Battleaxe sucks for 34 levels. But at level 39 you are a god.
The Scrappers' Guide to Dark Melee | Kheldian Binds and Strategies
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As the proud owner of an inv/ax from before issue 1, allow me to express a few thoughts.|
Originally Posted by Comicsluvr
I've been seeing a lot of Axe/Inv Tank builds and posts lately and everyone seems to rave about them. I know why Invul is popular but why Axe? Is it simple damage output, the 3 AoEs or something I'm missing?
Thanks in advance. |
Yes, inv/ax is a stellar combination for tanking. Not because it is the best at anything, but because it is good at a LOT of things, and the two sets combine seamlessly.
Invuln is widely and properly viewed as 'second best' among the armor sets. Stone wins, hands-down, but invuln is reeeaally good, especially when well supported by slotting.
Battle ax does reasonable tanker damage, not great but okay. It has a good blend of single target and AOE powers that allows powerful slotting combos to support Invuln. Axe does a single, reliable, and consistent form of mitigation, ie, knockdown. Knockdown is in my opinion ideal when paired with an invuln, because it lowers incoming fire but carries no risk of your 'minion shield' moving away from the mighty invincibility.
Ax actually combines very well with any set that has a combat aura, invuln, willpower, shield, etc. But of those, invuln is widely and properly viewed as the toughest for tanking the hard stuff.
What inv/ax is NOT, is a high-damage, flashy toon. Shield, ice, fire, etc are going to do more damage, and have the spectacular flash/crash/roar going on.
What inv/ax IS is one of the best, solid, reliable TANKS. A well-built inv/ax is going to blow away nobody, but people will be happy to see you anyway.
Besides. You're a crazy bastid with a huge honkin' AX. What's not to love?
Mauk said it well
I used to collect axes, Rularuu, Rikti (thats a good one) Vanguard, don't forget your Roman axes
Axe melee is a fun set, all that knockdown offers you some 'soft control' keeping the enemies from taking shots at you while their trying to stand back up again. A good mix of single and multiple target attacks will mean you should have something really nice to use at any situation.
So far, i've prefered my Inv/Axe over my Elec/TW, but i haven't built up my TW enough to comment more.
As for Invuln, not sure. I know that Axe melee is a touch end heavy, but Invuln is light. Perhaps this, As long as your facing at least even con enemies, all the axe attacks do is knockdown and knockup, not knockback! keeping enemies around you but unable to attack you at the same time is doubly good for your survivability as an invuln. It stops them from attacking you while at the same time keeping your defense nice and high with lots of targets in range of invinicibility.
Then of course, there is the KA-CHUNK!
Combat Kangaroos, Justice Server. First 50's
Jirra Roo Plant/Storm/Stone/Musculature Controller
Combat Kangaroo Rifle/Energy/Mace/Spiritual Blaster
Kung Fu Kangaroo Martial Arts/Reflexes/Body/Spiritual Scrapper
Tribal Arc Shield/Elec/Mu/Spiritual Tanker
I have a year 1 Inv/Axe. I actually parked him for years because leveling was just too aggravating and axe was sooooo boring.
If it weren't a year 1 toon, I probably would have deleted it.
But, a friend had a character in the right range and I ended up blowing the dust off to help them out ( I prefer to run a toon in the general level range rather than exemping down ) and with the help of the Experienced veterans reward managed to push the character through the mid to late 30's pretty quickly.
Somewhere between 35 and 41 the character hit critical mass and just became ridiculously tough, and also fun to play. The 3 late AoE's make a HUGE difference, both in play and also in IO slotting. That plus Spring Attack and the entire nature of the character changed for the better.
The damage is still not that exciting. It's not _horrible_ but, really, soloing is not the toons forte.
However, the tank-ification is really awesome.
As an example, first iTrial after hitting 50, no alpha slot, no level shifts, I tanked thru the containers run on Lambda. I don't even know who that was possible; I expected to get creamed but it was pretty effortless. The few times I got into trouble Dull Pain or some green inspirs fixed it and I just kept on trucking. Granted, I was hitting for lame damage, but I was throwing taunt around to at least act as a meat shield and I stayed vertical.
So...I dunno. Axe itself is kind of meh, especially grinding up the levels. I think a Inv/Mace would be even more fun. But, never the less, I've been very surprised by how much more I like this character in the end game than I did leveling.
For what its worth, MoM was not fun on this toon however...Invul's psi hole being what it is.
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I wouldn't say it's boring so much....|
Originally Posted by KillerShrike
I have a year 1 Inv/Axe. I actually parked him for years because leveling was just too aggravating and axe was sooooo boring.
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It's...reliable.
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| Somewhere between 35 and 41 the character hit critical mass and just became ridiculously tough, and also fun to play. |
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The damage is still not that exciting. It's not _horrible_ but, really, soloing is not the toons forte. However, the tank-ification is really awesome. |
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| So...I dunno. Axe itself is kind of meh, especially grinding up the levels. I think a Inv/Mace would be even more fun. |
For my money, I think Axe needs two small changes.
The single target attacks need to have a Bleeding damage dot added to them, ripped straight from Broadsword. This will keep ax notably different from mace and boost the damage up to get kinda closer to the incredible clobber. And then the maximum targets cap of Cleave and Pendulum needs to be reversed. Small, simple things, but they'd make leveling an axer less of a chore, and frankly, the cleave/pendulum thing makes no sense at all the way it is now.
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| But, never the less, I've been very surprised by how much more I like this character in the end game than I did leveling. |
I'd imagine that being able to slot Force Feedback: Chance for +Recharge procs in attacks like Whirling Axe and Pendulum must be pretty nice.
Winteriel Ice/Fire/Soul Tanker | @TBoxer Global | City of Heroes R.I.P. (2004-2012)
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Originally Posted by TBoxer
I'd imagine that being able to slot Force Feedback: Chance for +Recharge procs in attacks like Whirling Axe and Pendulum must be pretty nice.
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Things like this make me smile *dashes off to see how many FF he has stored*
"Comics, you're not a Mastermind...you're an Overlord!"
I've been seeing a lot of Axe/Inv Tank builds and posts lately and everyone seems to rave about them. I know why Invul is popular but why Axe? Is it simple damage output, the 3 AoEs or something I'm missing?
Thanks in advance.
"Comics, you're not a Mastermind...you're an Overlord!"