Guild Wars Guru

Cleave, Eviscerate, and... Whirling Axe?

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Seef II
Seef II
Desert Nomad
• #1
For a PvE single-target axe elite, which one do you run? I know Triple Chop's popular, but Cyclone Axe in all honesty gets the job done well enough. Destructive Chop (Decapitate) isn't a PvE skill at all, really, and even isn't run in PvP, so I won't really consider it here.

Basically, I find myself running Eviscerate when I have a cap sig or two on my bar, and Dismember + Cleave otherwise. Against things like cobalt mokele and diamond djinn, I swapped to Whirling Axe to get around their high armor.

Eviscerate
ProSpiky. Deep Wound + damage Frees up skill slots Con8 adrenaline Spike not too important in pve
Cleave
ProGood DPS Relatively cheap (4a) Reasonable +dmg, close to Eviscerate ConNo deep wound Adrenaline inefficiency
  • No utility
    I've even run Whirling Axe a few times. It's absolutely junk in PvP because it is a dps skill with a horrible disable clause, but in PvE you can build against the monsters at any point.
    ProVery cheap (2a) If spammed, high armor-ignoring component of damage (+21s add up) ConDisable clause Huge adrenaline inefficiency No utility or Deep Wound
    • XvArchonvX
    XvArchonvX
    Forge Runner
    • #2
    I wouldn't say that Decapitate is completely worthless in PvE (even though I wouldn't reccomend it). There are some builds that can adapt to it's weaknesses:
    http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Build:W/Mo_Holy_Decapitate

    That being said, I still use Triple Chop in PvE 9 times out of 10. Cyclone Axe gets the job done, but Triple Chop with Cyclone gets the job done faster.

    That being said, I tend to prefer sword and go with a Dragon Slash, Sun and Moon Slash, FGJ build.
    Katari
    Katari
    Wilds Pathfinder
    • #3
    If I used Trip Chop in a PvE build, I don't think I'd use cyclone, unless I was farming something.

    If I wanted spam skills, I'd skip cleave, and go with sword for Dragon Slash.
    m
    martialis
    Lion's Arch Merchant
    • #4
    Quote: Originally Posted by Seef II
      Huge adrenaline inefficiency Cleave does higher DPS that Whirling Axe, normally. You can use 2 deep wound attacks if you want, and Eviscerate does okay DPS then, too.
    q
    qvtkc
    Wilds Pathfinder
    • #5
    Quote: Originally Posted by Seef II
    For a PvE single-target axe elite, which one do you run? Ewwwww... Why would I run anything but Triple Chop?

    There can only be one reason and that is to kill a single target (that is, on this occasion only one target is really important. Thirsty River mission maybe). Then it comes down to, do you really need to spike out a PvE enemy fast? No, probably not, and Eviscerate is only useful for fast spiking (I mean, when you absolutely need to do dmg + dw in a single skill use). Also it's usually not possible to spike out an enemy (especially a boss) who is a few levels higher than yourself, which is common in PvE. So you go Cleave instead.
    Akuma
    Akuma
    IRC W H O R E
    • #6
    Whirling Axe is actually a good skill. Works wonders in Kourna where you can fire off infinite Whirlings in a row under Infuriating Heat and an IAS.

