My Guide on how to use the Ghost Slaying Ax
By
Biostem,
Posted on: 2007-01-04 01:04 in Player Guides
Actually, the ax is called the Undead Slaying Ax and it was created to defeat the Banished Pantheon. It is very effective on the BP. In many cases it will one shot a BP minion or leave it with a sliver of HP in one blow at lower levels.
Infinity
FreezeBurner 50 Blaster-Fire/Ice
Paragon Destructor 50 Brute-En/En
Ah, ill double check the Undead thing, I was pretty sure it said Ghost, but you may be right. Also, its understandable why I didnt concider BP, becuase you dont realy run into many BP on the villain side. (I rarely have played hero side since i5)
P.S. Nope, your wrong about the Undead Slaying Ax, I just recheked and it does in fact say "Ghost."
The only way we could both be right, is if it says something differant for Heroes than it does for villains. Ill check that too.
P.S.S. Nope, just checked the Hero side, it says Ghost there as well. Anyways, you can see my point see as how it actualy does say Ghost Slaying Ax. It doesnt slay many ghosts if you ask me. But im glad it works well for the hero side when they attack Bantheon. Unfortunatly, we on the villain side only have maybe two or three Banaished missions, so it does us no good.
Wish we had a vet reward Temp Power Respec, cuase id sure respec out of the Ax and into Sands.
So, as I was saying, my Guide still stands 
It's worked great when I went through the Veluta Lunata missions with it.
Also works great on Tsoo Ancestors.
Do you get the bonus a lot? No, not really, but that's one reason why the Axe has a recharge that's much faster than Sands, as well as a much much shorter animation time that doesn't leave you rooted and vulnerable.
As for Accuracy issues, "seems like" is crap, don't even try to make a point of it unless you're going to use accepted methods to test. It just makes you sound less credible (not that you sound credible at all).
"Null is as much an argument "for removing the cottage rule" as the moon being round is for buying tennis shoes." -Memphis Bill
Actually, the axe is useful for ATs that are usually perfectly fine without an additional melee attack.
The reason why one would take the axe is if their attacks are heavy on damage types heavily resisted by enemies that take special damage from the axe. I know for a fact that running Bp missions (especially in Striga) solo with a Dark blast defender is a long and painful process. I believe that BP zombies, as well as croatoa and CoT ghosts are resistant against both Dark and smashing damage, making Sands significantly less effective against them.
However, I won't make any conclusions here, as I haven't really tested anything get. (Personal note: the OP ought to hold off too, considering there's no numerical or statistical analysis aside from, "I think its acc is lower")
Had I the time, I'd experiment on the following factors.
Accuracy
BI (Vs various enemies that take the added damage)
Average time to take down a group of 2 BP and 1 Shaman at +1, +2, and +3.
Yes, it's a poor pick over Sands of Mu for most ATs, but I wouldn't be too quick to exclude it for certain powersets.
Doesn't it do insane damage against Ghost Widow?
Back after 18 months away!
Wow, man....you need to drink a beer or something. I wasnt trying to come at this with a scientific method or anything, it was only my personal opinion about it. I try to leave the hard numbers to the math guru's on these forums. I realy dont have the time to waste trying to get hard core numbers. Its only an observation open for discussion.
Dont get me wrong, my opnion of the matter still stands, but dont think im here trying to prove any hard numbers, because I am not. On another note, there was some slight giggling when I wrote this, so dont go taking me too seriously. 
The accuracy of the Axe and Sands is identical.
According to the devs, the accuracy is the same on both. Also according to the devs, the ax does bonus damage against undead, not just ghosts. As for why it makes sense to take it, I'll tell you some characters of mine who took the axe and some who didn't.
