Why are Swords More Prefered than Axes When not Using an Elite Weapon Attack? - Page 3 - Guild Wars Forums

Lady Raenef · Aug 24, 2008, 08:45 PM // 20:45

Hammer owns all, but I used to be very axe heavy. I'd say I use sword more than axe simply because I love of the Fellblade ever since I was a wee little newb and saw the massive slab of metal.

Hammer is just fun because quarterknocking is the shit.

masterjer1 · Aug 24, 2008, 09:03 PM // 21:03

The only good sword is the sword I pull out of my enemies limp corpse.

snaek · Aug 24, 2008, 10:13 PM // 22:13

swords look cooler

so if ur not bothered to put on an elite attack skill for dmg and bring sumptin like [defy pain] instead to be useless...

u mite as well look badass

on a side note...hammers r seriously fugly in this game lol

Red Sand · Aug 24, 2008, 10:58 PM // 22:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tyrael_Eveningsong

The Sword and Axe used to test on the Master of Damage were identical as far as weapon mods and bonus damage. No attack skills or ias buffs were used during testing, only normal attacks at the normal attack speed. At the time of testing, the appropriate attribute Weapon Mastery was set to 14 with a constant Strength of 13.

I think your sample was probably too small. Critical hits likely skewed your actual data from your calculated.

However you cut it, it's a personal preference. Axes will get you Big Numbers on a crit and Big Numbers is what people are impressed by. Unfortunately, no one crits all the time against level 20 opponents. Like it matters.

I use both Axe and Sword builds in PvE and PvP. I probably prefer Swords over axes because the occasional single digit hit on a soft target with an Axe pretty much pisses me off.

ALF71BE · Aug 24, 2008, 11:01 PM // 23:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by snaek

on a side note...hammers r seriously fugly in this game lol

My Bronze Crusher says otherwise. I prefer axes, though, especially for the AoE+Splinter lulz.

Sir Tidus · Aug 25, 2008, 02:37 AM // 02:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nainoa

I use swords in PvE HM because your crit chance against those level 28 mobs and level 30 bosses is much less compared to hitting a level 20.

What?! I thought the chance for critical hit depends purely on your weapon mastery and never changes no matter who you fight.

Kaida the Heartless · Aug 25, 2008, 03:02 AM // 03:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sir Tidus

What?! I thought the chance for critical hit depends purely on your weapon mastery and never changes no matter who you fight.

Also based on the enemy lvl. Your going to crit much less vs a lvl 30 than a lvl 10, etc.

Also, to the OP, swords used to be prefered to axes when dealing with an elite outside of your mastery because of [skill]Final Thrust[/skill]. Another reason swords are currently prefered (in the same scenario) is because nearly any axe bar without [skill]Eviscerate[/skill] is basically crap.

Red Sand · Aug 25, 2008, 10:03 PM // 22:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sir Tidus

What?! I thought the chance for critical hit depends purely on your weapon mastery and never changes no matter who you fight.

From the Official Wiki, under "Critical Hits" on the "Damage Calculation" page:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Guild Wars Official Wiki

The frequency with which you will land a critical hit is dependent upon several factors - your character level, the level of the target, and, if you're using a sword, axe, or hammer, the appropriate attribute level. The exact formula for landing a critical chance is unknown, and due to it being a matter of statistical analysis it is rather difficult to test. In rough terms, your chance of landing a critical hit against a foe of comparable level with a level 12 weapon mastery is roughly 20% - if you're a level 20 character beating up on level 1 targets with a level 12 weapon mastery, your critical chance is close to 100%.

GourangaPizza · Aug 26, 2008, 04:42 AM // 04:42

[Final Thrust] is only viable in a bar which have every intention to gain and lose adrenaline in a quick instance.
[Sever Artery][Gash][Final Thrust][Rage of the Ntouka]

_Nihilist_ · Aug 26, 2008, 06:06 AM // 06:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tyrael_Eveningsong

*Simple Math* to answer Sword/Axe average DPS comparison:

I didn't figure in the criticals because, as stated, it was *SIMPLE* math. Also, since the critical % formulae aren't known, other than it depends on lvl, attribute rank, and target lvl, I didn't feel like dealing with it; after all, I did say it was simple math.

Also, I edited my original post, as I was in the middle of helping a Guildie when I was writing my OP. Added in critical info from the Master of Damage.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tyrael_Eveningsong

While I was performing the above tests, my Axe hit for 6 damage a few times... But when crits landed dealing 51 damage, it was nice, especially since the Sword crits hit for 40...

