Guild Wars 2

Right now on my warrior I am running a Swordm/Axe build that is pretty good at applying bleeds and good cc with clipples, immobi and whirling axe.

However I see a lot of praise for axe/axe wars (running a crit build I believe) and as I used to run axe/axe back when i was leveling up (80 now), it has me wondering if i should ditch my sword and switch to an axe/axe crit type of build?

Note: this is for general PvE like farming in orr, DEs and Dungeons, not WvW or PvP.

What do you guys think, which weapon combo for war have you found most effective and suited for generally smashing faces in PvE?

A bleed build will generally do more damage over time than a direct damage build. You can expect axes to kill smaller, weaker things more quickly, but for swords to do more damage in long protracted fights. In events with lots of players, there’s a limit of 25 stacks of bleeding, so a lot of your sword damage might be wasted there.

I’m in the same boat as you. Started with axes, and moved to sword. I like the sword better. The leap attack is great for some jumping puzzles, too.

Yea I definitely like the gap closing abilities, and the quick applications of bleed and vulnerability is nice, and might stacking on myself

But I do feel like I am contributing less in some events because my bleed just isnt having much effect compared to the harder hitting crit builds.

Having more than two weapon sets that work with your build helps a lot. If you are in a group that puts up 25 stacks of bleeding before you even auto attack, you may want to switch to axes.

I use Longbow and Hammer for AoE and Rifle and Swords for single target in dungeons. Both sets have gap closers that make consistent leaping in and out of melee possible.