If your intention was to make the 1h axe the only weapon used on Salty and Bardin then you did a fine job. After the buff during the last update of beta it was safe to assume that the level of buff it received would be knocked back for live. That didn’t happen.
Running axe on both above characters and halberd on kruber (Axe on a longer stick) even harder better deeds are a breeze. With WHC having instakill on headshot crit and the buff to his crit and also the crit on axe it is possible to just mince entire patrols on harder better.
I think you should consider taking a look at the axe and the falchion, since falchion was furthered nerfed, yet 1h sword massively buffed. Falchion is lacklustre now and axe is clearly the better choice.
Just you wait though, there’s heaps of people on here who think the axe is literally unusable after it got gently nerfed in the release candidate.
I heavily disagree however. Rapier and 2Hsword are perfectly viable on Saltzpyre - you’ll have even more 1HKO success with WHC crits with Rapier due to the superior swing and the attack speed. 1hammer and warpick easily compete with the axe for the dwarf - honestly just try using something that isn’t axe. I play both of these characters a lot and found more success using weapons other than axe. I mean, anecdotal evidence is what goes, right?
I’m sensing a fair bit of hyperbole here.
But I do agree that the design of the weapon is a little backwards, as it’s one of those strange weapons that has a heavy attack that’s essentially atrophied - its only use is breaking shields. I’m highly unsure whether further amping up light swing spam on 1haxe was a good idea. Perhaps it’s in need of a total rework of its heavy attack if this is how it is. And the falchion really does feel like a limp noodle version of the 1h sword, which is admittedly funny to see after it’s been overpowered as hell for ages, starting in V1.
I do not think it’s an example of a weapon that overshadows all other alternatives.
Yes the axe is strong but it doesn’t out compete everything.
The falchion is in between the axe and the rapier. It has the same cleave as the rapier but more dmg and staggers SV like the axe but less dmg.
The falchion can be used very well on WHC but also on other careers and performs simmilar to the rapier there (weak).
All in all I think on salz’s side it’s quite well balanced.
I haven’t played the dwarf in quite some time but I heard that there is strangeness between the 1h and 2h axe.
I agree that falchion could use a slight buff. It was nerfed back in the day for being the “do everything” meta at the time. But then a lot of weapons like 2h sword were changed to do everything by adding anti-armour push attacks and the like. As for 1h axe, it seems okay for now. Having essentially no cleave is a huge downside and it gives it a totally different playstyle compared to 1h hammer. Can’t speak to how it handles on Saltz as I don’t play him much.
I’m going to reserve final judgment until after the next patch. There are a lot of lingering bugs to do with damage numbers that either cropped up during the beta or existed before the beta and were never fixed. Executioner can’t kill SVs in one headshot anymore, and sienna’s bolt staff has less cleave if you only charge it halfway, etc. Unless you go over the patch notes with a fine toothed comb it’s difficult to figure out if a weapon is suffering from bugs or was intentionally made that way for balance purposes.
so before people used the falch for everything
(some used the rapier but it was always the minority)
now good ol victor has another weapon in his arsenal that is actually good
and ofc people say : its to good please nerf
to the comment on that the falch would be lackluster: im sry it just isnt, it still is amazing
and if you feel a weapon is too strong : then there is a simple solution dont use it
Yeah I’m afraid the ONLY job that can say that about the Axe is Zealot.
I’ve used both Axe and Rapier, and I’m sorry but with the exception of CWs Rapier is still stronger on WHC. Axe requires a LOT of dodge dancing in a Horde just to survive, Rapier is much easier to survive with.
And now that they smoothed out the Alt-Fire Pistol shot on it, you can block and fire the pistol the same as you did in V1 and not take hits, this was not possible before. The Alt-Fire Pistol shot is now completely usable and you can pick off Clan Rats and Zombies from 10 yards now.
The only time the Axe wins out on normal targets are on small groups of Ambient mobs because you can hit each one anywhere and it kills them. It is slightly better against Chaos, but Rapier still shines against Skaven.
EDIT: Really though the Falchion does need its old AP back, and that nerf does need to be reversed at this point.
It’s bugged though, at least when hitting dummies - 3rd target takes full damage (sam as 1st target) while it shouldn’t be taking any I think. I’ll report it today or tomorrow, cause I don’t want a nerf because of axe overperforming due to bug, because if they nerf it, and then fix the bug, thus further nerfing it, it’s going to be pretty damn bad.
Edit:luckily it only happens vs training dummies. Couldn’t replicate the issue on horde.
The 1h axe is pretty great. Especially if you maximize its critical hits. I still think it could be improved though. For mobility it feels like a two-handed weapon. Which I absolutely hate.
Personally though I like having dual axes or the great axe instead to stagger stuff and/or kill it in one hit. Every weapon has its own kinda useful role.