And I fail to see how finding the mean of a set of numbers then getting a different result at the Master of Damage means I failed in my calculations. A mean just goes to show what the average is. With the Axe's critical kicking the Sword's by 11 pts of damage, and the same chance to critical, as attribute ranks were the same, as well as the target lvl and AL (Master of Damage) you can't really say that the calculations were wrong, as the mean was reached, but just because it IS the mean (without factoring in crits, since we have no direct formula) doesn't necessarily make the Sword outperform the Axe every time since it has 1.5 more mean dmg per hit...

Just remember as well that the Master of Damage is a controlled test. It allows you to hit with every single attack. Until they provide an in-game DPS monitor, it's up to human trial and error to track this kind of thing.

Sir Tidus · Aug 26, 2008, 04:39 PM // 16:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tyrael_Eveningsong

And I fail to see how finding the mean of a set of numbers then getting a different result at the Master of Damage means I failed in my calculations. A mean just goes to show what the average is. With the Axe's critical kicking the Sword's by 11 pts of damage, and the same chance to critical, as attribute ranks were the same, as well as the target lvl and AL (Master of Damage) you can't really say that the calculations were wrong, as the mean was reached, but just because it IS the mean (without factoring in crits, since we have no direct formula) doesn't necessarily make the Sword outperform the Axe every time since it has 1.5 more mean dmg per hit...

Just remember as well that the Master of Damage is a controlled test. It allows you to hit with every single attack. Until they provide an in-game DPS monitor, it's up to human trial and error to track this kind of thing.

Critical hits need to be included when calculating the mean.

Tyla · Aug 26, 2008, 04:43 PM // 16:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lady Raenef

Hammer owns all, but I used to be very axe heavy. I'd say I use sword more than axe simply because I love of the Fellblade ever since I was a wee little newb and saw the massive slab of metal.

Hammer is just fun because quarterknocking is the shit.

Anything can quarterknock, just that hammer Warriors don't have to use their secondary.

FengShuiDove · Aug 26, 2008, 05:03 PM // 17:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sir Tidus

Critical hits need to be included when calculating the mean.

On the master of damage post, who ran ~3 minutes with each, criticals would have been included there with pretty slight variation. As far as base damage goes, because of variables (and the fact with the same mastery att level the crits should be approximately the same) you can assume that they share almost the same base damage.

Now, as for skills, I don't know why Swords are preferred over Axes. I personally prefer Axe and Hammer. Both of these have AoE potential in PvE, (see above on [Splinter Weapon][Cyclone Axe][Triple Chop][Whirlwind Attack] and add [Earth Shaker][Crude Swing]) as well as tactical use in PvP. Your Eviscerate/Dismember + Executioners will be brutal for spiking and Backbreaker can be used to great efficiency as well.

From an aesthetic perspective, however, I do agree that swords have more awesome skins, and realistically, in PvE, as long as you've got a build that can produce sufficient damage ([Conjure Flame][Hundred Blades] baby!11!) what looks best is what wins.

Aug 24, 2008, 08:45 PM // 20:45	#41
Lady Raenef Jungle Guide Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Oregon, USA. Guild: Zero Mercy [zm] Profession: W/	Hammer owns all, but I used to be very axe heavy. I'd say I use sword more than axe simply because I love of the Fellblade ever since I was a wee little newb and saw the massive slab of metal. Hammer is just fun because quarterknocking is the shit.

Aug 24, 2008, 09:03 PM // 21:03	#42
masterjer1 Frost Gate Guardian Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Domain Of Anguish Guild: [BURN]	The only good sword is the sword I pull out of my enemies limp corpse.

Aug 24, 2008, 10:13 PM // 22:13	#43
snaek Forge Runner Join Date: Mar 2006 Profession: N/	swords look cooler so if ur not bothered to put on an elite attack skill for dmg and bring sumptin like [defy pain] instead to be useless... u mite as well look badass on a side note...hammers r seriously fugly in this game lol

Aug 26, 2008, 04:42 AM // 04:42	#49
GourangaPizza Krytan Explorer Join Date: Oct 2006 Profession: R/W	[Final Thrust] is only viable in a bar which have every intention to gain and lose adrenaline in a quick instance. [Sever Artery][Gash][Final Thrust][Rage of the Ntouka]