Patch 5.4 patch notes
Virtual Realms feature revealed
The Proving Grounds are coming
The latest patch 5.4 newsThe hunter's axe which is like a wand
by David Bowers 
Nov 29th 2007 at 5:05PM
There's a new arena axe out there just for hunters, the [Vengeful Gladiator's Waraxe]. It only costs 1000 Arena points, and it doesn't require any particular personal Arena rating to get. It's the kind of weapon Warriors might sigh for in vain, but it comes relatively cheaply to hunters now. Perhaps someone who got in close to a hunter with this once or twice has been surprised by how hard it can hit.Some people are saying it's totally unfair for hunters to get such a relatively cheap weapon, but Nethaera steps in to point out how a big fancy melee weapon is very different for a hunter than it would be for a melee fighting class: "This is intended and is considered to be more of a stat item much like a wand." And she's right -- any hunter who relied on this weapon for damage would likely be at a disadvantage, unless their regular ranged weapon was really very bad.
Even for hunters making difficult choices about how to spend their first Arena points in Season 3, this weapon isn't necessarily the first on your shopping list. For many, the Season 3 armor isn't that much more expensive, and could constitute a much greater stat improvement than this axe can give. Still, it's pretty fancy lookin -- definitely something to plan on getting when the time is right.
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 3)
Kris Nov 30th 2007 9:32AM
The amount of itemization points given to Main-Hand + Off-Hand (or 2-Hander) + Range Slot/Libram are the same for every class. Why would one class have to spend more arena points to gain the same benefits as another class?
If you reduce the melee Damage on the Waraxe, it would free up itemization points to be used in MORE stat increases. Do you really want that? Would you prefer the Waraxe have 150-200 Stam instead the 62 Stam it has now?
Nossy Nov 30th 2007 9:43AM
Hunter doing bad in Arena? Geez if only most of them learn how to play their class properly LOL. My Arena partner is a hunter and he comes out on top in damage every time! Secret: Stay out of melee range.
Ture the axe is relatively cheap. Any hunter can just farm for the axe by losing 0-10 every week and get it in 4-5 weeks. BUT any hunter going for this axe as the 1st thing on their list is an idiot.
Mick Nov 30th 2007 11:26AM
It's nothing like a wand. And it was stupid to compare the two.
Wands share a global cooldown with spells, have to be stationary when used, and don't scale with gear. Add to all that, the removal of the dead zone allows hunters to use their ranged attacks and melee attacks at the same time.
To be even a close comparison, you'd have to have wands on a separate cooldown from spells, usable while moving, scale with spell damage, and have the same stat values as hunter ranged weapons. When casters can wand crit for 2k, then I'll say it's a good comparison.
Diaz Nov 30th 2007 1:49PM
This is just something else for people to QQ about.
They ignore the extra costs that hunters had for season 1 and season 2.
They ignore the fact that there was no season 1 bow.
They ignore the fact that there was no season 1 gun.
They ignore the fact that there was no season 2 bow.
They ignore the fact that there was no season 2 gun.
They ignore the fact that Hunters have almost no representation in top arena teams dispite being the third most played class.
They ignore the basic analysis that blizz is making about the TOTAL cost of gearing a toon in arena gear.
And then they all end the QQ by saying "I should get something like this too!"
Cairagor Dec 15th 2007 1:12AM
So after I took a look at this i reached several conclusions. The Hunter main weapon (the bow) has the same stats as a wand. This is a little depressing considering the rating req. and the lack of hunters in the top of arenas. Now they added the axe to be our "off" weapon. And they gave it the stats to equalize the stats we get off of it. Now they gave it soem decent DPS because even in PVE things can get close to us and we need a way to defend yourselves just like your wands allow you to do DPS when you are out of mana. However jsut liek you will almost never see a mage wadning as a main source of dps you should never see a hunter close combating as main dps. Now why didnt they put the stats on the ranged wep? The only reason i could see is that all the bows/guns/xbows all have pathetic stats compared to swords axes etc. So if they put our stats on the bow every hunter would have no reason to raid and this bow would be the best ever made. Now if they gave the axe a rating req hunters would be out of a cheap "off" dps. this is not a perfect solution but it works.