v50 Steam/Premium information for editors
  • v50 information can now be added to pages in the main namespace. v0.47 information can still be found in the DF2014 namespace. See here for more details on the new versioning policy.
  • Use this page to report any issues related to the migration.
This notice may be cached—the current version can be found here.

Great axe

From Dwarf Fortress Wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This article is about the current version of DF.
Note that some content may still need to be updated.

For a comparison of different weapons, see Weapon.
Great axe sprite preview.png

A great axe is an edged weapon that is essentially a larger battle axe. Great axes are more than 50% larger than standard battle axes, and its blade has a 50% larger contact area and 33% greater penetration, for even more limb-severing fun.

Great axes use and train the Axedwarf skill. As foreign weapons, dwarves cannot forge great axes, limiting supply to whatever low-quality specimens can be traded from human caravans, or scavenged from invaders.

Due to the size of great axes, most dwarves are unable to equip them. With height and broadness modifiers, some dwarves should be able to use a great axe, and a select few might manage to do so one-handed. Unfortunately, due to a bug, great axes cannot currently be equipped by any dwarves.

Analysis[edit]

Great axes appear to be simply worse than battle axes when fighting Dwarf or Human sized enemies, after much searching in arena testing for a single situation where they're better. Regardless of the size of the user, or the material of the axe or armour (if any), great axes will lose most fair duels against battle axes. For creatures that can use great axes with one hand, the disadvantage is small, but for most creatures the disadvantage is immense, as losing use of either [GRASP] will heavily penalize them. When fighting a larger opponent, however, such as an ogre, the increased penetration and contact area can give a slight edge over the battle axe when able to be wielded with one hand.

Bugs[edit]

In fortress mode, one-handed vs. two-handed checks are performed correctly, but can wield vs. can't wield ignores height and broadness modifiers, so dwarves cannot equip great axes.Bug:5812 See this forum post for details.

"Great axe" in other Languages Books-aj.svg aj ashton 01.svg
Dwarven: saràm libash
Elven: apaca cuthefi
Goblin: snuz agun
Human: umon osp
Ranged and ammunition
Blowgun and blowdart · Bow and arrow · Crossbow and bolt
Blunt
Edged (slashing)
Edged (piercing)
Dagger · Morningstar · Pick · Pike · Spear
See also: Attack types · Tool · Material science