So the elven axe got a new cycle and all got halved push cost.
I still don’t see anybody in public lobbies who would even try them. Why? Probably because their problem is their poor performance against skaven slaves. Good kiting abilities are nice to have, but this is rather a bonus in the evaluation and not a major expectation. Handmaidens might pick such weapons, but sword and dagger is well enough for the job. The axes don’t require constant push attacks, so the halved push cost is rather a help for kiting.
The elven axe probably has risen from tier D to tier B due to the new cycle. But the players want good weapons (tier S and A), and not mediocre ones.
So I suggest the devs to try to raise the cleave to the point where we can hit 3 skaven slaves with a strike. Raising the cleave to these numbers can easily do the job for all similar low cleave attacks without disrupting anything.
cleave_distribution_smiter_default.attack = 0.135
cleave_distribution_smiter_default.impact = 0.135
Perhaps cleave wouldn’t be that important if the enemies wouldn’t clip into each other. But they do, and solving that would be a bigger issue I guess.
In addition, the +10% crit chance would be cool on the light attacks of the elven axe, too. Waystalker’s and Shade’s THP on crits, and stagger talents (Assassin) would create good synergies, not to mention Sister’s Bleed talent.
I think these changes would raise the tier level of axes at least to A.
If you are curious, you can try and judge this version yourself in the modded realm.