Do axemen have any chance?

[Hureg]

By axeman I mean a warrior who refuses to use shields (only picks magic shields for profit) and who prefers to wield axes. While it seemed more hack&slash fun friendly, it was painstakingly hard just to pass by 3 Rotting Carcasses, with my Iron Axe, as I was being stunned to death constantly. As I remember, using a shield made melee fights last more, due to weaker weapons or blocking. Axes only make it A BIT faster but also expose you to life draining (read: damage ;) ). What I really enjoyed 'bout 2-h weapons was a) the feeling of power and B) the pursuit of shooters. But... I haven't experimented a lot!

Any chance for life later in the game (in later difficulties)? How shall I distribute stat points with or without magic? Is Vit ANY worth?
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We axe in hell/hell and we do so very aggressively, with low AC even. It's very much to do with attaining a higher skill level though. As far as weapon effectiveness goes, two handed weapons certainly fall short of a good weapon/shield combo, especially axes and staves (as far as Warriors are concerned) because both suffer from a slower swing speed.

My advice would be to master the sword and shield first. When you are comfortable enough doing that, change your plate and shield from +%ac prefixes, to +%resist all prefixes. Then once you have mastered this low AC sword and shield style, take on the axe (haste suffix would be advised).

~Hureg
D1 Ironman Tournament
http://p205.ezboard.com/bthedsfcommunity