Best axe for PvP/PvE

BloodTyrant - Raging Tide

hello every1, i have a bm lvl 100, i've been using him more for PvE/farming but lately i've been thinking on have some fun with PvP. atm my bm has a GX axe (tt90 gold) but nowadays with endgame builds mixed on nirv/nirv t3/r9, my loyal friend has no more enough dph to kill some1 like years ago, so i've been wondering, which axe would be better for PvP. i was thinking about g15 dual axes with zerk, good dmg, chance of zerk (way better with GoF) which would be awesome if procs with a crit and hf, 16x dmg would be sorta of epic for my bm; the second option is g16 nirvana, great dph, if not the second best dph for axes (losing for r9) but no zerk.

i'd like some opinions of which axe to get, r9 axes are out of question since im planning on recast barb's r9 gears. atm my vote goes for g15 with zerk, but i'd like some bm's opinions and comments.

ty all, BT.

Aasaf - Sanctuary

Quick clarification for myself, PVP = fighting one person(duel/PK), or pvp also includes TW?

BloodTyrant - Raging Tide

Aasaf - Sanctuary wrote: »

Quick clarification for myself, PVP = fighting one person(duel/PK), or pvp also includes TW?

i meant PvP in general (pk/duel/TW/jo-ken-po/burp contest,etc...)

Jaabg - Sanctuary

Awesome post made by Maelael in another topic. Does this help? answer your questions?

Maelael - Heavens Tear wrote: »

Okay lets start from the decent-ish to the top, given were talking to a wide spectrum of people. I apologize for the long post, but like the APS convo, I had this come up 3 times last night, and it comes up several times a week, so Im just gonna be lazy and refer people in game to this post.

This kinda works for Barbs too, just switch the rank gear.

G12 Group
Calloused Lionheart Hatchets, aka GXs: 25mish
http://www.pwdatabase.com/pwi/items/14830
Good axes until you get R9 or 3rd Stage Nirvana. Cheap, has zerk, and mine I swear proc 75% of the time. I've killed myself on my barb and bm often with these.

Unparalled Brimstone Axes: 15-20mish
http://www.pwdatabase.com/pwi/items/14831
These upgrade to good G13 Nirvana Axes, which then can be upgraded to G15 Nirvanas.

G13 Group
Dragonhunt: 30-40m
http://www.pwdatabase.com/pwi/items/16076
These upgrade to crappy G13 Nirvana Axes, which then can be upgraded to G15 Nirvanas.

Invincible Smoker Nirvana: ~175m
http://www.pwdatabase.com/pwi/items/25955
These are the only good G13 Nirvana Axes.

G14
Hellfire Hatchets aka "Morai Axes": 17m, a lot of time and sanity lost.
http://www.pwdatabase.com/pwi/items/33534
These are G15, but I call em G14 (maybe even G13) due to the lower base damage. I do not feel they rank up with normal G15s, but are excellent damage in PvE.

But lets say I value each Morai thingy as 2.5m - time I could be clearing an FF or whatever. At 8 quests a week (3 Dailies, I count the 2 weeklys as one), you're talking 80m worth of time. Total bill becomes 97m. Further sanity and time lost if you reroll.

But these are very good PvE axes for either class, by far. Cheap and farmable.

R8: 105mish
http://www.pwdatabase.com/pwi/items/12948
Good, very good axes if you have the money to plop down for rank. The bonus here is if you plan to go R9, this is a great in the meantime weapon, and you've already 66% of the way to R9.

G15
Nirvana G15s: ~400m+ depending on rerolls.
http://www.pwdatabase.com/pwi/items/25652
http://www.pwdatabase.com/pwi/items/25652

11m a reroll. 50% chance of sac strike, 2.5% chance of GoF.

R8r: 575m (Better base damage/refines than Nirvana G15s)
http://www.pwdatabase.com/pwi/items/32267
Unless you want the Def Level add on (most common as well as reduced requirements) - consider that it's 50m a reroll. If you're going for GoF, were talking 5% chance, so were looking at 1b statistically worth of rerolls. Thats 1.5b.

Really, unless you're a catabarb going for Def levels, or have TONS of money to blow on a fun weapon with advanced purge, don't do this to yourself.

G16

R9 Axes: With no super sales, 1279m. On sale, kinda knocks it down to about 1050m.
http://www.pwdatabase.com/pwi/items/28526
Best axes save the recasts obv. I swear I zerk, crit, or zerk crit 95% of the time.

G16 3rd Stage Nirvana Axes: 407m+ depending on rerolls (and a lot of time, and possible loss of sanity unless you have a friend with mold and badges)
http://www.pwdatabase.com/pwi/items/34764
This outdamages everything but a lucky set of G15s with GoF that always procs, or R9 obv.


The Bottom Line:

R9 axes are the best.

Morai axes are the cheapest bang for your buck if you're willing to farm.

3rd Stage Nirvana Axes are the most efficient way to spend your money if you are willing to farm. The intermediate stages to build up to this axe are good weapons as well.

So it depends what your end goal is:
R9 - Get the R8 axe till you can afford R9.

Morai - Just use whatever the hell you want that you can resell later (dragonhunts or TT90 are common), and farm away.

3rd Stage Nirvana (aka, N3) - If you have the BS skill at 6, get an Invincible Smoker, use that till you can get the 3rd Stage. Or, just use whatever like outlined with Morai axes, and make the 3rd stage from scratch so its not bound, and anyone can reroll it till you get what you want.

The only axes i have tried in the above set are Dragonhunt and R8 axes. Dragon hunt was awesome fun with the range for me, but not really needed. Mobs that took me 5~7 aoe skills with dragon hunt at +5, now take me 1~3 aoe skills at r8 axes +4. R8 axes may have a bigger range, but i like seeing the crit pop up so often when i use them. Before when i dq farmed, i used to spark and use deicide. Now it is quicker to hf, aoe, on the next bunch aoe+mire. The third set i usually have 2 sparks back for hf again.

I had calamity axes, i did not like sac assault add on for pve. Those axes hurt me more than help me (dead in fcc).