What Are Axes in Diablo 2 Resurrected?

Axes are a weapon type in Diablo 2 Resurrected that provides a balance of damage and attack speed for melee classes. They come in one-handed and two-handed variants. Axes can be wielded by Barbarians, Druids, and Assassins in D2R, making them a versatile weapon choice suitable for different builds.

Axes come in several different types:

- One-handed axes: Hand Axe, Axe, Double Axe

- Two-handed axes: Military Axe, Broad Axe, Battle Axe, Great Axe

- Class-specific axes: Ethereal Weapons, Executioner Sword, Berserker Axe

Higher tier axes naturally have higher damage, requirements, and item levels. But lower bases remain useful for Runeword recipes with level requirements.

What are the most popular and powerful axe rune words?

- Grief (Phase Blade or Berserker Axe) - melee DPS

- Beast (Berserker Axe) - Fanaticism aura

- Death (Berserker Axe) - Deadly Strike

- Oath (Ethereal Balrog Blade) - paladin skills

What Are Unique Axes in Diablo 2 Resurrected?

Unique axes in Diablo 2 Resurrected are axes with preset names, appearances, and special attributes that set them apart from normal and exceptional axe variants. Many provide build-defining bonuses not found on other axe bases. The majority of unique axes drop randomly from monsters and bosses in Diablo 2 Resurrected. Most only drop in Hell difficulty, with a few exceptions like The Butcher's Pupil on Normal.

What Are Most Valuable Unique Axes in Diablo 2 Resurrected?

The Butcher's Pupil: This unique Hand Axe drops from The Butcher in the Rogue Encampment. It provides 20% Increased Attack Speed and has a 1 in 11 chance of an Open Wounds bleed on striking enemies. With its fast speed, this is great for leveling melee classes in early difficulties.

Messerschmidt's Reaver: The two-handed unique Battle Axe Messerschmidt's Reaver is a classic Barbarian leveling weapon. It grants a 15% chance of 75-125 bonus Fire Damage on striking, resulting in high DPS. This axe can carry Barbarians well into late Normal difficulty.

The Minotaur: This unique Mythical Sword axe has a chance to cast Level 15 Taunt on striking, which forces monsters to attack the wielder. The Minotaur also replenishes 2 mana after each kill, fixing mana issues for many melee builds.

The Cranium Basher: The Cranium Basher provides one of the most powerful effects of any unique with its 25% chance of a Level 18 Life Tap charge on hitting enemies. This curse constantly heals the user, enabling very aggressive playstyles.

Spike Thorn: This War Spike unique axe allows casting Level 13 Bone Spear when struck. It essentially punishes attackers with constant bone projectiles that quickly annihilate mobs. Useful for melee builds lacking ranged options.

Lightsabre: A very rare unique with the valuable Electrocute charge, Lightsabre has a Level 15 Electrocute (16 charges) that shoots out lightning novas as you attack. This wrecks clumped monsters and single targets alike.

What character uses unique axes in D2R?

• Barbarian - Physical damage barbarians are one of the best users of unique axes. Grief, Breath of the Dying, Giant Thresher are all top tier choices.

• Paladin - Smite and fanaticism paladins benefit greatly from high damage axes like Earthshaker, Smiter, Heaven's Light.

• Amazon - Javelin and spearzon can use throwing axes like Titans Revenge very effectively for their skills.

• Necromancer - While usually not a primary melee class, Bonehew and Homunculus axes provide valuable bonuses for summoning necros.

• Druid - Werewolf form druids gain axe bonuses, making Grief or Lycanders ideal shapeshift weapons.

• Assassin - Blade fury assassins synergize nicely with fast attack axes like Blade of Ali Baba.

• All Classes - Runeword axes like Grief outperform nearly all other weapons and can be used effectively by any class.

What Are Rare Axes in Diablo 2 Resurrected?

Rare axes are randomly generated magical weapons that can roll with powerful prefixes and suffixes. Unlike uniques and normal axes, rares offer a level of customization through their random affixes:

- They can spawn with 1-3 random modifiers drawn from large mod pools. This provides almost limitless variability compared to other rarity types.

