All I run now is Axe/GS these days. My version of the build is still highly experimental so I’m messing around with it a lot.
I call it, The Bunker Buster
You’ll notice some really strange decisions right off the bat. Most noticeable is the lack of Balanced Stance and the use of Frenzy, Last Stand, and Defiant Stance. The whole build is centered around doing one big burst every minute or so. The combo is just like at launch but slightly different: Start off in Berserker Stance → Bull’s Charge → 100b → then depending on the situation you either Whirlwind attack or or swap to Axe/Shield AS THEY ARE STANDING UP → and use Eviscerate. It’s supposed to be used on a target with is either light on stun breaks or ideally on a target that isn’t focused on you. If I’m going mid I always take the long way and show up to the party a bit late, then pick my victim and annihilate them in a few short seconds. Some don’t survive past 100b and you can swap targets and use the 100% crit chance Evis on someone coming to revive them. The use of Defiant Stance is going to all depend on the situation. Sometimes I just use it just as I do the burst because you’ll be immune to conditions, Last Stand will hopefully cover CC, and you’ll be healing for more because of Frenzy. There’s also plenty of damaging dodge rolls to be had with all the Vigor and Sigil of Energy.
Now for the glaring weaknesses. No CI, no Balanced Stance. After your burst is done you should probably high-tail it out of there unless the battle was won. Go support someone else or rush to an open node. Your speed is your sustain. Sigil of Generosity is nice for some light condi mitigation when Zerker Stance is down, but never, EVER fight a condi user without your combo being ready. Don’t open up with it, see if you can bait out dodges and maybe a stun breaker/Stability with Shield Bash. Another potential weakness, lags effect on Bull’s Charge. Sometimes the skill will totally miss or send you flying past while still knocking them down. That’s typically when you Whirlwind Attack back and go for the Evis then bug out. When it works though, it’s totally devastating. I have poor internet so it affects me more than most. You also have only 8 second of Stability every 90 seconds. I couldn’t find any better way to deal with this. if you want to spike you NEED Frenzy and you NEED Zerker Stance and you NEED Bull’s Charge. Remove any of those and the spike doesn’t work in many situations. With good teamwork though, your Guardian can give you some when you go in and problem solved. Defiant Stance really needs to be an instant cast though, it’s so reliant on timing and that 1/4th second can totally screw you over, but it can also make you unkillable while in the middle of a hectic fight over mid because the second they see you healing they stop attacking but almost always too late.
Basically, you go in, kill one or more targets, then move on and make yourself useful somewhere else. I’ve actually won 2v1s because if you quickly down one target then cleave with 100b while their teammate tries to revive you can actually outdamage the revive long enough to down them as well.
