Curse

Synthetic · Aug 17, 2005, 02:32 PM // 14:32

For all intents and purposes I am still a newbie. My character is only level 11 and it is my first time through the game. However, I just switched to axe with my W/M build and I am going to switch back to swords instead. Maybe it is the newbie in me or soemthing but I find swords to be much more effective for PvE. At least in the early stage of the game that I am in. I only have 2 axe skills, executioners strike and cyclone axe. Executioners strike seems to take forever to build up enough adrenaline for when compared to sever and gash.

Just my two cents. I am open to criticism though since I am still learning the game.

mrip · Aug 17, 2005, 04:16 PM // 16:16

the key to an axe build is using skills to build adrenaline fast. You don't have these at the beginning of the game.

ElderAtronach · Aug 17, 2005, 04:24 PM // 16:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by cookiehoarder

I think that er...Expertise doesn't effect warrior skills, just your own. Anyway, why make a r/w? Just make a W/R and get the 16 stat +strength, you'll still have enough for a 9 second tigers fury. Also, rangers are kinda squishy compared to warriors. I took down a r/w, w/mo, and me/n with a W/R. If I had been anything else I'd of lost.

False. Do some research on expertise, do some research on rangers, then come back and give some valid input next time.

ElderAtronach · Aug 17, 2005, 04:27 PM // 16:27

Hundred Blades is pretty bad. By the time you get it in PVE, it's irrelevant for missions anyway. And it's not worth the elite slot for PVE if you're going sword. Try Flourish as your energy engine for your energy-based attack skills.

Nessa · Aug 17, 2005, 05:41 PM // 17:41

i used sword for a totaly of one mission.. i love love love my axe, i like to set up my bar with something like battle rage which builds my adren and gives em a speed boost, or any good adr charger and an almost pure adr build save for cylone of course cause it's abig adr boost and real helpful in mobs(pve)
"Without eviscerate/cleave, axes can't keep up with a +43 galrath/final thrust damagewise"
this is just not true i do 43+ dmg without either of those skills on my bar and i do it consitantly... honestly the high range isn't that bad... the amount of times i do 12-20 dmg compared to 30+ is minimal
for me it's axe for teh win

LifeInfusion · Aug 17, 2005, 05:56 PM // 17:56

I like to use sword because of how it looks only. XD

But yes, AXE is better in terms of energy and damage. With a decent axe level you will outdamage a sword warrior with the same level, not to mention "penetrating blow" penetrates armor.

In addition, I have yet to find a 15>50 or stance axe but have found more than a few stance and 15>50 swords.

Vermilion Okeanos · Aug 17, 2005, 06:48 PM // 18:48

If I want 2 warriors to focus on one target... I want them both to be sword to final thrust the final half hp.

If I want 2 warriors to pick on different target... I want them both to be axe for more constant damage output.

If I want just 1 warrior... I would want an axe or hammer warrior for either high dps or knock down stampede.

Rey Lentless · Aug 17, 2005, 06:59 PM // 18:59

Depends on the build. They're well balanced.

I like to have at least one sword user for a lead in hamstring. I think hundred blades has it's uses in buff builds.

After the first sword user though, usually prefer to have axes and hammers.

cookiehoarder · Aug 17, 2005, 07:09 PM // 19:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by ElderAtronach

False. Do some research on expertise, do some research on rangers, then come back and give some valid input next time.

My bad-I hardly use R/W. I'll be sure to look into that, thanks for the info. Anyway, I believe that r/w isn't as good as W/R because of the chance to get a 16 stat on the weapon. It may be that most R/Ws I fight suck because I usually end up killing them.

Sciros Darkblade · Aug 17, 2005, 07:50 PM // 19:50

My input is different because I am not as focused on a dps weapon currently as are the rest of these warriors. I think that if you are tanking and allocating only a couple of slots to your weapon attacks, the choice between axe and sword depends on what your "build" is entirely.

I am running a tanking, 13-Tactics Victory is Mine War/Ele (earth) at the moment. This guy needs conditions on his foes, he needs them fast, and he needs them cheap (adrenaline as opposed to energy). Both axe and sword inflict conditions using adrenaline-based attack skills, but sever takes 4 adrenaline and the best axe attack takes more than that, meaning that the sever/gash combo is the best thing to use with Victory is Mine, hands down (well, Ranger traps are actually the best, but that's for another thread).

And so, I use a +dmg% if enchanted sword currently (for Armor of Earth bonus).

I woudln't use this build in PVP; it's my UW tanking build.

If you are a typical, boring Strength-based warrior that swears by DPS, then it's honestly more than anything a question of what skill combos you're planning on using. Flourish + sword attacks like pure strike can provide monstrous DPS, not to mention that it recharges Hamstring (which IS awesome in PVP, particularly Arena in my experience, and anyone who thinks it's crap apparently has never been tasked with taking out the enemy monk, who WILL run). Axe is fun with things like Apply Poison (since Cyclone Axe is better than Hundred Blades as far as comboing goes, since you have a free Elite slot).

