Brutal Momentum is a blessing that completely transform Combat Axes, from a single target high damage/stagger/armor pen, to a horde clearer that can still deal high single target damage, I think this is a huge design flaw, especially considering how weak the weapon feels when you don’t take this blessing, with the introduction of the new shotguns, and the increased cleave on combat shotguns, you can now take the combat axe with the shotguns, to compensate for the low cleave of the axes, but honestly I have tried to do it with the combat shotguns, but the axe really suffers from how good brutal momentum is, you either take it, or you have a much weaker and slower dueling sword.
What I would like to see is, a small increase to the combat axe cleave against horde enemies, and the complete removal of Brutal Momentum from Combat and Tactical Axes.
TLDR; Brutal Momentum completely changes how axes work, and that makes any other blessing choice a bad one, since the weapon is being balanced and perceived from the angle that you always pick Brutal Momentum.
It has like a 5 enemy cap and the reach + attack angles make it pretty unreliable to even hit that cap.
Let’s not get crazy with the glazing.
To the general point yeah Caxe base cleave doesn’t make a lot of sense in the current game state. Most egregious to me is still the Achlys horizontal heavy with 0.001 cleave for some inexplicable reason.
I really don’t think the current version of brutal momentum is anywhere near egregious enough to consider removing. However lessening reliance on it by letting Caxe cleave a few poxwalkers at base is definitely something I’d be in favour for.
I don’t really play Taxe so no comment from me on what they may or may not need.
Yes, Combat Axe shouldn’t need Brutal Momentum to be effective against hordes. Mobility Stats on it already have a very low max dodge distance and sprint speed.
Why remove Bromentum on Tac Axe though? It’s got a very short reach, unless sprinting with a heavy attack.
The whole idea of axes is to deal high damage and stagger to a single enemy, having a blessing that gives it the best of both worlds, cleave and single target, makes it lose identity, I really want to see brutal momentum removed from the axes, and the single target capabilities buffed (and a really small cleave buff against horde enemies for better horde management).
Tac Axe’s “direction” is that of a versatile weapon, that’s not a bad thing. There’s better melee options for horde clear and single target than Taxe with even Bromentum. Besides, a player potentially sacrifices Relentless Strikes or Decimator when choosing Bromentum so there’s a tradeoff that can’t be ignored.
Decimator can be traded for Bromentum, if a player wants single target with decent horde clear - it’s not like Bromentum is so good that it can’t be replaced, though some Talent assistance for cleave is a good idea if that route is taken.
If it only gave ignore hit mass it would be fine, but it also gives first target damage on every proc instead of following cleave damage distribution. Because of this, it is the single highest damage increasing blessing in the game and nothing else comes close.
I think ignoring hitmass means every target counts as the first target, for both damage and stagger, that’s why the blessing ignores 3 hitmasses max, but you still can cleave through 5, because the base axe can cleave hit through enemies max.
Tested the second, it works pretty well. I would not test that with an achlys (this weapon has a bad cleave). On arbites, I had not the time to test.
So I have kept the “classic” (for me) of Achlys with Trust and BM.
Should test it one day I have time to spare on Darktide.
The attack pattern might have something to do with it. That one Combat Axe has a perfectly horizontal attack pattern that is easily repeated, but none of the Tac Axes have that perfectly horizontal attack pattern. The closest is H1, L2 combo on the VII.
While this is an issue, it’s such a small issue in the scheme of things that I’m okay with it being on the back burner. The whole blessing system in this game feels very tacked on, in that most of them feel like pointless filler. Either because no one could think of cool, unique ideas, or (more likely) it was easier to code minor buffs to normal stats, and that severely limits options compared to wholly unique effects.
Given that the axes are both well within the range of usable even with their blessings being limited to one slot, functionally, I think it should be noted but doesn’t need work right now.
For starters, antax is already horde clear weapon, it’s stat got cleave, instead of finesse, so blessing improves on that, but you don’t need it.
Rashad and other one, forgot name, goes to cleaving 3 targets with bromentum, but again, gun psyker don’t need it, because it can have 100% cleave on 100% peril, arbitrator don’t need it, thanks 75% cleave on push talent and one node that can also give 25 cleave.
And while tacaxe can be played without bromentum, i have on different characters, different blessings for them, but i fail to see difference, i don’t think it is enough reason to remove it.
My dude at max cleave stat an Antax has 1.8 cleave on light attacks (as opposed to 1.5 on Rashad despite no cleave stat). From memory a poxwalker has 1.5 mass so you’re barely cleaving one of them at base. Yes if you combo it with double power blessings AND a cleave talent from one of the two classes who have access to that you can reasonably get away without brutal momentum without losing too much horde clear but I feel like stacking that much bonus cleave (not even possible for 2/4 classes that can use it) then calling it a “horde clear weapon” is maybe giving that base cleave a bit too much credit.
