Max damage with no requirements?

I was wondering what the maximum damage you can get on a sword/axe is when it has no requirements, and if this damage is better then using a max damage sword/axe with normal requirements which you can't meet.

Also, if focus items can have +5 armour (I'm not sure if they can, or ever could, but I think I've seen some before - just picked up the game again after a 6 month pause so they might've changed it), will they give more defense then using a 16 armour shield? (assuming I can't meet the requirements of the shield)

Couldn't find anything in the forums or on guildwiki about this, so figured I may as well ask.

A sword/axe that you don't meet the requirements on will likely do 2-3 damage, so the answer is that YES it is better to have one with no requirements in almost every case.

Same with the shield - most shields will only provide 4-5 armor if you don't meet the requirement.

I think the cany cane weapons do 10 with no requirements, if i remember correctly, (15 for hammer and bow)

Yep, CC weapons and shields are pretty cool in certain situations.

Ok, thanks, but ban CC weapons be modified with handles/blades? I wouldn't mind putting +5 armour on my touch ranger, also still wondering if focus items can have +5 armour (against all sources) always or not.

I tried to add mods to the sword during the wintersday event. Didn't work.
The ginger bread focus item only as +5 energy and focus items in general can't be modded at all.

No, a focus item (other than a quest reward) cannot have an unconditional +5 armor, unless it provides a permanent subtraction to either health or energy.

And no, candy cane weapons cannot be modified (nor dyed).

Thanks for the help.

Guess I'll look for a focus with armour and keep looking for no req weapons then, scored a 5-10 axe so far

What kind of focus did you want? What class are you? If elementalist, I have this one that Im not using

touch ranger = nec 2ndry so probably wont do him any good

Currently using a collector focus with +30 hp, 20% +1 blood and 12 energy, if possible I'd prefer one with 7 (12 - 5) energy, 5 armour and 20% +1 blood, though I guess I'll have to look for that for a loooong time

-edit-
Fixed the text a bit

Anything catch your eye?

If you just want a focus item, try this link http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Collector
I have a question too, though. Ive heard weapons, if you have higher attribute than is needed, it does more damage, does the same apply to shields? Do the give better protection/higher armor factor? Also, how the hell do you know what your armor level is?

This isn't true. Not even a little.
Common rumour, and like all good rumours it has no basis in fact.
...
Why can't this stupid piece of misinformation just die?

It is advisable to push your weapon attribute as high as possible if you plan to do damage, but this is because it affects critical hit rates, and the linked skill damage. At 13 axe, say, 2 axes identical except one has req7 and the other req13 will perform exactly the same, despite matching the requirement on one and massively superceding it one the other.

Thanks, but no thanks. Untill I can get an actual focus with armour I'll use the one I have, already checked the list of collectors, couldn't find any blood focus items with armour always (while enchanted won't work since I use no enchantments). As for now I guess I'll just kill random critters on Shing Jea to look for higher damage weapons, though I doubt I can find one higher then 5-10. Thanks for the help.

Probably because of links like this one http://www.guildwarsguru.com/content...nics-id674.php
Well, in that case, Id be likely to take to low req one, especially if I want a particular skill at a certain level(+/-5 well of Suffering or Blood, for instance).

That article states that you do more weapon damage based on your weapon skill level, not that you do more damage the higher your weapon skill level is over your weapon req.

So at skill level 12 you do 100% of your weapons damage
and at skill level 16 you do 115% of your weapons damage

It doesn't matter if you have a req7 or req12 in this case.