axes are very good, viable through all parts of the game

Originally posted by Lucidess:

Same goes for Sword. I know you want to use that stab move for major damage, but if you miss you get punished heavily. Basically, every weapon that punishes you for missing are all below C tier for me.

Get punished heavily by what? You block/parry the next swing from them and try again. What enemy are you referring to that can recover from a stagger and hit you if you miss a thrust?

It is true that every weapon his it's own use, and you should try them all and decide what fits your play style. If you want to take the time to master all the weapon classes, then that's great, but, if that isn't your desire, you can concentrate on just those mobs that are most likely to kill you, which is a very small set. The rest of them you can kill with anything, or your bare hands in many cases.

I don't go anywhere without a full compliment of tools, which includes an ax. it was my main weapon until the swamp when I began to level clubs. you need to be leveled well with two weapon types to cover enemy weaknesses and resistances. I'm in endgame and I carry Frostner, Drauger Fang, and blackmetal ax. So yes, as long as you have other options for specific situations then the ax is perfectly fine if that's how you want to play it. like you, I wanted to do classic viking with a bearded ax and round shield.

important note: I do occasionally carry the iron mace instead of frostner, especially when in the mountains. frostner splits it's damage between blunt, frost, and spirit damage whereas the mace is just one big wallop of blunt damage and better suited for certain enemies.

Originally posted by Rhapsody:

Blackmetal axe is very good at dealing with wolf hunt event, as well as anything else that doesn't resist slashing damage. Swords are good too, but why always carry one when you kinda need an axe with you at all times anyway? I have never found any reason to use blackmetal sword. Saving my swordplay for when the flaming blade is released. ;)

Why do you always need an axe? I generally leave mine at home unless I'm going out to gather wood. In a pinch a few sticks and stones will make you a perfectly serviceable axe, or you can just use the sticks to make whatever it is that you need a few wood for.

The black metal sword isn't bad at taking out a few wolves:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2617581795

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2619779678

Axes chop trees, including the living ones! Trying to use a single weapon in every combat situation is quite dumb though, don't do that.

Good luck trying to swing a slow Axe in combat, if you mess up the timing on your swing, you get punished every single time. Same goes for Sword. I know you want to use that stab move for major damage, but if you miss you get punished heavily. Basically, every weapon that punishes you for missing are all below C tier for me.

Originally posted by Eightball:

With no real time crunch to get to the last boss I would suggest you give every weapon a good try. They all have their uses and some are quite fun even if they might not be the current meta.

And going out on a limb I am guessing the next biomes might not be 'blunt is best' biomes.

Exactly. Every weapon has it's use, right up to the Atgeir which holds nothing back in terms of combat power, making you ditch every other weapon in lieu for Atgeir... until something resists the staggering pierce damage it delivers at long range, such as an Stone Golem.

They are good if your enemies are trees.

Axes are basically slower swords. My favorite progression is bronze axe, iron mace then silver sword.

With no real time crunch to get to the last boss I would suggest you give every weapon a good try. They all have their uses and some are quite fun even if they might not be the current meta.

And going out on a limb I am guessing the next biomes might not be 'blunt is best' biomes.

Axe is fine for awhile, especially if you have limited/difficult access to bronze. You are right in that other weapons are better but since the axe is multipurpose i like it better for early.
As for the battleaxe...limit your expectations and go with the halberd/atgeir instead.

Axe makes a good general purpose backup, especially if you're using a buckler/round shield. For two hand use, I pretty much have to second xx above and say Atgeir rules. Really the Atgeir as depicted should have slashing damage on the secondary attack.

Blackmetal axe is very good at dealing with wolf hunt event, as well as anything else that doesn't resist slashing damage. Swords are good too, but why always carry one when you kinda need an axe with you at all times anyway? I have never found any reason to use blackmetal sword. Saving my swordplay for when the flaming blade is released. ;)

Axes work fine up until swamp. After that, you kind of need to start playing into damage weaknesses (for bosses anyway). During my first playthrough I almost exclusively used axes and bows. I just thought it made sense. Saved an inventory slot since I didn't have to carry another weapon.

Basically, a really simple and effective way to play the game is to always have an axe, a mace, and a good bow with you at all times. If you're dispatching some enemies while cutting trees or just want to live that viking fantasy, the axe will serve you well. The mace is a great weapon to cover whatever weaknesses your axe does not. Usually I will gravitate towards using the mace mostly because there are some very cool maces later on in the game, such as Frostner

People might try to dissuade you from using a battleaxe. They are relatively slow to use (dat windup on the first hit...) but can honestly be great fun, especially with the Crystal Battleaxe because you can actually parry attacks with a battleaxe and follow up quite easily. It is very satisfying and I would say try it out when you can.

Play the weapon that you like, but I don't think the space cost justifies not brining another weapon.

I'm sure I'm going to take blowback on this again, but I strongly prefer a sword to any blunt weapon.

Other than bonemass, there is nothing in the game that is susceptible to blunt weapons that is a significant threat, and there is no attack that I know of that does more damage than a properly executed block-thrust from a sword.

The big battle axes can be fun, but they aren't really practical. I think they're best saved for end-game when you're walking around the plains looking for things to hit. :-)

I'm with GSK.

I start leveling my bow and clubs (mace) and Axe right away.

You have blunt, slash and pierce at the ready for any situation.

I love the tier 4 iron mace with its 70 blunt. It is the best pure blunt weapon in the game. If you swing too early (and miss) you'll often stagger on the back swing anyways setting you up for a solid second shot.