illustration from Dall-E
You can use in Darktide 2 types of Axes: tactical axes and combat axes.
The first is about mobility, the second is about strength. Depending of the class, these weapons have not the same use.
As a zealot, the combat axe is never a bad choice. Tactical axes are also great for fast gameplay. You won’t be as fast as you can be with combat blades or duelling swords, but we are on a fast gameplay.
As a veteran, the combat axe is a versatile weapon that can find its place in your arsenal as the best versatile weapon of the game.
As a psyker, this is a melee weapon without any peril mechanic.
1. Tactical axes
Dodge limit: 5
Max dodge distance: +8%
Max sprint speed: +0.27
Stamina: +1
Sprint cost: 0.75/s
A. Marks
All the tactical axes use the same attack patterns, on paper. In the game, this is not really that.
Mark II heavy is an attack that can hit several enemies at the same time. At contrary, the light attacks are targeting only one enemy (vertical attack). The attack pattern is including one attack that can hit several (the 2nd of the combo). The special is horizontal attacks.
Mark IV heavy is targeting only one enemy. Light attacks are all diagonal. Special is a fast hit in front of the player x 3, the 4th is a diagonal fast hit.
Mark VII light attacks pattern are vertical / horizontal / diagonal. Heavy is diagonal and vertical. Special, first is the same as mark IV and the second the same as the mark II special.
B. Damages charts
Damage charts for axes with 80% modifiers for damages, finesse/cleave, penetration and first target.
C. Gameplays
Gameplays for tactical axes are really similar. You rely on mobility and attack speed. Tactical axes are great for critic builds on zealot, but there are other ways to use them.
Here several blessings combinations:
- Brutal momentum + shred
- Shred + Slaughter spree
- Brutal momentum + Agile
- Brutal momentum + Decimator/headtaker
Excepted the shred + slaughter spree, I would not advice to not pick Brutal momentum on this weapon. Tactical axes are interesting, but, and by far, less powerful than a combat axe. The faster light attacks won’t compensate, in DPS, the heavier combat axes attacks.
However, they excel in mobility and still can deal with hordes.
2. Combat axes
Dodge limit: 5
Max dodge distance: +3.00%
Max sprint speed: +0.27
Stamina: +3
Sprint cost: 1.00/s
A. Marks
There are 3 Combat axes types: Antax, Rashad and Achlys.
Be advised that the attacks pattern mentioned in game are incorrects.
As an example, the achlys displays 3 strikedown as heavy… but the first is an horizontal one that will strike several enemies (patch 1.5.2).
Antax is the only one combat axe that has an increased cleave. The two others have a finesse modifier instead. Finesse increase damages for weakspot and critic hits. It also increase the attack speed.
Antax and Rashad are the two combat axe that are similar on the attacks patterns. Both are great to cleave through hordes with light attacks. Heavy attacks are great to attack a single target.
At contrary, Achlys is one combat axe interesting but harder to use. Heavy 1 is an horizontal swing while the second is a strikedown move similar to the light attacks of Antax and Rashad. Light attacks are strikedown really excellent to target one enemy and that cannot be used to cleave through hordes.
Achlys has also one particularity toward carapace. They are better than their counterparts against this armor type.
B. Damages charts
Damage charts for axes with 80% modifiers for damages, finesse/cleave, penetration and first target.
C. Gameplays
Gameplay are pretty different between the 3.
All combat axes share the same push attack. This is an attack that will damage several enemies at once with an horizontal swing.
The special is a sweeping uppercut that ignores stagger reduction and has an higher impact and damage vs armored enemies. Antax special is a fast move that will stagger enemies.
Special on antax is a fast axe move in front of view, at contrary the rashad and achlys move come from the bottom to hit the enemy. This special is slower but inflicts more damages.
Rashad
Often seen as the meta between the 3. The Rashad axe is great when using it for critics build or if you want to increase even more your attack speed. Be advised that the finesse modifier increases the attack speed, however this is a slight bonus and not a huge one.
Rashad are great for critics. You should avoid them if you doesn’t want to use brutal momentum.
Anyways, for your first steps with a combat axe, you should try this weapon. As an axe, this is the easiest to use.
Blessing combinations:
- BM + Shred (best use for the Rashad)
- BN + Decapitator
- BM + any other blessing
Antax
Before Rashad fix, Antax was the only axe that every player was using. Antax are great on cleave. You should favor this weapon for horde clearing and also if you want to go to a blessings combination without Brutal momentum. In fact, you can use it with strength blessing and it will cleave really well.
When should you use Antax over the Rashad? each time you want to favor the cleave. Decimator blessing takes an advantage from the cleave. Also, you should favor it with any strength blessing combination, as you will lack brutal momentum.
