Guild Wars 2

I’ve had experience with both, but i wonder what other people think of the ups and downs of both weapons for main hand use.

I like the sword for it’s mobility with it’s leap, and the axe i like because of it’s straight forward damage and eviscerate. Sword lacks a decent burst, but sword comes with bleed, leap and a criple.

don’t look at it in terms of the weapon itself, rather than the utility it provides:

Leap, Immobilize, Cripple, Bleeds

vs

Ranged Cripple, Vulnerability, Small Leap, Higher damage

so it all depends what you need when you are playing.

Sword is for conditions and Axe is for Pure Damage.So if you want to get the best out of them you’ll play the way they are intended to be played.Better mobility whit conditions and survivability but better damage whit power.
PvP: both works.
PvE: I’d say Power all the way.

I roll with Sword (Main) + Axe (Offhand) / Longbow.
I find that the Leap you gain from having Sword as your Mainhand weapon provides more perks than the Axe would, because gap closers are really useful going from mob to mob or person to person, quicker…

The ranged cripple’s as much a gap closer as the leap really, just inverted.
Personally, I find the axe suits my very active movement style more than the sword. It’s quick, and all moves can be used very effectively while moving around the enemy.

Then again, I don’t really play enough with sword to know it as intimately as I do the axe, but whenever I try to use it, the slower swing speed and the less solid sound effects do nothing to endear it to me.

Much like Thief main-hand sword, the feeling of the weapon is off due to wimpy sound effects resulting in a lack of physicality which the axe and hammer possess in spades. Technically, sword may very well be just as effective as axe, but the feeling of connection just isn’t there for me.

I play without sound so the weapon “sounding wimpy” doesn’t really factor in for me

I’m running Sword/Warhorn + Rifle for WvW. I apply damage with the rifle, sword is primarily about the leap. I really like the burst’s immobilize, also the bleeds grant me +10% dmg from the Attack of Opportunity trait.

In open PvE, i only prefer the sword if i have to get from A to B, otherwise it’s all about the axe. Don’t forget, small mobs will die too fast to make the bleeds remarkable and the big event guys where 9999 ppl try to kill him often have max bleed stacks on themselves.
In dungeons it’s definitely axe. I played some time with the sword, but the mobility is just not needed and the overall damage is lower than the axe’s. The Axe has some extra vulnerability which comes in handy, sword doesn’t. The sword’s normal attacks are weaker (DPS-wise) than the axe’s and the bleeds won’t make up for it. Especially when taking in count that most bosses seem to have like -80% condition duration.

In WvW I prefer the sword over the axe. The reason is simple, PvP enemies run and will try to kite you around. You won’t be able to keep up with an axe. This is where the sword shines, the short cooldown on the leap and the extra immobilize skill help a lot.

PvE: Either. Prefer Long Bow, Rifle, or GS though because all you want is fast clear speed.

PvP: Sword

Why? You’re not the only one who can make use of immobilize on important targets. Savage Leap is a great tool to disengage. With these two simple facts, both glass cannon and tank Warriors bring more to the table than Axe ever will. At least at this moment.

Sword is extremely useful for utility in sPvP.

Example build 1: MH hammer, OH sword/shield. Hammer is the main general weapon, and sword/shield set has all the utility you need. Even the burst can be used defensively, to have a long immobilize and leap away. Sword fills what’s lacking much more than axe.

Example 2: Axe/Mace and Sword/Shield roamer. Axe is for massive damage, but since axe doesn’t provide much except damage, there’s also the sword.

Both are decent, but which you should use really depends on your other weapon set.

EDIT: formatting

I used to use Sword/axe conditionbuilt but switched to Axe/axe critbuilt lately.

Axe does a kittenload more damage than sword (at least it seems so), seems to be faster, tagging Mobs in Events is a breeze and its burst makes a nice sound. However I miss my Sword because I like the look more and I miss the leap which felt so quick and active compared to “slow” axe movement. Rolling out of something and immediately jump back in was a nice feeling.

However the sword does low direct Damage. The Bleeding damage is hard to calculate so I still have no clue what does more damage and I think you take les damage if you kill stuff fast instead of waiting for conditions t work while you are in melee. Another thing I didnt like is the Sword burst requires you to stay still for a moment while the axeburst can be setup at any moment and you may quickly escape right after if you must.

In a perfect World Axe 3 would be the swords leap and axes had the look of Swords. That would be the optimum for me.

Lots of interesting replies.

Ive been using axe/shield lately instead of sword/shield. And also changed my build into a more defensive one (15 strength, 25 defense, 30 tactics and very happy with this setup), while maintaining the same or better damage with axe. So for pve i really like to use my axe. But i also been thinking of using a sword in wvw. One of the reasons that kept me from using a sword, is because i dont like the sword burst much. However, i also use rifle as my 2nd weapon set. And to be honest, in wvw, id much rather use kill shot instead of eviscerate. I like the burst from axe, but perhaps i should save that for pve only?

Best way to test is by using it actively in wvw, and switch around between axe and sword i guess.

One thing is sure, the special recipes from the mystic forge make much better looking swords than axes :P

PvE = axe. Don’t need the extra utility a sword gives in PvE. Axe does more damage strait up for killing stuff.
PvP = sword. Need the extra utility a sword gives.