There's no truly overall better weapon. You can use an axe and totally stink because your build is not proper, or you can use a build that axes fit into nicely. The same is true of swords.

Jake · Aug 17, 2005, 10:41 PM // 22:41

I don't mean galrath/ft only doing 43 damage heh.. the bonus from it at 16 swordsmanship is +43, which means you can get galraths for 90-100's and FT's for... ouch... Axe can't keep up with that without eviscerate or cleave. The non-elite axe equivalent would be exec strike/penetrating blow I guess and galrath/ft rapes that duo with ease even without the target being sub-50%. Exec strike is killer but without an elite you're stuck with penetrating blow basically and it's not even close to exec strike/galrath/ft. It's a pitiful +21 damage at 16 axes and armor penetration doesn't even stack with strength so it's gonna be around a 10% bonus penetration. Also you're gonna be attacking low AL targets most of the time so the penetration isn't even that effective there. It's decent but not up to par with those other skills.

Hundred blades is terrible. The ONLY thing it has going for it is if you have massive buffs stacked (conjure, barbs, orders, etc.) The major thing it's missing imo is it is the same at all levels of swordsmanship. When people raise their weapon attribute one of the huge factors of dps increase is the skill's bonus damage and hundred blades is the same shit at 16 as it is at 0 skillwise. The extra damage you do off of your normal attack isn't good enough because all your other skills get it too.. just hundred blades gets it twice, big deal. Swords desparately need help with their elite selection, more than 1 perhaps?

Aug 17, 2005, 10:44 PM // 22:44

Eh? Hundred blades damage is different at 16 and 0 skill wise isnt it?
HB wasn't elite before, but because of IW+HB they changed it. Stupid balance idea from that perspective.

Howling Wind · Aug 17, 2005, 10:53 PM // 22:53

If HB was changed to "attack all adjacent enemies" instead of "attack enemies adjacent to your target" so that the atk system is like cyclone then I would most likely swear by a sword.

The Red Knight · Aug 17, 2005, 11:01 PM // 23:01

eviscerate does +42 damage at 16 axe same with executioners

Jake · Aug 17, 2005, 11:22 PM // 23:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Red Knight

eviscerate does +42 damage at 16 axe same with executioners

Yeah that's what I was trying to say.. there's no +XX for hundred blades it's just static.

mikechap · Aug 17, 2005, 11:27 PM // 23:27

personally im gonna have to side with axes for 2 reasons:

1. you can do griffin runs with em

2. frenzy + cleave is the best combo i have ever seen (since frenzy gets andrenaline fast and cleave only requires 4 adrenaline).

Bast · Aug 17, 2005, 11:39 PM // 23:39

Yeah it's static, but at higher attributes, your normal attacks do more damage as well, so Hundred Blades is roughly a +100% damage bonus that scales with your Swordsmanship Attribute (and triggers Strength).

That being said, I dislike Hundred Blades. It's at least playable in PVE (but so is Firestorm)--it builds Adrenaline really well if your positioning is good--but in PVP, you're giving up an elite slot for a pretty lackluster PVP skill. It sucks for the same reason Cyclone Axe sucks: How often are you going to have a whole group of enemies right next to each other in PVP? Not very often, I'd say. By the way, this is one of the reasons why Cyclone Axe+Apply Poison is so newbish.

Anyway, the sword "condition combo chain" is decidedly shitty. Takes two skills to Deep Wound. Axe owns this, only takes 1 skill to Deep Wound, and that doubles as a really high damage attack (Eviscerate). Dismember is garbage. Dismember = Gash without the conditional and tiny extra damage. Sword does have a single advantage over Axes in that it has a "lead-off" cripple in Hamstring. But do you really think a good team would leave their monk crippled for long? I doubt it'd stay on longer than 5-6 seconds. Galrath+Final Thrust is a good Adrenaline spike, but only if the target < 50% life. Axes can spike for more damage and for less Adrenaline, and without the < 50% life clause.

As a single warrior, I'd run Axes or Hammers. With another Warrior around, it definitely wouldn't hurt to have a Sword one as well. They both have their uses: Hammer = disruption, Axes = Big, maintable adrenaline spikes, Sword = more of a "toolbox" Warrior with decent spikes--could be a big asset to a warrior-heavy team.

Ednemak · Aug 17, 2005, 11:43 PM // 23:43

im a pro war, axes are shit compared to swords

1. bleeding kills mending
2. gladiators>eviscerate

stefan16 · Aug 17, 2005, 11:44 PM // 23:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xellos

It's plain horrible at this point, and you can completely tell when a move like Pure Strike has more use then Hundred Blades which is elite only because of IW, which has already been obsolete since the dawning of time.

where does IW stands for?

mr_boo · Aug 17, 2005, 11:51 PM // 23:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by stefan16

where does IW stands for?

Illusionary Warrior