Blessing combinations:
- BM + any blessing
- All or nothing + decimator (best combination without BM)
- Any strength blessings combination
Achlys
Achlys has always be seen as the weapon that is too bad to be used. Until patch 1.5, this weapon was not worth using it. With this patch they have increased the damages against carapace and lowered the one against unyielding. This means that, with an achlys, you should aim at head of maulers instead of torso.
Achlys is harder to use. You have to rely on heavy swing and push attacks. The combat will look, with this weapon, slower but if you aim well (heads), you will devastate enemies. With this weapon, and thank to the horizontal attack, you can delete waves of horde.
Be careful: the 1.5 patch said that all heavy are same than heavy 1. This not totally true. If you chain heavy hits, the first will be horizontal, the second (and following) will be a strikedown. However, if you make a small pause (just not chaining, not needed to wait) or if you do a sprint attack, you will always use horizontal attack. Also, the push attack is a reverse horizontal swing. So you can chain horizontal swings for a devastating effect. Especially if you use thrust. However, if you maintain an heavy hit (like with thrust), most of the time (if you move this happens, if you don’t move, the attack will be a strike down) the attack will start as a vertical one and then your character will turn its axe and start the horizontal attack.(patch 1.5.2).
Blessing combinations:
- BM + thrust (really the best combination)
- BM + decimator
3. Blessings
A. Common blessings
Brutal momentum: +7.5-15% Weak Spot Damage. Weakspot Kills also ignore Enemy Hit Mass.
Brutal momentum (often designed as “BM”) is seen as a mandatory blessing on axes. You can’t go wrong by picking this blessing. However, this blessing needs that you aim the head to have any effect (something you should always do). BM does not ignore hit mass of Ogryns.
Decimator: Continuously chaining more than 2 attacks gives +2-5% Power. Stacks 10 times. Max bonus: 50% strength.
Decimator is a strong blessing. You need to never miss as any missed swing will reset the stacks. This is a true horde killer.
Notice: it stacks once per swing starting from the first hit.
Headtaker: +3.5-5% Strength for 3.5s on Hit. Stacks 5 times. Max bonus: 25% strength.
Headtaker is easier to use than decimator as it refreshes at any hit and that the effect lasts 3.5 seconds.
All or nothing: Up to +25-40% Strength, as Stamina depletes.
All or nothing is strong, however it requires that you deplete the stamina. This means that you could miss stamina for blocking/push attacks.
Limbsplitter: +60% Strength on your First Attack every 3.5-5 seconds.
Strong blessing in a configuration that aim at one target. Surely one of the less interesting blessing of the pool.
Shred: +2.5-4% Bonus Critical Chance on Chained Hit. Stacks 5 times. Max bonus: +20% critic chances.
Shred permits to increase by a lot the critic chances. Like decimator, you must avoid to miss, or stacks reset immediately.
B. Tactical axe specific blessings
Agile: Refreshed Dodge Efficiency on Weak Spot Hit. + 2.5-10% Melee Weakspot Damage.
Agile is a blessing that can permits fast gameplays that rely on dodges.
Relentless Strikes: +4-10% Strength for 2s on Hit (Same Enemy). Stacks 5 times. Max bonus: 50% strength.
This blessing is a sort of thrust for a tactical axe. Effect is really less interesting than thrust on combat axe, and by far. You need to chain hits (2s max between 2 hits to refresh effect and not loose stacks)
Slaughter Spree: +40-100% Critical Chance (Next Melee Attack) on Weak Spot Critical Hit Kill.
This blessing can increase the critic rate. If you can aim well, you can double the critic rate in an horde (in theory). In the game, if you associate this blessing with shred and zealot talents, you can get up to 80% critic rate (must say that it is hard to maintain this rate in a normal mission).
C. Combat axe specific blessings
Decapitator: +18-24% Finesse for 5s on Enemy One-Shot. Stacks 5 times. Max bonus: 100% finesse.
This blessing can be good on a critic build.
Thrust: Up to +5-20% Strength based on the charge time of your heavy attacks. Stacks 3 times. Max bonus: 60% strength.
This blessing is really incredibly strong. On antax/rashad, it is the blessing you should pick to give your weapon a strong power against one enemy. On achlys, this is a game changer for horizontal swings, and without even needing to cumulate the 3 stacks.
Thunderous: Hitting an enemy gives them 1-4 stacks of 2.5% Brittleness. Debuff lasts for 5 seconds and can have a maximum of 16 stacks. Max bonus: debuff 40%.
This blessing offers a nice debuff that will benefit to the entire team. Brittleness applies to the enemy, at contrary of rendering (which is a personal bonus).
