Go withought, or take? That depends on you. Do YOU feel that you have enough damage to compliment your defneses? If you feel your good as is, then there's no real reason to pick up a Vet Attack.
On the other hand, if you feel that you need more damage... a vet attack is a free power. You can grab it at any time, and phase it out of your attack chain when it's no longer useful.
As for which to take? Between Sands of Mu and the Ghost Slaying Axe, Sands is usually the superior choice. It's a cone power, Smashing/Dark damage, and give a small to-hit debuff. It's only drawback is being rooted for 3 seconds for the animation.
The only time the Axe may be a better choice is when your character's primary damage type is Dark. In that case, having the Ghost Slaying Axe comes with some perks... especially since a lot of the things that resist dark, are the very things that the Axe does double damage against. Still, it's single-target nature and reletivly high End cost means that it's still a debateable point.
Still, for an /Axe tank, I'd say Sands, hands down.
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I made up a SD/Axe recently and am really enjoying him, but I haven't picked up Sands or the Axe because I was unsure if I should, with redraw and the like. Is it better to go without, or if not, which would be a better choice?
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Do not overlook the vet powers. All 4 of the vet powers (Axe, Sands, Nemisis Staff, Black Wand) do more damage than all but superior and extreme attacks from tanker secondaries. Granted they aren't as accurate since you can't slot them, however they won't be affected by damage debuffs (like granite) either.
While you may find them "extra" late in the life of a tank, they are a god send through the low 20's. Simply put, tanks don't get enough attacks early on, and with these vet powers you can do more to focus early on your defenses.
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The only time the Axe may be a better choice is when your character's primary damage type is Dark.
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Or when concept makes the axe irresistible. My ent-like animated tree character Raintree wields the veteran power axe to chop offending humans down to size. The tree coming at you with an axe just cried out to me when I was choosing the vet powers.
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If I'm using damage types resisted by ghosts, and/or don't 'need' an extra attack, I take the Ghost Slaying Axe. If I need an extra attack to fill an attack chain, I take Sands of Mu.
Sands of Mu is a superior attack in pretty much all regards, but I'd still rather be using my secondary attacks because I can slot them.
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If you like to "arrest" CoT for magic salvage then Ghost Axe.
Otherwise Sands of Mu is hard to beat.
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Tanker aficionado
Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way.
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I made up a SD/Axe recently and am really enjoying him, but I haven't picked up Sands or the Axe because I was unsure if I should, with redraw and the like. Is it better to go without, or if not, which would be a better choice?
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Definitely take one ... you can always choose not to use it later.
As people have said, Sands is generally considered superior to the Axe. One part of your question might have been thinking that the Axe wouldn't cause a "draw" animation since you're already using "axes". I don't believe this is correct ... I think you draw the different axe when using Ghost Axe (can someone confirm?).
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One part of your question might have been thinking that the Axe wouldn't cause a "draw" animation since you're already using "axes". I don't believe this is correct ... I think you draw the different axe when using Ghost Axe (can someone confirm?).
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Yes, it's not the same as the battle axe or any of the custom axes. You do draw it every time.
If we are to die, let us die like men. -- Patrick Cleburne
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The rule is that they must be loved. --Jayne Fynes-Clinton, Death of an Abandoned Dog
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One part of your question might have been thinking that the Axe wouldn't cause a "draw" animation since you're already using "axes". I don't believe this is correct ... I think you draw the different axe when using Ghost Axe (can someone confirm?).
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Yes, it's not the same as the battle axe or any of the custom axes. You do draw it every time.
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Thanks!
Thanks for all the input guys! I picked up Sands this afternoon, and it helped out quite a bit filling in some empty recharge times. It should definitely make getting up to the 20s easier when I can grab some more attacks.
Thanks again!
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Is it better to go without, or if not, which would be a better choice?
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Is it better to go without? Definitely not. That gives you less options. If you take the power, you can choose when to use it. If you get hit with -recharge and all your other attacks are recharging, you'll want *ANY* attack available. If you have a full attack chain, you can skip the vet power under normal circumstances.
As for which to take, I always take the Sands of Mu on my tanks. If there is ONE AT that is most likely to have the enemy bunched up next to them, it's a tank.
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No reason to go without them: they're free, there's no penalty for having them other than finding space on an attack bar for them, and if you never want to use them you don't gotta.
I take Sands of Mu on any character who doesn't have Dark Melee, where it's redundant. Ghost Slaying Axe on Dark Melee characters.
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Later on, Sands of Mu is great for killing gears. And that's about it, unless you're in a rage crash.
It's awesome for a level 1-10 sewer roll, though.
Red side, I like to take the ghost slaying axe, and beat on spectral pirates.
The melee vet powers are pretty much only used at low levels for me. Once my characters mature and hit the higher levels, I stop using them - I prefer to use slottable attacks that are more accurate, end efficient, and effected by damage buffs such as Build Up. (Keep in mind the streak breaker uses your lowest tohit chance for figuring out how many misses it should allow, so using a vet power in the high end game is more trouble than its worth, imo.)
The ranged vet powers still get some use if the character doesn't take a ranged blast from an ancillary pool, though.
That said, I tend to favor Sands of Mu because it's a cone, although I have made special exceptions to take the axe when it has a strong enough conceptually fitting. (That, and against some undead enemies who you want to use the axe on (such as Spectral Daemon Lords), they debuff accuracy.)
Eh, I always go with the axe, even though sands is slightly better, I don't like getting handcuffed and rooted during it's animation.
My real answer is Nemesis staff. ;]
One note: Sands of Mu on a */Dark Tanker simply rocks when combined with Shadow Maul. I don't foresee ever giving up this combination (although not using it when I don't have 6 seconds to spare of course 
).
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Eh, I always go with the axe, even though sands is slightly better, I don't like getting handcuffed and rooted during it's animation.
My real answer is Nemesis staff. ;]
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The difference between the axe and sands of mu, is that there are some instances in the later-mid to late game where using the axe is more beneficial than a regular attack. Whereas in the late game, using sands of mu will actually decrease your DPS.
There are few things better than whipping out the axe (so it's already drawn) and using it to open a fight with a spectral demon or ancestor spirit. It makes fighting CoT and Tsoo a bit more amusing.
I also like the Sands of MU / Shadow Maul combination on my Dark/ Scrapper. It makes him look like one angry son-of-a-gun!
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I made up a SD/Axe recently and am really enjoying him, but I haven't picked up Sands or the Axe because I was unsure if I should, with redraw and the like. Is it better to go without, or if not, which would be a better choice?