I'm just curious why everyone recommends a Ornate axe vs a Rune blade for damage. The way I understand it (using the stratics calculators) I do more DPS with a rune blade than an ornate axe with my current build.
So with that said in relation to a sampire, why should I use a Ornate Axe instead of a Rune Blade?
Really wanna know as I will switch if you guys say there is a good enough reason.
When I made my first 30% SSI ornate with 46% mana leech, I really was impressed with the difference from what I was using. Miasma became a joke, and Swoop was much easier. I had 150 sta at that time. Now I have a 120 imbuer and 160 Sta. I imbued an ornate axe with 30% SSI/HML/HSL/SLA. The things I was used to hunting became even easier (Miasma, Swoop, Fire Daemons, etc). Until.... I tried paragon Balrons, Irk, Dreadhorn, etc. I was getting beaten up pretty badly. I just couldn't swing fast enough to keep up with the damage I was taking. Especially when in one hit my sta could go down by as much as 50-60 and I am praying that I can get a hit in and HSL go off. I had to rethink my weapons due to my current sta limitation. I now have ornate axe/rune blade/daisho all imbued with 30% SSI and max HML/HSL/SLA.
As many here have said before, its situational/sta/SSI dependent as to what weapon will keep you alive and having fun instead of frustration. The change to diasho alone made paragon Balrons consistantly doable for me. I still use my ornate for things that dont hit as hard/fast, or have lower hp. Otherwise I use the diasho/rune blade.
Dps in its most basic form is average damage rating of a weapon / weapon speed. If you can swing an ornate axe at the same speed as a rune blade, then the ornate is simply going to be hands down the top dps weapon. The problems are things like getting hit a couple of times and now your sta is say at 50%. Can you still swing that ornate at a speed to keep you alive until HSL kicks in?
