Originally posted by Midas:

Well... yeah. That's basically it. Axes hit harder and are both a tool and a weapon. Swords are faster with more combos and a secondary attack (which I assume also changes its damage type to piece, since it's a thrust, but I've never tested it).

Still do slash damage

Swords' secondary attack is literally the only reason why I pick them over axes. I'm doing like 500+ damage on fulings and 400+ on berserkers with a single stab from my blackmetal sword after a parry. And my swords' skill level is only 40.

axes were too slow pre H&H, not sure now. But slow weapons you keep getting hit by specific fast enemy, and that keeps you from swinging, stunlock style... you have to time them. Its usable, but more difficult at least for me.

If you can time the attacks well, axes having slightly higher knockback and not moving you forward on the first attack makes them a bit more forgiving when fighting groups.

Still, I wish the one-handed axes had more than a few points of extra damage. I hope one-handed axes aren't worse just because they can be used as both a tool and a weapon. Durability and separate skills for combat and chopping already keeps it as a small convenience rather than an advantage.

Well... yeah. That's basically it. Axes hit harder and are both a tool and a weapon. Swords are faster with more combos and a secondary attack (which I assume also changes its damage type to piece, since it's a thrust, but I've never tested it).