Guild Wars 2

viable? And if so, where? (Dungeon/PvP/ or WvW)?

Right now, esp. in dungeons I run GS w S/M, the vuln on Mace 4 is wonderful, just wondering if axe 4/5 can match up.

The general consensus is that axe offhand is underperforming in pretty much every area.

5 is usually a dps loss unless you’re hitting at least 5 enemies, and 4 does mediocre damage and grants fury, a boon that is easily obtainable in other ways.

It doesn’t offer any utility, and doesn’t output enough damage to make it worth it. Especially when the competition is Sword, Mace, Shield and Warhorn, which all excel at either damage or utility.

Axe off-hand isn’t as bad as people make out.

Axe-4 can hit 3 targets, for 2 times each… which is 18 sec of fury on a 12 sec timer. You aren’t always hitting 3 targets, GS gets fury for free, and you might have the shout or signet, or tactics and get it on cripples… but if you don’t, it’s a decent talent.

Axe-5 is a whirl finisher, hits targets all around rather than just a front cone, and can rapidly fill an addren bar. It’s OK.

They aren’t so much worse that they aren’t viable; just not optimal. My gut feeling is that if the placement of the GS and axe talents were reversed, axe would look a lot more attractive. Axe isn’t so much weak because it’s innately bad; it’s just that the GS has an overpowered-talent supporting it in a otherwise sucky spot.

No. Offhand Axe is bad everywhere. Fury is easy to get in more effective ways than what offhand Axe can provide and Axe #5 does terrible damage. I don’t recommend ever using offhand Axe unless you want to do it for aesthetic purposes or just because you particularly enjoy it. This is a video game after all and I think it’s important to play something if you like playing it.

If we’re strictly talking whether it’s good or bad however, it is bad.

Fair enough, I’ll stick with mace.

Axe is good in niche situations if you are running phalanx strength with fried dumplings, and use axe 5 against multiple targets to be able to stack a big amount of might in a really short time.
Other than that mace offhand is superior

Axe #4 needs protection or aegis instead of fury… Or something. Axe #5 needs a reflect trait or damage buff.

A couple gimmick builds exist that use offhand axe in sPvP/WvW, you might want to check this one out:

http://intothemists.com/guides/5777-the_finisher

But in general, you can do far better with any other offhand.