My DM/DA scrapper took it, because I don't need another shadow maul, and the ax is handy for negative resisting enemies. One of my ax tankers took the ax because she likes having another ax attack. One of my ax tankers didn't take the ax because the last thing he needs is more lethal damage. My D/D defender didn't take the ax because more darkness is what he wanted in his darkened darkity darkness dork life. My Spines/DA scrapper didn't take the ax because he wanted a small cone AoE more than a single target lethal attack. I have a brute who took the ax because sand of mu causes loss of fury while animating, and I don't think the ax takes as long to animate and therefore shouldn't cause as much fury loss.
Most of my characters went with sands of Mu because I know how to use it well and am willing to accept the downsides of the power. But there are conceptual and play reasons for either vet power.
RagManX
"if the market were religion Fulmens would be Moses and you'd be L. Ron Hubbard. " --Nethergoat to eryq2
The economy is not broken. The players are
The Axe is very useful for scrappers other than possibly Spines, and for Assault Rifle blasters, who won't be using it in their normal attack chain but would otherwise have extra trouble with undead.
The incorporeal CoT ghosts in particular are a real pain for folks who do mostly (or all!) Lethal and Smashing damage.
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Wow, man....you need to drink a beer or something. I wasnt trying to come at this with a scientific method or anything, it was only my personal opinion about it. I try to leave the hard numbers to the math guru's on these forums. I realy dont have the time to waste trying to get hard core numbers. Its only an observation open for discussion.
Dont get me wrong, my opnion of the matter still stands, but dont think im here trying to prove any hard numbers, because I am not. On another note, there was some slight giggling when I wrote this, so dont go taking me too seriously.
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This is the GUIDE section of the board. This is the place for serious posts with hard numbers. If you want to say you don't like this power and discuss its shortcomings, there are other places for it such as the Archetypes and Powers General Discussion, or in one of the various official threads dealing with veteran rewards.
In answer to some of the original confusion, the Veteran power is named Ghost Slaying Axe; the original temp power is Undead Slaying Axe. The text referring to them is inconsistent in several places, though.
Sands of Mu has base accuracy of 75% to hit versus even conned minions just as Shadow Maul does. It does not hit nearly as often as a well slotted Shadow Maul with accuracy.
The boost to damage that was given to it and the Ax was done to offset the issue of the archtype wielding the power. In this way a controller deals as much damage with Sands of Mu or the Undead Slaying Ax that a scrapper deals. This bonus to damage does not affect its inherent accuracy. Powers like buildup or other similar powers which boost accuracy as well as damage will only boost the accuracy part of these veteran rewards. Often when fighting mobs of +2 or +3 the only time when I can get a hit with Permanent Sands of Mu is after a buildup.
I only have the Axe on one toon (a tanl mostly for concept) and he's only lvl12. I noticed that it works great against Vahz cadavers and Eidolons. Yes, I guess Eidolons are undead. Not the mortificators and whatnots though.
Does anyone have a list of all the mobs that get the bonus? I know BP minons, cadavers and eidolons. what about BP shamans, are they undead?
Also for some reason I see the words "inefffective" when used on Vahz undead, even though you do get the damage bonus
No, you don't get the damage bonus. Read your combat log, the message is very specific to let you know they do not apply.
"Null is as much an argument "for removing the cottage rule" as the moon being round is for buying tennis shoes." -Memphis Bill
The reason why the axe works well on Cadavers and Abominations is that they're weak to Lethal.
Oh, so basicaly since im not a math wiz, your saying I dont have the right to post here??? Get real pal.....
I only wish I could say what i realy want on this post, it for sure wouldnt be very nice.
I made an observation. I put it out for those who either want to laugh at it, or for those who can help with numbers on it. Im just as currious to know the facts as the next man, but just because I dont do mathmatician work on these forums, doesnt mean im not allowed to post a guide on something I felt strongly about.
Sorry if a rained on your parade, but i sure as hell didnt see any other guides on the Ghost Slaying Axe. So at least i gave it a shot and put it up for discussion.
In other words, instead of trying to tell me what I can and can not do, why dont you try showing me some numbers to better help me understand instead of attempting to work my bad side.
