Thoughts on axe/axe warrior?
I pretty much main Axe/Axe but in WvW, its pretty much the same idea though (burst). I run Marauders armor with Berserker everything else. Axe is a very bursty weapon so running slightly on the glassy side really brings home the damage. I personally feel like its too weak of a weapon when running too defensive, so avoid too much of that.
I generally run core warrior, but if you choose not too that’s fine too, I find the strength line to be a great boost because I like to run Axe Mastery, I feel it does make a difference for axe centric builds. Its harder to run the strength line when you are a Berserker, they generally run Berserker, Defense, and Discipline.
I like to run Strength, Defense, and Discipline on my core warrior. I get more quality of life stuff like Axe Mastery and damage from my dodge rolls. But that’s a personal thing for me.
Since I am WvW most of the time, I tend to run defensive scrapper runes in my armor. Mostly due to not having a Shield. In open world you can most likely go offensive, even more so if you run with Friends.
I also like to run Sigil of Strength in my offhand axe and charge up the might stacks with Axe 5. I almost always dodge roll for the extra 10% damage (Stick and Move) after axe 5, and then I hit Eviscerate. It hits hard doing this. That makes for a nice little burst.
When I combine this combo with Axe4, Axe 2, Axe 5, dodge roll and then Eviscerate it really does do a nice burst. Remember to pop anything that gives you more might before the burst as well.
I also run Sigil of Cruelty on my 2nd Weapon set, and I try to always have 25 stacks whenever possible. With good timing of Signet of Rage, you should have the CHC to take advantage of the extra ferocity.
For food I tend to run a power sharpening stone and mussels Gnashblade for some extra damage reduction and boon duration, again mostly due to WvW and no Sheild. Feel free to experiment with others.
The one real big negative with Axe/Axe is the short range and lack of a Shield, I like to balance those weaknesses with my 2nd weapon set. I really like Rifle in certain match-ups, and Sword/Shield in others.
Besides the armor and weapon stats, Axe Mastery is a must though, with 5 axe skills on your bar, the longer cool-downs when not running it make the weapon set feel so kitten slow. Having shorter cool-downs make axe burst so much better and that’s really what the weapon is about. (and the amazing cleave potential)
Have fun with it and feel free to experiment. You should have more room for that in PvE.
(edited by sneakytails.5629)
Here is something close to what I run, there is always room for changes on food, runes, traits and skills. so try it and see what you like. The Sword adds mobility and another burst option through Eviscerate, weapon swap and Sword 3. Its another high burst option you have, and done properly, you can get close to 20k in just a few button presses.
The short of it.
It works in PvE where survivability is less of an issue but is crap everywhere else.
4 is nice but a slow attack and harder to hit on a moving target.
5 can build adrenaline but does less damage than aa chain. If you are hitting 5 targets then it is obviously more as aa only hits 3. It also does not move you 50% faster. A person with swiftness can easily kite you.
So in the end it lacks shutdown, lacks mobilty, lacks defense, and may do less damage depending on your use case, and is susceptible to retaliation. But you can spin, so that is cool?
I sometimes use offhand axe just for fun and a change of pace but I pair it with mainhand sword. You get some mobility and control from sword and final trust is a half substitute for eviscerate. You still benefit from axe mastery with it. The animation of final thrust can also be hidden in whirling axe.
For the other weapon set I use axe/shield or gs.
Got to platinum in several seasons with axe mainhand, and to platinum in the current season with axe main and offhand (no Heart of Thrones so yeah there’s that…)
After shield #4 cast time was nerfed (its distance was already nerfed long ago to be nearly useless), and the way unblockables have taken over the meta, I went back to my old pipedream of offhand axe shenanigans.
The change to axe #4 was nice (quickness instead of fury), but as already said the movement speed from axe #5 isn’t a thing (it’s slower than swiftness, and if you have Warrior’s Sprint like 100% of warrior builds, then it doesn’t apply).
Therefore I would say it’s the best offhand now, and very good for mainhand as well. While it sacrifices all mobility and defensive options, it does serve a role in pvp. It’s a sort of counter to blind-spam due to its very fast attack speed, and the damage it puts out is like a permanent and mobile 100-blades.
Don’t use axe #5 for damage but as a feint as GrackFields mentioned. The dmg per hit is very low, so classes with heavy retaliation you will quickly end up killing yourself. Instead use it to scare an opponent into popping a stunbreak or CC, many people see its animation and think it must be dangerous.
Personally I go the Arms route for the passive signet of might + passive quickness, does very well against thieves, mesmers, and guardians. Does quite poorly against necros and revs and berserker warriors.