Guild Wars 2

Axe + Mace has potential all right. Ever since the Axe 1 buff.

Schwahrheit.4203:

Axe + Mace has potential all right. Ever since the Axe 1 buff.

When did axe get a buff? and now that you mention it…I do start to see a lot of these axe/mace combo more than GS.

It didn’t exactly get buffed. The third part of the chain was made “more responsive”, which I think meant it could be canceled quicker.

Shadowscamp.8065:

It didn’t exactly get buffed. The third part of the chain was made “more responsive”, which I think meant it could be canceled quicker.

Which was true for 2 months now.

Axe/Shield > Axe/Mace

And still, these are a mere supplement to GS.

Edelweiss.9815:

~snip~

sayl.6307:

Axe: The role of the axe is damage/area of effect and has the highest sustained damage available to the warrior.

Been rolling with axe/mace since 3 day headstart. I personally hate that we can cancel the third swing, gets annoying even if it does let you hit a lil bit faster.

Axe+mace is an awesome damage set and one of the sets I enjoyed playing the most. Especially if you have the immo on cripple trait and after the on the move tremor cast change it was even more awesome, but sadly I found it lacking in tournas. Since I lost the mobility from gs and while trying to compensate with sword+shield I just felt like I was g i m p i n g myself further from avoiding the gs.

Could go gs/axe+mace, but I could never see myself dropping shield. :/

Palinois.1064:

Edelweiss.9815:

~snip~

sayl.6307:

Axe: The role of the axe is damage/area of effect and has the highest sustained damage available to the warrior.

Been rolling with axe/mace since 3 day headstart. I personally hate that we can cancel the third swing, gets annoying even if it does let you hit a lil bit faster.

Didn’t some guy calaculate that Chop and Double Chop deal greater DPS than Triple Chop, meaning you always need to cancel it?

I know triple chop hits harder and the first two parts hit faster but I haven’t seen any math so far.

I wonder how the design decision came about.

I guess it makes sense with an axe you are hacking your opponent to death. The button mashing feels like you are hacking away mindlessly, which is a pretty cool feeling. “DIE DIE DIE!!!!”

Tested against heavy golem:
autoattack: 127 seconds, 128 seconds
spam: 117 seconds, 117 seconds

Who needs math?

I’d rather have a knock down that brings to my opponent instead of making me run to them. There’s plenty of other ways to get away that are far better as well. (Rush, Whirlwind, Swiftness + Shield Stance)
Plus:
Mace OH – 4% more damage, 2 second knockdown
Shield OH – 1 second knockdown, 3 seconds invulnerability
So, 4% damage instead of 2 more seconds of surviving. Am I missing something? I guess the slight chance of a slow moving projectile giving an extra knockdown or 2 is kind of good…

Well, see. That’s the point. One is more offensive, one is more defensive. A shield is meant to defend things, after all. I prefer running with shield in WvW because sometimes I need that invulnerability to get into an objective. Mace is certainly a more offensive weapon with a ranged knockdown and vuln attack, but sometimes you just need a shield.

Wethospu.6437:

Tested against heavy golem:
autoattack: 127 seconds, 128 seconds
spam: 117 seconds, 117 seconds

Who needs math?

Well since those numbers make no sense to me I need math apparently. Was that time it took to kill it?

Problem with this build is kiters in general, not limited to Rifle warrior, Necro, and short bow with Thieves or Rangers for that matter. It has nice initiating power but you have to actually have a legit comp with good range and assassination DPS to compliment it.

How would axe/mace + rifle perform?

You lack the defense and mobility of the x/shield offset, but you get something to murder kiters with and to bait melee to get into axe range

Axe/sheild with soldier gear and beserker jewelry is a seriously tought set up.

Palinois.1064:

Wethospu.6437:

Tested against heavy golem:
autoattack: 127 seconds, 128 seconds
spam: 117 seconds, 117 seconds

Who needs math?

Well since those numbers make no sense to me I need math apparently. Was that time it took to kill it?

Yep

Nergrom.7592:

How would axe/mace + rifle perform?

You lack the defense and mobility of the x/shield offset, but you get something to murder kiters with and to bait melee to get into axe range

I run axe/shield and rifle in WvW. With Warrior’s Sprint I lose a bit of chasing power when I switch to rifle, but I also get a long ranged cripple. You can get that on them, and then land a mace 5 or bait some other dodges. So to answer your question, it performs very well. I never like to be without a ranged weapon, and I like Rifle much more than I do Longbow, so.

Nergrom.7592:

How would axe/mace + rifle perform?

You lack the defense and mobility of the x/shield offset, but you get something to murder kiters with and to bait melee to get into axe range

Seems impractical but it might work..

Shadowscamp.8065:

Well, see. That’s the point. One is more offensive, one is more defensive. A shield is meant to defend things, after all. I prefer running with shield in WvW because sometimes I need that invulnerability to get into an objective. Mace is certainly a more offensive weapon with a ranged knockdown and vuln attack, but sometimes you just need a shield.

Okay, maybe I should explain this with more detail.

Tremor is no more viable as an offensive skill than Shield Stance is; having to run to an opponent during the knockdown really makes it pointless. Both of them can function as a gap closer. Tremor gives you 2 seconds to get to them in a situation where they can’t move. Shield Stance gives you 3 seconds to get to them in a situation where you can’t be stopped or slowed. Your opponent should be crippled most of the fight, so more than likely you should have no problem getting right in their face with Stance. When using Tremor’s knockdown, you can still be brought to a halt by another interfering player, assuming your target hasn’t already used a stun breaker or just evaded the ability from the start.

As far as Crushing Blow goes, a 4% increase in damage probably doesn’t even measure up to getting a single extra hit off from the 1 second daze provided by Shield Bash, even if the fight carried on for the duration of the condition.

So yeah… I’d say the off-hand mace has potential in dungeons due to vulnerability increasing damage output for the entire group, but in sPvP it just really isn’t up to snuff.