Best Axe mods?

I was thinking:

Zealous ??? axe of Defense (+5) OR
Vampiric (3/-1) ??? axe of Defense (+5)

The ??? means any TYPE of axe (battle, chaos, etc.)

As far as the bonus, I like +15% while in a stance, being that you can get that on a collector's item and CAN last for a longer period of time than >50% (Mantra of Concentration (mesmer) comes to mind)...

What are your opinions, because your educated opinions may change my mind...

A zealous axe haft is decent, although I would decide against using a +5 armor grip. The current fad is to add 20-30 health grip on your axe. Much depends on your class as well.

Regarding the grip -- defense > HP and it's not really close. The number crunching experts (including Ensign) have posted frequently on this topic.

Yeah, that's the beauty, while +30 health grips are selling for 40-50k, you can get a +5 defense grip for 500-1k gold...

Pretty funny actually...

yeah it also depend somtimes on wat your aiming for i reallly dont like usin vamperic axes, i rather use axes that help wiht my condintions right now im using a
gold 15-28 damge, 15%damge, -5 energy, lenthens cripling on foe, +30 health. i dont worry about the -5 energy becaouse all my skill are moslty adrenaline and the only energy i have is berserker stance.

I think you've nailed it. If you have a use for all the energy you'd be getting from a working Zealous part, then grab that one without a second thought. It's like a free pip of regen with the potential for even more.

If you're running a heavily adrenal build instead (not exactly uncommon for axes), then Vampiric is the way to go. Just remember that you're not using it for the health regen (though you can get some nice boosts with Cyclone Axe), but for the +3 damage per hit.


15%>50 is the popular mod because it isn't build specific. If you're going to have a character that's consistently enchanted, or in a stance, then weapons with those modifiers are simply better. So if you can make use of one of those go for it, otherwise stick with the standby 15%>50.

Also remember that, while rare, there are weapons with +15%/-10 armor while attacking and +15%/-5 energy. Both of those are potentially outstanding in the right circumstances, or with the right character.


Another current fad is to use 10% sundering prefixes on your weapons. Following the fads is important if you're trying to piece together weapons to sell to the grinders, but a waste of your time if you're trying to assemble the best weapons and armor for your character.


30 is a bigger number than 5. +health appears directly on your health bar and the effect is obvious, while the effect of +5 armor is not only misunderstood but largely invisible. Tack onto that the rarity of +30 health mods compared to +5 armor mods, and the 'status symbol' aspect of a +30 that the +5 doesn't have, and the price difference makes sense.

Still, it is rather amusing on some level that people are paying hundreds of plat for weapons and upgrades that are just plain worse that parts that are regularly thrown away.

Peace,
-CxE

im not really arguing that +30 health is better than +5 armor but +30 health cant be downplayed as a useless mod the gets cancelled out in one spike of damage

that extra +30 health gets multiplied in effectiveness each time you re-heal it forcing the enemy to spike it away, over and over. If in the course of a battle you get fully healed 5 times after taking damage, that +30 health was almost like having a 150 health buffer.

Hmmm, that's curious.

I'm not advocating +HP grips, but could someone explain to me why +armor is so desirable?

I mean, a warrior on full plate will have 500 armor Vs physical (400 otherwise.) An extra +5 armor is ridiculously small in comparison to the suit. At least to the naked eye.

I would appreciate a concise explanation as to why 1-1.25% more armor is more desirable than ~5-10% of HPs (depending on rune penalties.) Is this type of armor bonus somehow different in nature than that of a plate suit?

Armor and damage are calculated per piece. You don't total them for 500 or whatever. This article does a great job of explaining it.

Okay, that begs the question as to where does the +armor bonus of the weapon mod applies then? If it is mentioned anywhere in that long-winded article, I managed to miss it.

I have to agree that using upgrades based on your skills is the best way to go
Not armor or health but armor is better than health despite what everyone on the game thinks

do u hv link to the thread ?

that +30 health might give you more health, but that means more energy used by your monk. once you drop below 50% health, more and more energy needs to be spent to bring you back to full health, soo the +30 hp means nothing. armor +5 stops you from losing as much health, so your monk spends less energy healing you. i would personally pick a axe mastery 20% for the extra dmg 1 in every 5 hits of an attack skill

If I were me, oh wait I am, I will listen to pearhk. If he spent that much time to break it down with a mathmatical equation I think he knows what the heck he's talking about. BTW pearhk, I'm taking your advice and I am going to buy a +30 hp Haft for my hammer the does not have quite that much of a Fortitude buff. Thx for the tips man.

Except that the odds of that +30 health being healed over and over are extraordinarily bad. Why? Because the extra hit points aren't the first ones to be taken away, but the *last* ones.

If you have 530 base hit points with a +30 health mod for 560 hit points total, then you get spiked for 500 damage and then healed for the same amount, how much did that +30 health mod help you? Answer: not at all. Until you drop below 531 HP your +HP mod is *completely irrelevant*. You would have survived the spike anyway.


Because +5 armor translates into 8.3% damage reduction, which not only increases your spike resistance more than a +health mod, but decreases your healing load as well.


A warrior with full Platemail will have 95 armor vs. physical, and 85 vs. normal damage. Damage is hit location based, it doesn't all add up into one massive armor number.

Misunderstandings like these are one of the reasons why +hp modifiers are so much more popular than +armor modifiers.


Everywhere, it isn't hit location dependant.


+5 armor is 8.3% damage reduction regardless of the amount of armor you have before. This is a fundamental property of an exponential function. No matter how much armor you have, adding +5 armor will result in you taking 8.3% less damage than you did before. The mistake was simply a matter of basis - you need to compare the results to each other and get basis-independent results, not choose an arbitrary basis and do simple arithmetic.


Beware men in white coats, for men are much more trusting of their lies.

Math is only relevant if that math is correct and applicible, neither of which apply to his post. The results, therefore, can and should be disregarded.

Peace,
-CxE

ahhh, i know whats wrong now
my post has just been deleted