Axe Quality
Breakpoints
1. An axe does 1775 damage per swing. This is 25 damage short of one-shotting everything below a raider. 10% power vs chaos will bring you to 1950, meaning you will one shot everything below a raider, and 2 shot raiders.
2. An axe does 925 damage per swing to armored enemies. With the 10% power vs chaos, this means that you will deal 1000 per swing. That is a max of 12 hits to kill a Chaos Warrior, with no charging necessary. Axe kills a storm vermin in a max of 5 hits, or 4 if you take 10% power vs skaven.
3. If you are conveniently playing a character with built-in power increases, your job is already done for you.
The axe is a monster when it comes to raw damage.
Stamina
1. Despite being very strong, the axe has 3 shields. This is average and acceptable. It allows you a minimum of 3 pushes during your combos to keep you from being overwhelmed.
2. Has good dodge, being a 1h weapon.
Stagger
Axe staggers enemies very easily. Even Chaos Warriors will be staggered on crits. Anything you focus on will likely suffer a soft stunlock.
Cleave
This is the weakness of the axe. It has a low cleave of hitting only 1-3 enemies in a swing. However, if you overcome this weakness, you are left with a very powerful weapon.
1. Stack attack speed. Since you kill 80% of enemies in 1 hit, you should only care about how frequently you can swing.
2. Develop an infinite combo. Be evasive.
Special Features
1. A charge attack from an axe will destroy a shield.
2. A charge attack from an axe with 10% power increase will stagger a berserker.
3. With a Zealot, can achieve 30-45% power increase from talents. 2300-2600/1200-1350 damage per swing
4. With a Handmaiden, can achieve 15% power increase from talents. 2025/1050 damage per swing
5. With a Slayer, can achieve 30% power increase from talents. 2300/1200 damage per swing
6. Axes exist on 3 characters, making them more universal than other weapons.
