Tips for upgrading Club and Modern Axe?

[mortache]

For modern axe, should i go for full speed or a, equal mix? What about the Club? These two are the weapons that most interest me right now. Haven't got the tennis racket yet.

[Leslian Lexter]

I just get the Katana tbh. There is a cave entrance that leads directly to it, with no enemies in between - So you can go and pick it up right away.

[mortache]

Originally posted by Harry Gun:

I just get the Katana tbh. There is a cave entrance that leads directly to it, with no enemies in between - So you can go and pick it up right away.

I have it, I would like to use upgraded weapons as they can be more powerful. Besides they have much higher block. The club blocks literally all of the damage, I'm just confused if i should increase its atrocious speed by a little bit, or its massive damage by a lot.

I've played almost entirely with bows and throwing spears until this point, and only just am thinking about trying melee. Besides, I am saving the "weeb simulator" for when i play Ghosts of Tsushima.

[RequiemsRose]

I would say it depends on your preference mostly. The more damage you add, the more the weapons speed declines, and the more speed you add the more the weapons damage declines.

For example, the club has a default speed of 1, damage of 7.5, and 10 block...if you upgrade it entirely with feathers to max it becomes a speed of 4, damage of 6, and still has 10 for block. Upgrading it entirely with teeth makes it a speed of 0, a damage of 10.5, and again block remains 10. If you do go the damage route, use booze instead, still has a speed of 0 but it's damage ends up 13.5. If you add 15 feathers and 15 booze upgrades you get a speed of 1 still, but damage becomes 9.75.

With the modern axe the base stats are 5 speed, 7 damage, and 9 block (while not blatantly stated, the modern axe also has a relatively high chance of knocking enemies down). With full speed upgrade that becomes a speed of 8, damage of 5.5, and the block and knock down chance remains the same. With full teeth upgrades it's a speed of 3.5, damage of 10. With full booze upgrades it becomes a speed of 2 but damage of 13. If you add 15 feathers and 15 booze upgrades then you still have 5 speed but the damage becomes 9.25.

[all the above technical info taken from the weapon upgrade calculator on the gamepedia]

Generally this makes the modern axe a preferred weapon for many as it is a more well rounded weapon and still has a rather high ability to block. The upgrades people prefer still varies though. With the relatively high stamina cost of an attack, I usually see players prefer to deal more damage rather than swing quickly but they develop a sort of "make it count" playstyle where they are conservative about attacking and choose the moment to strike carefully. When players favor the faster upgrades they tend to rely more on the block as they burn through stamina quickly and dodging becomes more difficult, in which case the club's extra block may be preferred.

[edited for typos]

[mortache]

Originally posted by RequiemsRose:

For example, the club has a default speed of 1, damage of 7.5, and 10 block...if you upgrade it entirely with feathers to max it becomes a speed of 4, damage of 6, and still has 10 for block. Upgrading it entirely with teeth makes it a speed of 0, a damage of 10.5, and again block remains 10. If you do go the damage route, use booze instead, still has a speed of 0 but it's damage ends up 13.5. If you add 15 feathers and 15 booze upgrades you get a speed of 1 still, but damage becomes 9.75.

Curious though, what happens when damage and speed go above 10 or at 0?

[RequiemsRose]

Originally posted by mortache:

Curious though, what happens when damage and speed go above 10 or at 0?

visually damage appears to cap at 10, but the game can actually calculate it beyond that and does so semi-frequently with fire damage on weapons. I am normally a katana user so I haven't really tested 0 speed personally (and katana is a hit or miss weapon as far as fan favoritism; amazing reach, a wide swing, and stunlock helps a lot but it has a high stamina cost, basically no block, almost no available upgrades, and somewhat pitiful damage...good for crowd control but not the most practical for general combat unless you are really used to it).

As I understand it 0 speed doesn't make the weapon unusable, but it would be at the very bottom speed cap, making it incredibly slow which can leave you vulnerable during attacks if you don't choose your timing very carefully. The 15/15 setup isn't actually the most efficient setup either, it's simply one that allows you to maintain base speed of the weapon while adding 2.5 damage to it normally. There are other setups that are more efficient for a speed or damage focused weapon.

[mortache]

Originally posted by RequiemsRose:

Originally posted by mortache:

Curious though, what happens when damage and speed go above 10 or at 0?

visually damage appears to cap at 10, but the game can actually calculate it beyond that and does so semi-frequently with fire damage on weapons. I am normally a katana user so I haven't really tested 0 speed personally (and katana is a hit or miss weapon as far as fan favoritism; amazing reach, a wide swing, and stunlock helps a lot but it has a high stamina cost, basically no block, almost no available upgrades, and somewhat pitiful damage...good for crowd control but not the most practical for general combat unless you are really used to it).

As I understand it 0 speed doesn't make the weapon unusable, but it would be at the very bottom speed cap, making it incredibly slow which can leave you vulnerable during attacks if you don't choose your timing very carefully. The 15/15 setup isn't actually the most efficient setup either, it's simply one that allows you to maintain base speed of the weapon while adding 2.5 damage to it normally. There are other setups that are more efficient for a speed or damage focused weapon.