Sad thing is, is that some people are pretty ballsy on the Forums, where the fact is, is that people would show a little more respect in RL. Thats what nerves me the most.
Sorry for posting my guide on your precious forum pal. But to be honest, I thought I made some good points. And alot of the things I said were indeed fact. It was only the numbers that i did not provide.
Just to show you that what I said made total sence, ill try to repeat what my origanal post said to sum it all up at the end.
An ax that has a low to-hit chance + A smite from a ghost = an extremely useless ax.
I guess if I had hard numbers I could have said something like this.
Ghost Axe with an accuracy of 75% + Smite -35% = 45% chance to hit.
But since I did not know the numbers, i put it here for everyone to discuss. If there were already a guide to this, I wouldnt have had a reason to post. I could have just read it and learned. But since I have put a post on here, it is being figured out, and people are starting to give out numbers. So in a round about way, this is actualy turning into a guid, it will just need to be compiled and redone once this thread is over.
I can take the nembers that I find here, and actualy come up with a GOOD guide for all to learn.
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So in a round about way, this is actualy turning into a guid, it will just need to be compiled and redone once this thread is over.
I can take the nembers that I find here, and actualy come up with a GOOD guide for all to learn.
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So.. why not do that in the first place? You know, instead of posting assumptions, misinformation, and vocal opinions? :3
Oh, and for your comparison.
A:X power + smite = 45% acc
B: 45 acc = Bad
C: X power sucks
A+B, Therefore C? You're missing the point of why people are giving you a hard time about your rather wild assumption.
ok, understood. Now in saying that, please tell me how and where to find hard numbers outside of these forums, and ill come back and try it again when I have hard facts.
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Don't! Its a completely useless Vet Reward, and unless you are getting it for souly concept reasons, its a complete waste of time.
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I agree 90%.
It's not useless.
It's just nowhere near as good as Sand of Mu, unless you are fighting BP and COT.
Since the greatest part of getting the vet power is getting an extra attack at charecter creation and COT and BP don't really come into play untill you level 20+ Sands of Mu is just more usefull through levels 1-20. Sure those levels fly by fast, but they are the levels you really use the extra attack. Once you have SO's you usually also have a pretty adequite attack chain and won't be using your vet power as often.
Now if the Axe did extra damage to outcasts, trolls, and clockwork I would have to reconsider. Unfortunately, the axe does Lethal damage, which is highly resisted in the late game, and only does bonus damage to a select few targets.
Sands of Mu > Axe of Selective Target Slaying.
It's like a sword +1/+5 Clown Slaying. Sure it's fun, but how much use are you really going to get out of it.
Centinull
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I made an observation. I put it out for those who either want to laugh at it, or for those who can help with numbers on it.
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But this forum is for guides. An observation like what you made isn't a guide.
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Sad thing is, is that some people are pretty ballsy on the Forums, where the fact is, is that people would show a little more respect in RL. Thats what nerves me the most.
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Ahhhh, the famous "in real life you wouldn't act this way" argument. I am actually much nicer in forums than I am in real life, because in a forum, no one can tell if I'm serious or kidding, even if I use emoticons. In real life, I don't like people and try to behave in a manner that gets them away from me without getting them to want to hit or shoot me. If you'll add in a nazi reference somewhere there, you'll really be able to nail the hyperbole meter high.
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Sorry for posting my guide on your precious forum pal. But to be honest, I thought I made some good points. And alot of the things I said were indeed fact. It was only the numbers that i did not provide.
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When you say a lot of the things you said were fact, where you talking about the fact that Ax and Mu have the same accuracy, which you called a much lower accuracy for the Ax? Or were you talking about the vet reward Mu having apparently the same accuracy as your three Acc slotted shadow maul, which is untrue since the vet reward is an unenhanceable 75%? Or was it when you said the Ax was best used against ghosts, when it is in fact also useful against Vahz (lethal vulnerable) and Banished Pantheon (some of which are dark resistant or undead in which case the Ax gets a bonus dmg according to the devs)? You said more false than true things in that original post, and still defend it as mostly true.
