War axes : How to use them

In this comprehensive guide for Skyrim, I will teach YOU how to use WAR AXES to the fullest extent! War axes, when used with skill, can annihilate ANYTHING in your path! For all of you who want to learn about the glory that is putting a sharp blade into your enemy's skull, click this way. For the rest of you sissys, CLICK HERE ANYWAY!

Introduction

So, here you are, thinking, "I need a weapon in Skyrim that will tear through those pesky magicians, nordic zombies, demented tree people, undead-ice-breathing-dragons, and Katniss Everdeen wannabes." Well, you probably want to take up using War Axes. Why? Well, read on, man, read on.

War axes: Why Use Them?

War axes are the perfect middle ground! They swing faster than maces, and pack a bigger punch than swords. Even though they don't deal that much more damage per swing than swords, (only around 1 or 2 additional points of damage) there isn't too much of a swing speed difference either, making war axes the perfect weapon in terms of DPS ( Damage Per Second ). Plus, being one-handed weapons, you can take a shield, or, for maximum destruction, DUAL WIELD THEM. On a semi-unrelated note, WAR AXES HAVE SOME OF THE BEST EXECUTIONS IN THE GAME!



Its like a fight scene from the original Star trek... You know. The one that had the budget of a ham sandwich.

Perks of/for War axes

With one-handed perks, you can DOUBLE the damage per swing of a war axe. But that is only the tip of the iceberg. Your best friend in the perk tree is "Hack and Slash". This causes your attacks with war axes to act like the TF2 Tribalman's Shiv, in the form of BLEED DAMAGE! What's better, is that this effect STACKS ONTO ITSELF! Hit an enemy a few times, switch focus on targets, and let the bleed effects take their course! The bleed damage/duration is based on the rank of the skill, and what kind of weapon you are using. (EX: a Deadric war axe will do more bleed damage than a dwarven axe. The only exception is the Orcish axe, which has the second best in bleed damage,(the first being a tie between Deadric, and Dragon weapons.) despite being about mid-tier in material. At the max rank of this ability, with a leveled weapon, you can take down regular minions (Bandits, Wolves, and the like) from half health to dead without even touching them! But be warned, bleed damage only works on targets that ACTUALLY bleed, like bandits, and animals. Robots, undead, and ghosts will not take extra bleeding damage. Which is K, because war axes still do crazy DPS. This ability also completely ignores armor, meaning you don't have to pickpocket the clothes off of a character to kill them easier any more. (Unless you're into that kind of thing) This also allows you to take down bosses in seconds, and further amplifies the already massive DPS of the war axe. In short, your entire existence with war axes revolves around Hack and Slash. Put every point you can into it, whenever you get the chance. Trust me. Im not a doctor, and I dont play one on TV, but even I can tell you that it hurts to lose a pint of blood every time you get hit. Im sure that guy you killed with bleed damage while reading this could vouch for me, if you hadnt killed him. For even quicker face-wrecking, you can dual wield, and TURN YOURSELF INTO A WALKING APOCOLYPSE. If you really want to encourage that, take points into the Dual Flurry, which increases your skills with dual wielding One-Handed weapons. Specifically, how fast you swing your chosen tools of destruction. Combine this with the stacking bleed effect from a little further up, and prepare to click like youve never clicked before!

In short: Hack and Slash is the best ability in the game. Enough said.
Also, Armsman should not be neglected. Double damage? AWW YEAH!
The only other perk you might want to take, is Fighting stance, which causes standing power attacks to use less stamina. You'll want to put the rest of your points into armor, smithing, and enchanting. To take more hits, and make better armor, and weapons.

How to handle yourself

Now that you have your first war axe, ask yourself, "how do I want to play this? You have a few options here.

*F**k you, im spiderman.

`You could become a Battlethief. Eliminating as many opponents as possible before the real fight even begins. For this, you will want to take light armor, to sneak better with. Also take a shield. Light armor does not (quite) make you invincible. Shields however, when used skillfully, can completely destroy an enemy's offense, and leave him wide open to a power attack. Taking a bow doesnt hurt for this strategy either. However, keep in mind, the war axe will still recieve a X2 (X6 with the right perks.) damage multiplier when sneaking. The additional base damage can make this devastating. Not quite shrouded-glove-assassin's-blade-dagger combo devastating, but good enough. But when the going gets tough, the dragonborn gets chopping!

`You can become a full out berserker. For this take extra points in learning how to dual-wield. As a berserker, you deal destruction all around! However, the lack of a shield will make you vulnerable. Take heavy armor to somewhat negate this, and always keep a few health pots handy. Smithing is also an immensely valuable option, since you can create even better weapons and armor, keeping you alive.

`You can be a regular warrior. Basically the battlethief, without the sneaking part. Shield can be used, or for more flexible builds, magic can be taken in the other hand. Restoration can help you survive a tough fight, while alteration can help you take more hits. Also, light armor CAN be substituted for heavy. It doesnt really matter.

