What is the verdict on two-handed axes/warhammers so far?

[funkmonster7]

I'm not a fan of either of these two, so I haven't tried them at all. They seem good if you spec for crits, but for two-handed warhammers they are a bit weird... I don't know if Mighty Swing is worth using after the first contact, for example.

[CyanCatMan]

Like crits are one thing, crippling your opponent's limbs lets you start stacking status effects like bleed with axes.

[Degaden]

Well, I didn't try both of them yet, but their Skill Tree Abilities look pretty neet.

"Mighty Swing" is always worth using, especially if you also got "Striker Stance", "Forceful Slam" and for Energy Replenishment "Revel in Battle"

Imho all 5 Skill Trees with two-handed Weapons are pretty good. Spear is better for Defence and Staffs are good for Energy Replenishment. Swords, Axes and Hammers are more concetrated on high Damage. The only interesting aspect is about the Two-Handed-Sword Ability Parry, because Two-handed-Axes and Two-handed-Maces don't have such a Defence Ability.

When I think about it a bit more, every Two-handed-Sword/Axe/Mace Skill Tree is made for a specific opponent. Maces are good for Undead and Mages. Swords against Living Enemies and Axes against Opponents with shields.

If someone uses a Two-handed-Weapon as main Weapon it would be wise to gain "Agains The Odds" from Combat Mastery and "Elusiveness" from Athletics.

[Ergil]

Two-handed maces are bonkers. Crowd control is the best form of defense.

[Old Dirty Bingo Caller]

I can vouch for two handed axe

[Elder Borjoyzee]

two-handed mace is easy mode. Start the game with a character that knows two-handed mace skill, walk to carpenter and buy two-handed spiked mallet, bully all the goons. Forceful slam just dominates everything.

Two-handed axes are fun and the hook move is excellent in that you can hook enemies around corners and pull them into walls to daze them, also the perk that lowers enemy block chance is pretty nice.

[CyanCatMan]

Originally posted by Elder Borjoyzee:

two-handed mace is easy mode. Start the game with a character that knows two-handed mace skill, walk to carpenter and buy two-handed spiked mallet, bully all the goons. Forceful slam just dominates everything.

Two-handed axes are fun and the hook move is excellent in that you can hook enemies around corners and pull them into walls to daze them, also the perk that lowers enemy block chance is pretty nice.

You just described the biggest problem starting out with a mace though.
Buying one.
The giant hunk of wood the guard gives you for free is nothing compared to the axe he offers.
Meanwhile if you want a decent two-handed mace, you'll need to hope either shops are carrying one period, much less one you can afford.

Oh but afterwards? Yeah it's bonk city of course.

[Elder Borjoyzee]

Nah the caveman club is just fine too, no fumble or minus accuracy, mighty swing on first hit can break a goons arm too. If you manage to roll a spiked club at the merchant or the first boss drops one its just even easier. Mighty Swing + cleave move can damage a limb on hit against goons pretty easily.

The axe the guard can give tho is definitely strong since its free I will give you that.

On a side note here is a funny bug(?) I had with my big mace against troll

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2719426107 Close

[DacianDraco]

I think that's probably the 2nd paragraph of Forceful Slam, even if not a Crit the part with bonus Crushing dmg applies. Log says it got Dazed which is 2-3 turns so an extra 8-12% of Troll's LIFE and he has a lot of LIFE. But i don't know the exact numbers of his LIFE or what Armor he had then or if you passively applied him some -% Crushing Res or if he had injuries and took more dmg, etc. It may still be a bug but only the devs can look and see if it's normal.

[brown29knight]

Both are powerful weapons with atypical openers:

2H maces get foes to come to them, then hits them with a powered up super attack.

2H axes pull foes close from 2 tiles away, causing injuries in the process.

Both effectively cripple the foe that just got into melee, so that said foe cannot fight back.

Both suffer from multiple opponents and ranged attackers in the very early game, 2h mace continues to have issues with spear users, while becoming much better at multiple target fights. 2h Axes on the other hand are great against spear and shield users, and destroy single targets.

Both are offensive styles, maiming foes before you get maimed. The high stun on some of the hammers can effectively lock down foes, while the axes cause serious injury and bleeds.

Staff and spear are both more fun in my opinion, but both are more defensive builds than axe/mace.

[artofwar]

I was originally convinced that 2h axe would be fantastic and that the 2h mace would be kind of meh.

After further play, my opinion is reversed. I think 2h mace is pretty great, while the 2h axe is pretty meh. This analysis applies mostly to levels 1-11. Everything can be OP at higher levels when fully geared.

I find spear to be maybe the most OP, especially at killing the Troll, but for some reason I also find it a bit dull.

Personally, I think 1h axe and buckler is both incredibly strong and one of the most fun builds.

[funkmonster7]

Yeah. I'm using a DW daggers now, up to level 13 so far. Man, the bandit difficulty ramps up from level 12 onwards... when Marauders start showing up. The addition of Tier-3 weapon skills in bandits' skillset is a major game changer. My DW daggers Arna almost died if I didn't use a VV potion. Twice I had to do that, just to get to level 13 and learn Dash. (Elusive is next.)

Hence why I'm looking into a 2h-weapon build next. 2h-weapon build might be a bit safer than DW, due to being able to spec into Combat Masteries and Athletics more. I also have a Dirwin ranged build that is s-l-o-w-l-y coming along, lol...