The reason you are getting so much flak is there is almost nothing true in your original post, and you seem unwilling to back down. While the Sands of Mu makes for a very nice vet reward (and I will admit that most of my characters chose that over the Ax), you come across like you are saying it is the only vet reward worth taking, yet there are real game-play reasons to take the Ax instead.
Not that I expect to get through to you, but there it is.
RagManX
"if the market were religion Fulmens would be Moses and you'd be L. Ron Hubbard. " --Nethergoat to eryq2
The economy is not broken. The players are
Experiment on them yourself!
*points to own guide*
I approximated the damage increase from sonic -res values, as well as the duration before they were available on any hero planner or forum guide.
It's not hard. A calculator and algebra did it for me.
Acc isn't too difficult either, granted it's a little time consuming (compare hits to misses against even cons for a sample of 100 attempts, 50 if you're lazy).
Guides are about substantiating opinion with more than opinion or misinformation. I hear using numbers, fact, or well-established (i.e. large portions of the CoH veteran community) common knowledge, to substantiate opnions or make educated guesses are all the rage these days, but what do i know?
Meh, I already answerd your questions 2 posts back, no need in answering them again. Besides, im done with this post untill I can come back with hard numbers. The only reason im responding to this post of yours, is because it was specificaly directed at me.
If you want your questions answered, go back two posts and youll find them there, I care not to repeat myself.
P.S. Not everyone gave me flack, only two people. The rest of them, had positive ways of explaining. Not unlike some of the, "this is my forum and you screwed up posting here in our high and mighty" attitudes.
So I made a mistake, and it wont be made again. I didnt realize the seriousness of this forum, it was actualy my first time posting here. But rest assured, next forum I post will be cmore accurate. Good day to you.
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Don't! Its a completely useless Vet Reward, and unless you are getting it for souly concept reasons, its a complete waste of time. Here is why.
1: Its accuarcy seems to be less than the Sands of Mu, which IMO Sands of Mu hits almost as much as my three slotted for accuracy Shadow Mual.
2: The best time to use it is when fighting Ghosts from CoT. Now here is the problem, you have an Ax in which is desighned to kill them right? It already as a low chance to hit, and when you are hit by Ghosts (despite the well known accuracy problems to dark powers, they still seem to rarely miss) you are debuffed by a seemingly six slotted dark debuff.
Conclusion? A weapon with a low to-hit chance + a smite from a ghost = Give it up, its a waste of endurance to even try to swing that useless AX.
Thanks to all who have concidered this special guid on how to use the "Ghost Slaying Ax" 
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So pop a yellow or two and stop your whinage.
Total Focus is a hold, right?
normally i would agree with you but with my nin blade stalker im glad i took it. the ghosts heavily resist smashing/lethal so being able to whip out my axe after AS something is nice
My necro / poison MM took the ax primarily to combat those nasty CoT ghosts and their insane lethal damage resistance (around 40-50% the last time I experimented). Even debuffed they tend to take a while for my minions to kill but the axe is a handy equalizer. :-)
Don't! Its a completely useless Vet Reward, and unless you are getting it for souly concept reasons, its a complete waste of time. Here is why.
1: Its accuarcy seems to be less than the Sands of Mu, which IMO Sands of Mu hits almost as much as my three slotted for accuracy Shadow Mual.
2: The best time to use it is when fighting Ghosts from CoT. Now here is the problem, you have an Ax in which is desighned to kill them right? It already as a low chance to hit, and when you are hit by Ghosts (despite the well known accuracy problems to dark powers, they still seem to rarely miss) you are debuffed by a seemingly six slotted dark debuff.
Conclusion? A weapon with a low to-hit chance + a smite from a ghost = Give it up, its a waste of endurance to even try to swing that useless AX.
Thanks to all who have concidered this special guid on how to use the "Ghost Slaying Ax"