Axe or not to Axe

[fallenintoshadows]

I've level 47 WAR at the moment using Great axe and loads of people have told me to start dual wielding 2 axes rather than just a Great axe but a 75 WAR I know uses a Great axe. Is there a certain level I should switch? Is one more effective than the other or is it just preffered choice? I'd really love to carry on using Great axe but if two axes is better I'd probably switch.

[neighbortaru]

Re: Axe or not to Axe

the short answer is level them both. it's not terribly hard to do.

[raidenn]

Re: Axe or not to Axe

Carry both. Rampage does amazing damage actually.

[Hearshot]

Re: Axe or not to Axe

Yep, lvl.55 Rampage is the key.

lvl60 Raging Rush is the Great Axe version. Nice DMG as well.

[bside]

Re: Axe or not to Axe

Generally speaking, for 55-59 Rampage is far stronger than Strumwind or any other GAxe WS', and that's when most WAR's are nearly "forced" to start using DW Axes (or Axe and a Sword, depending on lvl; there are some Swords that outperform Axes at a given lvl, provided that your Sword skill is maxed) regardless of their preferences. However, when you hit 60, or in other words when you learn Raging Rush, things change a little.

After 60, it's ideal that you can use both GAxe and Axe, like neighbortaru mentioned. While most people tend to prefer seeing WAR's to use DW Axes, being able to use Raging Rush gives more SC choice, namely w/ Guillotine and Tachi: Yuki, famous for their strong damages and at the same time, SC-unfriendly. Raging Rush can end SC w/ Fragmentation, while doing one of the strongest damages at that lvl. Not to mention Raging Rush->Raging Rush can also create Fragmentation, and having 3 WAR's w/ GAxes up front is really fun. (Everyone /NIN, everyone tanks and helps each other, and everyone SC. You kill mobs real fast like they're not there. And BLM's can also MB unlike when WAR's all spamming Rampage, not doing any SC, and everyone's happy.)


Nevertheless, the greatest reason why most WAR's use DW Axes is damage over time, NOT WS damages. It becomes a matter of patry tactics, including whether you spam or SC, but these days it's becoming more of a trend that everybody just spams WS', especially at later lvl's. And thanks to the delay reduction of DW, DW Axes generally result in greater DoT, than GAxe.


BTW, I highly doubt that WAR 75 friend of yours can only use GAxe. Sure, maybe he likes GAxe very much, and GAxe can prove to be more useful in certain end-game occasions such as SATA Steel Cyclone for HNM's, but when he goes out for merit parties, he's probably using DW Axes. (At least use of GAxe isn't welcomed in merit parties, sadly.)

[tdh]

Re: Axe or not to Axe

I used Great Axe and THF Sub until Lv.48. Then I switched to 2 Viking Axes at Lv.48. I've been skilling Great Axe on the side with my DRK. (I've actually Skill'd Axe to Lv.180+ for WAR, but this may not be an option for others.) Can't sneeze at having Acc+20 from decent weapons that will last you until Lv.56 when you main hand Darksteel Axe, and off hand a Viking.

I've found that I've been able to eat {Meat Dishes} since the Acc from gear has been doing the job very well. Your milage may vary.

[fallenintoshadows]

Re: Axe or not to Axe

Yeah I asked my friend about his axe and he told me he uses both but I'd only ever seen him use his GA ^ ^;
He said I shouldn't worry about DW axes until I'm at 50? Is that right?

[bside]

Re: Axe or not to Axe

He said I shouldn't worry about DW axes until I'm at 50? Is that right?

Or 55. Like I and others said, Rampage is the key. (Spinning Axe at 49 might come in handy from time to time, but probably only once or twice before 55, so not a big deal anyways.)

He said 50 probably because it's better to start earlier than later, and that way by the time you hit 55, you can use Rampage without having to make several skill-up parties. But if your current Axe skill is too low to effectively use in normal xp parties, then it's also ok to forget about it till 55, and undertake some skill-up parties until you learn Rampage. (WAR 55 without Rampage is like a WHM without Cure, so make sure you learn it one way or another.)

Either way, you don't need to be concerned too much about it at this point, yet.

[fallenintoshadows]

Re: Axe or not to Axe

Ok, thanks for all the advice ^_^

[Lmnop]

Re: Axe or not to Axe

He probably actually said 50 because that's when you get DW2 (level 25 NIN) for a little extra DoT, as well as the Viking Axes being fresh and still overpowered (level 48, as Tdh was talking about). Spinning Axe >> Raging Fists makes a pretty nice Fusion.

Versatility defines the good warrior.

[tdh]

Re: Axe or not to Axe

Outside of the Acc+10 from each Viking Axe, it changed my Skillchain options. I went from closing Reverberation to closing Distortion. Meanwhile the damage from Spinning Axe isn't anywhere near as nice as Sneak Attack Sturmwind can be, but a lot of the mobs we EXP on are weak to Ice, and BLMs love them some Blizzage Magic Bursts. Grab yourself DRK, SAM, or DRG and a BLM who will gladly blow up anything they can. That was another reason why I switched to Axes. (Being able to eat Meat Dishes made me happy as well. ^^)

[Tideas]

Re: Axe or not to Axe

when do you get duel wield on a warior?

[Futan]

Re: Axe or not to Axe

Warriors dont. Only Ninjars do, at level 10. Warriors dual wield axes by subbing NIN.

[W.o.t.W.]

Re: Axe or not to Axe

Tideas probably transed over from WoW, where WARs get dual wield.

...I hate WoW.

On another note, I have a small question; what would be the better choice in the later levels, i.e. 70 and up? Or are they still fairly equal?

[Jei]

Re: Axe or not to Axe

Use 1 hand axe. There's no reason not to.

My war use mainly 1h axe since level 1. While I switched around to 2h from time to time, I made it priority to cap my `1h axe first at every level. My reason was skilling up is not fun. If you suddenly switch to 1h axe at certain point and haven't kept your skill up, you will never ever hit any single mob in party. You probably will have to touble a friend to help get your skill high enough.

It depends on you really. For me personally, 1-50 goes by too fast to worry about a little more damage I'll be doing with 2h axe. And once you hit 54, you start burning. For burning, saving mage's MP is the key, so /nin for utsusemi is a must. With /nin you get dual wield and there's no reason not to exploit it's power with proper equimept build. I might as well look ahead and keep

Tideas probably transed over from WoW, where WARs get dual wield.

It was just a simple question to me.... why would you want to go ahead and assume the worst?