    Whirling also offers a cool DPS and is spammable like crazy. The only downside is that you'll burn lots of adrenaline off your other skills - not a good thing.
    Alpha Of Terror
    Alpha Of Terror
    Academy Page
    • #7
    wow, oddly, whirling axe, cleave and decapitate is what i run in PvE.
    Cleave and whirling gives pretty good DPS actually. I use decapitate when 4 man farm w/ heros, executioner > critical chop > decapitate does very good dmg in seconds, and according to guildwiki, decapitate ignores armor due to the fact that it always critical.
    j
    jbear9826
    Pre-Searing Cadet
    • #8
    Evic is the best out of them. has been my best skill next to Savage Shot. Decap is extremely good as well, if you know how to use it. Whirling Axe is a PvE skill, Cleave isn't bad, but isn't all that great either. then again if Cleave went up again'st all these skills, Cleave would win 90% of the time due to the fact that it can be used twice to each times Evic and Decap can be used once. Cleave would prob be the only skill able to beat a good Sword warrior 1v1.
    ss1986v2
    ss1986v2
    Wilds Pathfinder
    • #9
    Quote: Originally Posted by Alpha Of Terror
    ...and according to guildwiki, decapitate ignores armor due to the fact that it always critical. no, decapitate doesnt ignore armor. because it always crits, it will give the same dmg vs same armor levels. armor is still applied to the dmg.
    Epic Monkey Battle
    Epic Monkey Battle
    Frost Gate Guardian
    • #10
    If you achieve a critical hit on something, that means that you hit for the max damage on your weapon (i.e. axe crit = 28 damage) On a non critical hit your weapon will hit and the armor level of the foe is taken into account and therefore reduces the damage taken. So if you are hitting for 15 regularly on a 60 AL target then when you crit you would hit 28 (without a skill or any other damage modifier taken into account). So when you crit you are infact ignoring the armor, because the armor is not reducing the damage taken. Think of it as finding the weakspot in the armor.
    Bowstring Badass
    Bowstring Badass
    Forge Runner
    • #11
    Quote: Originally Posted by qvtkc
    Ewwwww... Why would I run anything but Triple Chop?

    There can only be one reason and that is to kill a single target (that is, on this occasion only one target is really important. Thirsty River mission maybe). Then it comes down to, do you really need to spike out a PvE enemy fast? No, probably not, and Eviscerate is only useful for fast spiking (I mean, when you absolutely need to do dmg + dw in a single skill use). Also it's usually not possible to spike out an enemy (especially a boss) who is a few levels higher than yourself, which is common in PvE. So you go Cleave instead. Triple Chop is ****ing worthless.

    Eviscerate is like the only way to go.

    Personaly I would just

    Axe-12+1+1-3
    Strength-8+1
    Tactics-10+1

    1.Sprint
    2.Eviscerate
    3.Executioner's Strike
    4.Critical Chop
    5.Frenzy or Flail (depending on area)
    6.Optional
    7.Heal Sig
    8.Res of some sort

    I normaly take Shock for the optional slot and go with res sig but it's up to what you want to put in.
    XvArchonvX
    XvArchonvX
    Forge Runner
    • #12
    Quote: Originally Posted by Bowstring Badass
    Triple Chop is ****ing worthless. If you mean PvP, then yes, it is, but if you mean PvE, I think you are very mistaken. If you even have 2 enemies nearby, then you do double damage with your axe plus 84 damage at 16 axe. With Evis you do +33 with deep wound. Enemies are almost never alone in PvE and the potential to do triple, quadruple, or more damage plus bonus damage with one attack skill makes it very much worth bringing.
    I
    I Super Ingenious
    Ascalonian Squire
    • #13
    Triple is absolutely superb in PvE. The thing is i bought Factions just a month ago (have NF since its released, never liked Factions so i never rushed to buy it ) and first thing i done was capping Triple Chop.

    Till now i used Eviscerate. Its a fine skill, nice bonus dmg, deep wound is superb (you do also extra dmg while enemy has deep wound), but takes long to recharge (seems to me w/o any adrenaline buff bout 10-15 sec (axe is 1,66 sec for 1 atack)).

    And with Triple i got constant +42 dmg on all adjacent foes every 10 sec, plus i fully charge Executioners in 8/10 cases, plus i switch from Kanaxais->Wings axe for zeaolus and i refund my energy.

    So my vote goes to Triple.
    Seef II
    Seef II
    Desert Nomad
    • #14
    Funny thing about Triple Chop is that if you hit a running monster, which actually happens these days, it will miss. Still, it's great AoE. But this thread wasn't about Triple Chop.