- Top tier base types like Giant Threshers, Berserker Axes, and Cryptic Axes are ideal for maxing damage potential. The high base damage ranges of these bases multiplies affix bonuses.

- Desirable affixes include increased attack speed, deadly strike, open wounds, elite damage bonuses, skill synergies, life steal, crushing blow etc.

- Well-rolled rares have potential to surpass even best-in-slot unique axes when affixes perfectly synergize with a build.

How do I obtain rare axes in Diablo 2 Resurrected?

• Killing monsters/champions/unique bosses - High level areas like Chaos Sanctuary, Worldstone Keep, maps have the best chances.

• Opening chests - Locked/magic chests in high level zones have more opportunities. Sewers of Caldeum is a popular chest running route.

• Gambling with Puzzlebox or Anya - On higher player settings with high magic find for best odds. Expensive.

• Crafting recipes in Horadric Cube - Recipies like Pul Ko Tir or Ral Ort Tal transmute items into rares. Risky with random mods.

• Dropped/transmuted items from Cow Level - High monster quantity zone yields many random droppable items.

• Playing on /players 8 online - Increased monster difficulty also boosts rare/unique item find rates.

• Killing bosses repeatedly - Duryah in Cold Plains, Countess in Black Marsh have dedicated rare/rune drops.

• Trading with other players - Perfectly rolled rares can be valuable trade items acquired from others.

• Gearing challenge characters - Playthroughs focusing on MF and specific farmers like Travincal or Pindleskin.

Are rare axes better than unique axes in Diablo 2 Resurrected?

A: The power and effectiveness of an axe depend on its overall stats, including damage, attack rating, and any additional bonuses it provides. While rare axes have the potential to be more powerful than unique axes due to their customizable affixes, unique axes often have fixed stats and special abilities that can make them equally desirable. The choice between rare and unique axes ultimately depends on the player's preferences and their specific character build

What Are D2R Magic Axes?

Magic axes are procedurally generated axe types that spawn with random magical attributes in Diablo 2 Resurrected. They possess unique properties and stats that can greatly enhance your character's combat abilities.

Magic axes are melee weapons that have spawned with 1-2 random magical affixes added. The affixes that generate are permanent and cannot be re-rolled or modified in any way once the Diablo 2 item is created. Some good affixes for DPS include deadly strike, open wounds, increased attack speed, enhanced damage, etc. Higher base damage axe types like Giant Threshers, Berserker Axes, Cryptic Axes allow affix bonuses to maximize damage potential.

Can magic axes be socketed?

Yes, magic axes can be socketed with gems or runes to further enhance their properties. Socketing a magic axe allows you to customize its bonuses and tailor it to your character's needs.

Can magic axes be upgraded?

Yes, magic axes can be upgraded using the Horadric Cube. By combining a magic axe with specific items and runes, you can transform it into a higher-tier weapon with improved stats and effects.

Where to find magic axes in Diablo 2 Resurrected?

Normal Difficulty:

• The Pits - Level 85 area accessible from Tamoe Highland has high magic find. Ghouls and Greater Mummies can drop nice low level magic axes here.

• Andy Runs - Normal Andariel in The Catacombs has decent odds to drop magic axes from her boss loot table.

Nightmare Difficulty:

• Nightmare Andariel Runs - Great chance of magic axes dropping, potentially ethereal bases too.

• Lower Kurast - The Super Chests from Lower Kurast chest runs can drop mid-tier magic axes.

• Nightmare Mephisto Runs - Mephisto has an excellent loot table for axes and all types of gear.

• Pindleskin Runs - Very quick magic find boss runs make Pindleskin ideal for farming.

Hell Difficulty:

• Hell Mephisto Runs - Mephisto is your best bet for finding elite magic axes with top tier affix combinations.

• Eldritch & Shenk Runs - Easy to defeat bosses near the Frigid Highlands Waypoint.

• Pindleskin Runs - Still a prime target in Hell for very fast magic finding.

• Worldstone Keep - Many high level axe-wielding monsters like Oblivion Knights, Venom Lords, and Pit Lords.