Guild Wars 2

I’m talking about Whirling Axe the Axe-5 ability.
I did some tests on its dps vs the axe auto attacks (with steady weapons).

Results
Whirling Axe: 9×15 = 135 damage in 3.25 sec
Axe auto attacks did: 35, 38, 38, 40, 40, 40, = 231 damage in 3.16 sec

Whirling Axe: 41.5 dps
Axe auto attacks: 73.1 dps

Auto attacks does 176% the dps Whirling Axe does.

The only arguements I’ve heard for Whirling axe is that it doesn’t have a target hit cap (auto attack is capped at 3) and it is a whirl combo finisher. Also it would provide roughly 2.5x as much adrenaline since it has more hits.

In the case of AoE, auto attacks do so much more damage you would need to hit ~5 targets with Whirling Axe to the same amount of damage. Also more adrenaline in scenario is negligible since either abilities you use in the scenario, you will cap your adrenaline. I hope combo fields damage make up an extra 70% damage. It does do 15 hits.

PvP: Even if you consider ~1.2 extra adren bars worth of adrenaline to be worth the damage hit, the immobility makes this ability garbage in PvP.

Should it be buffed to insta kill?

Judging from the amounts of damage… You merely just started a warrior and started complaining?

So… should the auto-attack damage be brought down then?

This ability is specifically designed to be an AOE. You even said yourself that it only outperforms when you’re hitting many targets at once. So use it for that. Seems obvious.

At least we get to pick our targets (everything in melee range). Have you tried using Meteor Shower as an Ele? It seems to go everywhere except where you want it to. =p

This ability is great for what it’s intended for. Maybe even too great.

It’s for AoE and adrenaline.

Is the damage lower than autos? yes. Do I wish the damage was more? yes, everyone wants more damage. Is the skill useless? no.

1.) 360 aoe damage. Hits more targets, and hits targets that you normally can’t hit at the same time with autos
2.) insane adren gain (hit 2+ targets and your full)
3.) can be used while dodging (this is more relevant to pvp)

So just use it after using execute, gain full adren, then swap to your offset to dump tkittenars. Would i prefer it do more damage? yes. but its still a decent skill.

While leveling solo i’ve gone Dual Axes + Longbow with the standard Signet leveling build. and Axe #5 is fantastic.

I’ll pull as many mobs as i can to stack, Drop the longbow Burst on them, followed by Longbow #3 for might stacks, switch to axes and pop #5, I am now hitting every single mob both with the Axe and with the burning effect due to the whirl finisher. By the time #5 stops everything is dead. In fact even with something like 7+ mobs where I might get downed, I would instantly rally because of the burn inflicted via combo field.

Combined with the ability to move while attacking, and more importantly the ability to dodge while attacking, its actually very useful!

> tkittenars

Recently, what words is that supposed to be?

@Saber : I didn’t even realize you were asking Recently, but asking what did that mean recently. That censorship is really good to make kitten happen.

Yeah, for general PvE, my take is that Axe1 is GOOD ENOUGH © for Everything™.

Axe5 is:

3.) can be used while dodging (this is more relevant to pvp)

Otherwise 1112111111111111111.

Yeah, whirling axe’s benefits are adrenaline gain, 360 degree damage area, mobility, and combo finisher.

It doesn’t need to be higher damage than the main attack chain in addition to all of that.

The high hit rate can also useful, especially if running a high Precision/CritDmg build with traits and sigils that exploit critical hits, like Rending Strikes (33% chance for vulnerability on crit) or a Sigil of Fire (10/20/30% chance for flame burst on crit).

I ran this for a while in PvE – until I completed Axe Master – and I pretty much blended everything that got in my way. Rending Strikes on Cyclone Axe + Whirling Axe usually resulted in at least 10 stacks of vulnerability, meaning my auto-attack did 10% more damage to finish things off.

I’m not a PvP player, so I can’t comment on how well a build like that would play in PvP, but it was great in PvE. Swords suck in comparison, but I gotta chase that Sword Master title. :P

It’s AOE, you can dodge while it’s going off, and it’s a crazy adren builder.

No warrior who uses it is under the impression it’s amazing damage, but that is not the point of using it.

RustyEyeballs.8927:

the immobility makes this ability garbage in PvP.

What immobility? You can still move and even dodge without canceling the attack.

Suini.4379:

While leveling solo i’ve gone Dual Axes + Longbow with the standard Signet leveling build. and Axe #5 is fantastic.

I’ll pull as many mobs as i can to stack, Drop the longbow Burst on them, followed by Longbow #3 for might stacks, switch to axes and pop #5, I am now hitting every single mob both with the Axe and with the burning effect due to the whirl finisher. By the time #5 stops everything is dead. In fact even with something like 7+ mobs where I might get downed, I would instantly rally because of the burn inflicted via combo field.

Combined with the ability to move while attacking, and more importantly the ability to dodge while attacking, its actually very useful!

That’s very similar to how I’ve been AOEing mobs down while leveling, although I decided to go a semi-condition build and use sword/axe + longbow. If I start with the longbow’s F1 fire shot and then #3 for the area might, I can switch weapons and use sword #2 for a blast finisher and get fire shield as well, then it’s whirling axes and everything is toast. I can face off against a veteran with 4+ adds, and everything but the veteran will be dead by this one combo, and the whirling axes will have filled my adrenaline again so that I can immobilize/bleed the veteran with the sword F1 and that’ll drop him.

It’s for AoE damage and quick adrenaline. Why should any aoe skill out-damage a single target skill?

I suspect some people get confused because it just looks so dang awesome, it feels like it ought to be doing a lot more damage than it really does.

Just relax and enjoy the eye-candy…

main character.5460:

It’s for AoE damage and quick adrenaline. Why should any aoe skill out-damage a single target skill?

^ this. You hit in a 360 degree range and it builds up adrenaline completely if you hit 2+ mobs. Every once in a while you hear that this skill sucks and I really can’t imagine what would drive people to ignore its usefulness.

It’s more of a PvE skill. It can be kind of annoying in sPvP, though.

I love the way my Asura whirls in a circle while bouncing up and down and then stops and wobbles for a second.