Special axes

As with all weapons, there are unique war axes.

`Okin: Okin is a war axe wielded by Kvenel the tongue, an enemy that is fought as part of the quest, Silenced toungues. After defeating Kvenel the tongue (try saying THAT 5 times fast) you can find this axe on his dead (Wait, wasn't he a ghost?) body. The axe itself does extra frost damage, around 10 points. This means that you will do extra damage to an enemies health and stamina, effectively decreasing how often they will attack. Bandit chief? No sweat. Kvenel the tounge again? No sweat. Those three daedra from the black star quest? Not a drop of sweat to be seen. However, against mages, this axe is only average.

`Dawnguard rune axe: Aquired during the radiant quest "Lost relic." This axe does even more sun damage ( Additional damage to undead and vampires ) based on how many undead enemies you have killed. This makes it one of the best war axes to carry into a dungeon, as the draugr will take RIDICULOUS amounts of extra damage, ( up to 100 points of sun damage per hit ) and can help charge up your axe as well. The sun damage also makes Dragon priest fights a little easier, seeing as how you deal massive damage. All in all, a phenominal choice against undead opponents, helping to counteract the lack of bleed damage against undead enemies, but its slightly reduced damage means if your fighting bandits or wolves, you should stick with a regular axe.

Not a lot of unique war axes.

Other

And by other, I mean shouts and what not that could be helpful with war axes. I will also be highliting shouts that suck.

Elemental fury: Elemental fury increases your attack speed. I shouldnt even have to explain why this is a good thing for war axe users, like yourself. But I will. Increased attack speed, you can continually stack bleed damage on enemies! Amazing. This should be one of the shouts that you constantly have equipped.

Become Ethereal: This shout already gets a lot of attention for being able to fall from the tops of mountains unharmed, but it also help with war axes. Hit a few enemies, use this shout, and wait for bleed to damage them. However, it does not regenerate stamina while in use, meaning you might want to wait on that power attack.

Disarm: This shout can help against tough bandits. It also helps greatly against Kvenel the tongue, since most of his damage comes from the weapons he dual-wields. Using this shout can turn a challenging enemy, into a joke.

Ice form: This is not a good shout for war axe users. The ice breaks on taking damage, meaning the bleed works against it, and effectively nullifying the shout. However, if used before striking any enemies, or while running away, it can be used to gain some breathing room. This can make large engagements slightly easier.

Marked for death: This shout is OK. The DoT is similar to your bleed, and can be applied to many enemies at once. The armor lowering is also good, as your swing speed and moderate base damage can make good use of it. All in all, an ok shout.

Slow time: This shout does exactly what you think it does. The player is not as slow as other enemies though, making this a deadly shout for berserkers, seeing as they can go to town on enemies with little resistance. This shout does not slow down DoT damage, making bleed even more useful than it already is.

Conclusion

So, are you now convinced to use the War Axe? If not, you might have been reading something else. If you are convinced that war axes are officially the best thing since sliced bread, then go make me proud and hack some Bandits to ribbons! Would you kindly?

[skidmark2g]

does this still work?

[Wereworm]

Knives all the way! for thieves/assassins.

[Mr.MessyPants]

I've always been a axe in both hands kinda warrior, this guide is awesome!

[Skeltal]

Protip, proc-boosted flames on the left hand. As soon as that sucker is ignited, they will be taking piles of damage. This is great with the dawnguard axe against undead, seeing as draugr and whatnot have a fire weakness.

[ShadowAngst]

what about Great Axes?

[Halifax]

I <3 Axes in Skyrim

[Jimmy]

Guide on how to use any meelee weapon in skyrim to full effect : Mash right click , win. The end

[Peel]

Seems like a good guide, but doesn't the bleed damage stay the same throughout the game? (for the same weapon) Meaning that you're doing almost no extra damage at later levels/difficulties... In my view this makes them less useful than swords or maces (swords for the speed, maces for the damage and armour ignore). However, they did try to make them balanced, so all of them should be good!

[Improper Use]

so in the higher difficulties... why don't their health bar move at all when not being hit?

[Zlorfik [CH/BY]]

Hmm, You could, but Battleaxes don't even get half the bonuses normal war axes get... Because the bleed damage is limited to perk rank and weapon material, but not if it is a 1H or 2H weapon. So for bleeders among you, Battleaxes are the wrong choice... Cause with War Axes you can either have a shield or dual wield them which more than dubles the bleed damage you could inflict...
I'd say, let it as it is.

And another thing: You did not talk about the one-handed perk Savage Strike. Besides a decapition kill cam just looks bloody awesome you also do 25% more damage with power attacks (and if I recall correctly, through a bug also normal attacks) So it is a must for one-handed players ;) AND fighting stance isn't that important as you can cook yourself a vegetable soup and never run out of stamina ever again. but you'll need it anyway to get Savage Strike :P