Guild Wars 2

First of all i am not a fan of warrior with axe. My main warrior is gs rifle build which i am quite satisfied. But seeing the recent axe buff i get this idea out of my head, a dual axe warrior in wvw.

Anyway i am bored with my 2nd warrior in condition gear and i regear him in power gear and dual axe. After some roaming i found dual axe kind of lacking, so i am here to look for some guidance.

Is dual axe warrior even viable in wvw? Did anyone able to make it work to some extend? I am fine either core war or berserker, please delight me with builds and video.

Thank you fellow warriors.

Shinryuku a popular Warrior streamer on Twitch has been using dual axe in wvw roaming and doing quite well. But then again he’s good enough that he’d probably do well dual wielding tooth picks.

I’ve been using it along with gs to good effect. The damage pressure is very high, but I suspect some of its success is due to people being unfamiliar with the offhand axe. It’s also vulnerable to ranged pressure, obviously.

But I’ve been having fun with it, and I’m clearing camps in under 15s, sometimes with lower skilled defenders in them.

It’s def possible I just think no ones really ever going to use it a lot simply because it lacks mobility and has 0 defensive choices on it. Especially now that eternal champion doesn’t pulse stab open to an easy int from say a thief while spinning not the end of the world its just another thing that isnt a plus for the wep set is all in that game setting.

Spartacus.3192:

Shinryuku a popular Warrior streamer on Twitch has been using dual axe in wvw roaming and doing quite well. But then again he’s good enough that he’d probably do well dual wielding tooth picks.

I have watched his video, surprised i was beaten by him once 6+ months ago when i was still relatively wvw newbie.

Anyway, his fight inspirited me quite a lot and i had quite a bit of fun today with dual axe gs setup. I think i will keep exploring the potential of dual axe.

Thank you!

Axe is still pretty bad except for the Adrenaline Strike (and that is questionable given current Berserker comparables). The main purpose is damage but it still isn’t where it once was years ago.

The main issue is that is lacks closing/defense while being a melee weapon. Even in the example given above, it is supplemented by Greatsword mobility because by itself, Axe is still nigh-worthless/clunky except as a finisher.

Generally speaking, I would make Axe more synergistic with all Warrior weapons and add more Vulnerability condition stacking.

Add 3x Vulnerability to Triple Chop.

Cyclone Axe should provide projectile reflect ala Electro-Whirl.

Throw Axe should be swapped with Cyclone Axe and have cooldown halved (4s), cripple duration halved (2s). The damage is pitiful, targets one opponent, the after cast animation is long and cripple condition is the weakest soft CC (and equally susceptible to opponent projectile hate block/reflect). It would make sense to keep in Axe theme to add 2x Vulnerability condition too or add a single stack bleed (synergize with Arms line).

Dual Strike improvements are better by adding Quickness boon but it still lacks range. A single cone outwards for 600 range (or 900 to mimic Sword offhand) would provide some more potential use.

Whirling Axe is currently balanced on the Whirl finisher and number of strikes (building Adrenaline per) but those strikes are not homing so it normally does very good damage on larger PvE targets when you stand inside the hit box (or in enemy WvW zergs) if target can be meleed and is pretty bad for just about everything else. The radius could be pushed to 240 easily. And since it doesn’t have a soft CC component, doesn’t block/evade during, it should have a larger pressure AoE. Adding 1s Blind condition per second channel would also be a potential option. The move speed increase should also just be changed to Superspeed.

Axe/axe has been my main since I started playing WvW seriously, most of this has been pre patch.

Like any weapon set it has advantages and disadvantages. The cleave ability is insane, it can also be quite bursty at times. Lack of mobility, defense, and easily telegraphed attacks round out the prime negatives.

For roaming its a very poor choice, mobility, stealth, and heavy cc builds can really pressure the weapon set hard. It is through group play where Axe/axe shines. You gain the time and the space to go through your rotations and bursts. Your cleave also gains maximum effectiveness. Its harder for enemies to dodge your telegraphed attacks in that setting. Finally, team mates can help to negate your weaknesses allowing you to concentrate on your damage.

You dont really want to play front-line in larger battles, but in smaller groups you can be a lot more aggressive, especially in certain match-ups. That is the most fun for me.

A huge counter is CC, it can ruin your damage potential, mace/shield is a good counter to axe/axe on the melee side of things. Ranged attackers can also pose problems if they can kite effectively. The lack of a gap closer can really hurt in that situation.

I have tried different variations but right now I am going pretty hard on offense in gearing and skills. Its just more fun to play for me.

I still roam with dual axe but its not the strongest, as long as I can survive long enough to get some rotations going for adrenal heal and life steal I can do ok (really comes down to the match-up I get). Its far more devastating in small groups.