Feedback:User/8Bit/Axe Mastey PvP Balance

Axe Mastey PvP Balance
User	8Bit
Categories	Skill feedback → Warrior  → Other Player vs. Player → PvP skills

I hope to make suggestions for all Warrior attribute lines (if people still roam this wiki.) This time, it's for Axe Mastery. I have put a lot of thought into these suggestions, but I would love some criticism!

My thoughts on what Warriors are and should be capable of in PvP:

The Warrior is a an explosive class which can deal heavy bursts of damage and do knockdowns if skillful. It differs from the Assassin in that it is less predictable and more circumstantial, and from the Dervish in that it is primarily designed for single target takedowns and not aoe pressure.

My goal with these suggestions is to provide more versatility to the Warrior class by making changes to many of the skills that are consistently left on the shelf. I do not wish to make the Warrior more powerful per se; I wish to make it more adaptable to the style of the player and the current meta.

I recognize that many Warrior skills are perfectly fine the way they are, and so if a skill does not appear here, I simply have no changes to propose.

Finally, as a reminder, these are suggestions for PvP only. If I suggest changes to a skill which is not already split for PvP, I arbitrarily suggest that it be. I have no idea how changes would affect PvE. [/rant]

Axe Mastery

Axe Twist 7 Axe attack. Deals +1...12...15 damage. Deals +1...12...15 more damage and causes knock-down if target foe has a Deep Wound and is moving.

A "watered down" bull's strike. It is more circumstantial and quite costly, as a knock-down should be, but it is not supposed to replace bull's. Merely complement it, allowing for a new type of build

Cleave 4 1 Elite Axe attack. Deals +10...26...30 damage and inflicts Bleeding condition (5...19...22 seconds).

Buffs a slightly underpowered skill by amplifying its DPS/pressure abilities a little

Critical Chop 5 10 Axe attack. Deals +1...16...20 damage. If it hits, for 1...4...5 seconds, your next axe attack is a critical hit.

Allows a warrior to set up for a big spike while staying true to the skill nomenclature

Cyclone Axe 5 4 Axe attack. Hits all foes adjacent to you. Deals +1...10...12 damage for each foe in the Area (maximum +40)

Makes the skill feasible in PvP where you will generally be surrounded by fewer enemies and, simultaneously, more damage is needed. Is it powerful enough? What do you think?

Decapitate 8 Elite Axe attack. Deals +10...42...50 damage, inflicts Deep Wound condition (5...17...20 seconds) and is an automatic critical hit. If target foe has less than 75% health, lose all adrenaline. Your stances are disabled (7 seconds).

The original Decapitate skill is certainly fun, but it sees no real usage due to follow-up attacks and "cooldown" time on spikes being just too inconvenient. Making the direct penalty a little different hopefully it will be a balanced skill which sees play

Furious Axe 5 8 Axe attack. Deals +5...29...35 damage and gain 1 strike of adrenaline. Target foe loses 0...2...3 strikes of adrenaline if blocked.

Adds a unique functionality to the skill which punishes the foe for blocking rather than rewarding the player for being blocked

Keen Chop 5 5 Axe Attack. Moved to Strength. Automatic critical hit. If it hits, for 0...8...10 seconds, critical hits deal 15% more damage.

Gives the skill more versatility for Warriors. Perhaps this change would make other skills ("Fear Me!" anyone?...) see play. Perhaps this functionality is too unique however. Would like some feedback on it!

Lacerating Chop 7 Axe Attack. Deals +5...17...20 damage. Removes a stance and causes Bleeding (5...17...20 seconds) if target foe is knocked down.

Some conditional stance removal should make this skill a little more appealing. Has synergy with shock-axe bars. Would this push out Whirling Axe, would Whirling be chosen over this, or would they be played alongside eachother? What do you think?

Penetrating Blow 6 Axe Attack. Deals +5...17...20 piercing damage. +20% armor penetration.

Skill needed a buff. Changed to piercing damage to throw targets off and made the armor penetration stack with Strength. Also made it 6 adren rather than 5

Penetrating Chop 6 Axe Attack. Deals +5...11...13 piercing damage. 30% armor penetration.

Same as above but the armor penetration here is not stacking and +damage is lowered. To be used by Tactics Warriors or X/W using axe attacks

Triple Chop 7 Elite Axe attack. Hits +1 time for each condition on target foe (maximum +2 times). Unblockable. You gain no adrenaline for these attacks.

Allows for a whole new type of axe bar and axe spike. Think elite Twin Moon

Whirling Axe 5 4 Elite Axe attack. Deals +5...21...25 damage and removes a stance. Unblockable. Gain 3 energy if a stance was removed.

A very small buff, but a buff nonetheless. Allows for the stance removal to be timed more effectively (whirling didn't really help you if you had to charge adren against a stance blocking monk). Also rewards skillfull play to negate the pressure on energy that shock-axe bars suffer from

And finally..! This one is a bit of a laugh; there are simply too many axe attacks. I like the concept though:

Swift Chop 5 6 Axe Attack. Deals +1...16...20 damage. If it hits, for (0...2...3 seconds), your next axe attack has an activation time of 1 second.

Imagine this followed by Decapitate..!