or theres only one mob

The axe can have better damage than the long bow in cetain situation. a full zerker Ranger will crit for about 4k with lb and max ranger. The same ranger can crit for 2k with axe main hand with over 50% crit change you should normal crit twice attacking say another ranger.

In most pve situations you will fight a lot of trash mob imo axe is better than any other range weapon in this situation. While farming events axe is better,the range and aoe make it hands down the best.

It comes down to knowing the strength of each weapon and knowing when to use them. If you only run x weapon your just hampering your ability to grow.

Dual axe is a lot of fun, levelled up with that setup on second ranger! Main hand axe aa is really only best fighting more than one but there is a lot more to that setup, path of scars is very high dips which makes up for it just fine. The fun factor is really high to which counts for a lot IMO.

Open world you’ll be just fine.

Victros.8154:

OK, thank you. I wonder why they have a weapon type in game that’s so far behind on the DPS of other weapons? I mean, why even bother having it?

The axe mechanic probably made more sense early in the design of the game. Longbow and shortbow are essentially single-target weapons (longbow’s Barrage being the exception, but its very restrictive in that it forces you to stand in place and lead the targets). Axe is basically a mid-long range AOE weapon. Its lower DPS reflects that.

Then they went and limited the range of buffs, meaning everyone stacks, making a long-range AOE weapon rather pointless. You lose out on your party’s buffs if you stand far enough away to take advantage of the range, and your party is stacked so the enemy also stacks, meaning sword and GS can cleave on most anything that axe would cleave on. If combat were more spread out so that melee weapons only occasionally hit 2 targets, and rarely hit 3, the greater range on axe’s cleave/bounce would give it a DPS advantage.

Numerically, axes is 1 attack/sec @ 0.5 coefficient. So its DPS is:

• 0.5 coeff/sec vs 1 target
• 1.5 coeff/sec vs 2-3 targets
  bleed damage not included

Sword’s is 3 attacks per 1.8 sec @ 0.6, 0.6 (doesn’t cleave), 0.7 coefficient. So it’s DPS is:

• 1.05 coeff/sec vs 1 target
• 1.78 coeff/sec vs 2 targets
• 2.5 coeff/sec vs 3 targets

So you can see the overlap is when axe can hit 2-3 targets with its range while sword can only hit 1. The might buff (theoretical max 9 stacks of might, or +315 power and cond damage) will help. But for most builds it’ll be about an addition 16%-18% damage. That will just barely put axe on par with sword against 2 targets (bleed damage will probably tip it in axe’s favor). Still much worse against 1 or 3 targets.

Axe will be much better in 2 weeks when it’s auto attacks grant might and the next wave of celestial cheese storms begin.

It’s not always about the math. Yes on paper melee looks more appealing. We know range has less damage. We also know that not all mob will stack. You can use line of sight to force them to stack, but in open world there is just as many caster as melee.

The time it take you to get into melee range in a farming situation will most likely result in a dead mob before you get a single hit in. I Guess that’s why so many people like partying with staff guardians.

Each player has a play style and certain style work better with certain weapons. Find what works best for you. Then find a mentor that has a similar play style, but don’t be afraid to try something new.