Is the special Battle Axe that requires two hands stronger than other two-handed weapons?

[Frederick White]

For example, Amra has the Amra skill, which says it requires two hands but deals increased damage. Does this compensation make it equal to dual-wielding? And what about the recovery time? For min-max DPS, is it worth using over two exceptional Battle Axes?

[happybjorn]

The first question doesn't really make sense. It's a two handed weapon and functions like one, except that it has higher base damage than most two handed weapons. Two handed weapons are already better than dual wielding for dps.

It's worth using over dual wielding two exceptional battle axes. If you build a character around it it can be very effective (you'll need something else to deal with slash immune enemies).

[Frederick White]

I thought so, but the wiki said 50% increased damage. It made me curious what does it then?
https://pillarsofeternity.fandom.com/wiki/Amra

[happybjorn]

I'm not sure what to tell you, that part on the wiki in parentheses (+50%), doesn't appear to be part of the in game description.

If you compare the base damage of Amra in the link you provided to a normal Battle Axe, it's higher 18-24 instead of 13-19. It also has 1 higher penetration (which is normal for two handed weapons). This is basically the difference between Swords and Greatswords (they have different proficiencies, so aren't the same).

If you're asking if Amra does another 50% damage on top of that, I don't know. It would require testing.

[Fendelphi]

The Amra +50% damage is already part of the listed damage. It is not an additional modifer on top of any "riders"(bonus damage from abilities etc.). It has the same recovery time as a regular battle axe.
Amra is all about stacking Might on a character(including gear and buffs) to get to that 25 Might or more for the additional effects, and because it is a battle axe, you want to make as many crits as possible.
Getting both a high Might and a high crit rate is not easy unless you use specific builds.

As for "better for DPS", that depends on the character using it. 2-handed weapons have higher base damage to be used for abilities and effects that increases damage(like a skill having +25% damage modifier).
But, there are also skills that are "Full Attack", meaning it uses both weapons for the attack, and they can exceed the damage from a 2-handed weapon.

But what is often more important, is the effects that triggers from the weapon(s). A single 2-handed weapon usually has a clear purpose. Having two 1-handed weapons(or 1-handed+shield) can give you various abilities and synergizes.
For instance, you can get a 1-handed battle axe called Magran's Favor, which adds +2 power levels to all fire keywords. So a paladin using abilties with the fire keyword(Flames of Devotion, sacred immolation) could potentially get some extra value out of this one.