My primary style has been sidestepping while enemy charges and then trying to headshot while they recover. High damage weapons probably will fit more nicely. I also use the club/modern axe to block enemy damage while i retrieve arrows from their body.

My reason for not using the Katana is just the fact that imo it doesn't fit with the aesthetic. It's a Canadian forest, all the log cabins and such you build are western styled. So the Modern Axe kinda fits. It's also a survival horror game with cannibals, so the skull club also fits.

[RequiemsRose]

Originally posted by mortache:

My primary style has been sidestepping while enemy charges and then trying to headshot while they recover. High damage weapons probably will fit more nicely. I also use the club/modern axe to block enemy damage while i retrieve arrows from their body.

My reason for not using the Katana is just the fact that imo it doesn't fit with the aesthetic. It's a Canadian forest, all the log cabins and such you build are western styled. So the Modern Axe kinda fits. It's also a survival horror game with cannibals, so the skull club also fits.

Everyone has their own styles and reasons. I just tend to prefer katana because of that crowd control aspect. My main fun nowadays comes from helping others explore the game so being able to lock up a small horde and protect other players works well for me. As far as in game reason for the katana, near as I can tell it is found within a smuggling den, so I guess it was smuggled/imported.

Between modern axe and club; the club may have the better block but that doesn't matter as much if they rarely touch you to begin with thanks to strafing. the club does do slightly more damage as well, but for a significantly lower speed and it doesn't knock down as much as modern axe (though surprisingly the weapon with the best knock down rate is the rusty axe (base stats are 3.5 speed, 6 damage, 10 block)). Rusty axe could potentially be another option worth trying but I will admit, I don't see many players who consider it their favorite. On paper it seems like a relatively balanced weapon that could work nearly as well as modern axe or club but in practice, it's a bit awkward.

edit: I forget the exact knockdown rates or where I originally found them, the gamepedia implies modern axe does it best but I know I found conflicting data that claimed rusty axe was instead and in my own experience rusty axe did it nearly every hit

[deoxxys]

I dont know what to do.

The modern axe is great but if I add damage upgrades that means my tree gathering will be slower...

[RequiemsRose]

Originally posted by deoxxys:

I dont know what to do.

The modern axe is great but if I add damage upgrades that means my tree gathering will be slower...

-For a balanced weapon with improved speed and damage, add 20 feathers and 10 booze. This adds 1 damage and 1 speed.

-To get the most damage without sacrificing any of the weapon's default speed, add 15 booze and 15 feathers. This adds 2.25 damage and 0 speed.

-To get the most speed without sacrificing any of the weapon's default damage, add 24 feathers and 6 booze. This adds 1.80 speed and 0 damage.

-Taken from the Forest Gamepedia page on Upgrades-

[deoxxys]

Originally posted by RequiemsRose:

Originally posted by deoxxys:

I dont know what to do.

The modern axe is great but if I add damage upgrades that means my tree gathering will be slower...

-For a balanced weapon with improved speed and damage, add 20 feathers and 10 booze. This adds 1 damage and 1 speed.

-To get the most damage without sacrificing any of the weapon's default speed, add 15 booze and 15 feathers. This adds 2.25 damage and 0 speed.

-To get the most speed without sacrificing any of the weapon's default damage, add 24 feathers and 6 booze. This adds 1.80 speed and 0 damage.

-Taken from the Forest Gamepedia page on Upgrades-

love you thanks

how can I tell how many feathers are on my weapon?

[mortache]

Originally posted by deoxxys:

how can I tell how many feathers are on my weapon?

Best to just put them all at the same time. It's not that hard to get a lot of feathers.

[deoxxys]

does the weapon not allow beyond a certain amount of materials to be bonded to it? In other words, if I know I want 6 booze/24 feathers on my weapon, I can just put 6 booze on it and fill the rest out with feathers?

[mortache]

Originally posted by deoxxys:

does the weapon not allow beyond a certain amount of materials to be bonded to it? In other words, if I know I want 6 booze/24 feathers on my weapon, I can just put 6 booze on it and fill the rest out with feathers?

Yes. There is also a bar that's shown to represent how many out of 30 materials you have added.

[deoxxys]

Originally posted by mortache:

Originally posted by deoxxys:

does the weapon not allow beyond a certain amount of materials to be bonded to it? In other words, if I know I want 6 booze/24 feathers on my weapon, I can just put 6 booze on it and fill the rest out with feathers?

Yes. There is also a bar that's shown to represent how many out of 30 materials you have added.

Thats useful thank you, I now have my very first fully upgraded weapon!

[mortache]

Originally posted by deoxxys:

Originally posted by mortache:

Yes. There is also a bar that's shown to represent how many out of 30 materials you have added.

That's useful thank you, I now have my very first fully upgraded weapon!

Honestly i just use the bow mostly. If you find the film crew camp south of swan lake, you can easily get 50 modern arrows every time you load the game. Only use the melee weapon to block attacks and retrieve arrows from mutants in the middle of a fight. If you line up headshots the modern bow is not even that necessary since it's all one hit kill.