Are Axe and Hammer obsolete for PvE?

Hey all

Please don't look at the title and think 'wow, retard' i know the huge damage an axe can inflict and the insane damage and mob effectiveness destroying KD's a hammer can do..

But since trying out the 'God Mode' build for the sword, built around "Save Yourselves!" and Dragon Slash, i've been a LOT less inclined to change my weapon, despite my love for hammers.

I play with heroes and competent players so it's not like i'm using it to save PUG's, but it's effectiveness is insane.

From what i can see there isn't much that returns adrenaline like Dragon Slash in any other line while also outputting the weapons potential as much.

So other than fun or if you have a friend running "SY!" is it less effective to use another weapon now?

Unless you have another Warrior or Paragon running SY!, Sword is probably your best bet. And even then Sword might still be your best bet with its high damage and kd-locks unless you really need Earthshaker, or if the areas is littered with anti-melee such that Dragon Slash is unreliable.

To the players that take only Dlash expecting to spam it > Phail

I prefer axe personally mostly for the great advantage of deep wound on anything and disrupting chop spam.

- Ganni

I wouldn't say obosolete, but yes, sword is probably best with the synergy of SY and DS, making your party taking little damage while putting out impressive damage at the same time.

That said though, I have never ran that on my warrior yet to vanquish any of the zone. It would probably help, but I haven't seen the need to use it yet. That and I just love Earth Shaker too much

Quote: Originally Posted by DarkGanni

Axes are better for PBAoE Damage which shines especially when you've got room for multiple copies of splinter weapon on your hero's bar.
Hammers still have earthshaker which is the only source of AoE knockdowns outside of ursan.

And lets face it, running DS/SY gets boring. I only use it when I'm after mindless efficiency while doing book grinding, for normal play, running things other than an "i win" button is generally more rewarding.

Thats the beauty of PvE, you can use anything and still be effective.

Though I have stated more than once that Hammers just don't cut it for me in PvE, the knockdowns just don't matter much if you've got the right party build.

Triple chop is still one of the best skills for areas where lots of things mob onto you. That is, if you can fit SY on another character in the build. Hammer is generally average and only shines while killing pesty healers.

'wow, retard!' kidding ^_~

For Normal Mode PvE, the mob-destroying raw strength of the Axe and Hammer will let you cleave through foes faster than just spamming DSlash on one guy, and let's face it - NM is easy enough that you can cope easily without the Godmode of constant "SY!". So for Normal Mode, Axes and Hammers are far from obsolete.

For hardmode.... myeh. Constant ~85% damage reduction and keeping a priority target on it's ass ad infinitum is too powerful to pass up, for the most part...
Though for some areas, particularly 4-man zones, I've passed up godmode again in favour of greater destructive/disruptive power of axe/hammer - bearing in mind that minions taking the brunt of the hits are not affected by "SY!", and the physicals that leak through the minions are efficiently neutered by Enfeebling Blood (necros = ftw), making the 'necessity' of "SY!" less prominent.

And, as is obvious, having a human paragon also throws DSlash's greatest draw out the window. Indeed, when I'm with people I know - we really like physical-heavy teams, often with multiple Paras - an Earthshaker hammer bar is my most-run bar, because it compliments the Paragon's general lack of disruption with the potential to knock-lock a whole group.

No way. It's just that +100AL on all party members is generally too good to pass up. If there's a place where you can reliably get the enemy in one spot, then Splinter Weapon -> Triple Chop outdamages it easily. I've only done Slaver's in NM so far but the Splinter Axe thing almost wipes dwarves in a few attacks.

Quote: Originally Posted by NuclearDope

Breaking backs is fun

EARTHSHAKERRRRRR is fun too :P

Unless it's HM, just run whatever. NM is easy to the point that any decent build will work.

KDs for hammer are great but since theirs no shield its sort of not as good as axe and sword.

Quote: Originally Posted by not so newb

whats the big deal with SY on a DSlash bar when everyone and their mother runs god mode paragorns...?
but hey, if you're so desperate for a SY in your group than by all means use it, otherwise Axe/Hammer>Swords anytime, anywhere...

All of the weapons will hold certain advantages, and if people prefer one weapon type to another then that's their preference and I can respect that. But in the end it's PvE and it doesn't really matter what weapon you're using unless it's a super specific farming build or something.

I, however, prefer Hammer simply because of the ability to chain Backbreaker/Earthshaker and pummel the crap out of enemies while they're immobilized.

Quote: Originally Posted by not so newb

Quote: Originally Posted by cellardweller

Quote: Originally Posted by Marverick