how to mod a good axe

so I've set out to make the best axe I can for my warrior, and I've ran into a dilemma and am hoping someone would help me out.

Currently, the base item is clean max dmg 15^50 axe, and I have the following mods available to me:

Haft:
Vampiric +3/-1
Sundering 20/19
Furious 9%
elementals
barb, cruel

Grip:
Fortitude +30
Defense +5
Axe Mastery +1/20%

The warrior is meant to be a general purpose warrior, using the Eviscerate->Executioner->Penetrating combo. But frankly, I'm lost to which mods to put on this axe. I realize that sundering is inferior to vampiric, and originally planned on going vamp+fort(I don't mind weapon swapping). However, with my recent acquisition of the axe mastery mod, I've been sitting here wondering if it's better to use the Furious mod and in conjunction with axe mastery mod.

Axes are well known as one of the fastest melee weapons in the game, and a general purpose axe warrior would be constantly swinging and using the mentioned combo. With the 9% chance double adren, and the 20% chance to do more dmg, would it outperform a +3/-1 vampiric? Or would it be a better idea to drop the fort mod, and go Vamp+Axe mastery for pure damage?

thanks in advance

Vamp
Zealous
Elemental

Fort or Defense

Those are the mods to worry about. Optiomaly you'd have at least three axes, with one of each of those three hafts. For PvP I'd go with Fort, for PvE, go with Defense.

Sundering, Axe Mastery, and Furious mods are all have very minimal effects.

thanks for your reply, can I get some other opinions too as well please?

I have 2 axes both have armor +5, one has Zealous and the other Vamp. Over time in a decent fight the +5 defense will save you more then the +30hp will give. BTW with triple chop and cyclone and a zealous weapon if you can hold aggro on a decent size mob you can spam those two and have your adrenaline almost constantly full =).

i have several axes myself and heres what i would suggest.

have one sundering/furious of fort. this will be the one you use when youre going back through an area with weaker baddies (whether to work for cartography title or whatever). its also the one youll hold when running (unless you prefer a +5 energy axe for that). both the sundering and furious mods are sub-optimal but theyre ones you can just hold and not worry about switching with.

have another with vamp of def. as has been said already, +5 def is better than +30 fort in longer fights- it will prevent more damage over time from melee mobs. this is your main "fighting axe" used when youre up against tougher critters. the vamp mod deals more damage than any other, and if youre fighting large groups the constant swinging and health gain more than makes up for the life loss. of course, always remember to switch off of this one when you arent fighting.

have a zealous axe too. fort or def will work here. this axe is more situational - its used in several farming builds and works well against mobs with energy denial. and though its been said, zealous works extremely well with cyclone axe/triple chop.

on the difference between fort and def, i think its important to have one of each. defense DOES prevent more damage over time in long fights, but fort is superior against opponents that use heavy degen. so if youre fighting baddies that bleed or poison you or use crip anguish or conj phant, the extra life allows you to go a bit longer with healing (or being healed if youre not soloing).

i personally have a large axe skin collection, so ive pretty much got a modded one for any situation. i have sunder/fort, vamp/fort, vamp/def, furious/fort, zeal/shelter, zeal/warding, sunder/deathbane and a couple of others. another thing i want to point out is that its important to have an elemental dmg weapon as well. examples include perdition rock and last 3 missions (where cold damage is best) and fighting glint (look it up on guildwiki to see when to switch from physical to elemental). i think fiery has the most use, but i use my sword collection when i need to do ele damage. but if you use axes SOLELY, id suggest having one with an ele mod for sure.

anyway, hope this helps a bit.

Defense mod is superior for damage prevention, but fortitude is better for PvP because it helps against damage spikes by giving your monks a larger window to keep you alive. Also helps against degen, as Cash said.

15^50, nothing beats it unless you're a thumper with a -5 EN hammer

Anyways, make 3 or 4. Vamp/Zealous/Icy(For killing other warriors/monks in judges, it adds up fast.)/sundering.

All with +30 HP.

30 HP is better then 5 Armor. HP gives you longer to live against Degen, which warriors seem to have quite a bit of lately. +5 armor is hardly noticable.

Many people say vampiric does more damage than all others but this is not true vs warriors.
A PvE example:
Lowest hit with a normal axe: 4 damage
Highest: 18
Crit: 26

With a shocking axe:
low 6 (5 rarely, very rarely)
High 26
Crit 37

witch vamp
low 7
high 21
crit 29

So for certain mobs, the elementals are interesting too.


edit: those stats are at 16 axe

Zardeone, I think wot people mean when they say vamp does more dmg than all others is that on average it does more dmg. In your example you're looking at the dmg from a single hit. But over multiple hits, those +3/+5 really adds up.

Otherwise, thanks everyone for your input. I modded this axe with furious/fort, and will be looking to mod another axe with vamp/def. I already have a zealous axe.

I decided on +30hp axe so I can use superior axe rune and my health is still 475 or something. Zealous is my favourite but for more damage vampiric is the best although vampiric hammers are the best with +5 health steal on hit (used with frenzy, your looking at a sweet DPS).

Elemental does more to warriors, didn't I say that above? An Elemental haft negates the warriors +X against physical, so they basically lose 20 armor against you everyhit. Which, is better then +3 everyhit.

But, in this case Rangers and an Ele wearing the right armor actually GAIN armor against you, so that is why I said take 3 or 4 weapons.

Three weapon sets:
Vampiric, for the most damage against casters, rangers, and sins
Zealous, for when you need energy
Elemental, for when you aren't hitting for whatever reason, or to deal the most damage against warriors.

Since you have the elemental axe to swap to for when you don't want -1e or -2hp/s, there is no reason to bother with a sundering or furious axe.