Guild Wars 2 Previews New Poisonous Axe Weapon Proficiency Skill For The Thief Class

Guild Wars 2’s upcoming weapon proficiency update is set to introduce new weapon skills for all classes when it goes live next year. For Thieves, their arsenal of weapons will be expanded to include the axe and its associated weapon skill – Venomous Axe.

“The axe is a ranged damage-dealing weapon that can be utilized by both power and condition builds, depending on the off-hand weapon,” ArenaNext explains. “The core gameplay revolves around throwing axes that linger for a period of time, during which they can be redirected by the dual-wield skill to strike enemies again. Let’s take a look at a few skills to demonstrate this.”

Casting Venomous Axe hurls a fan of three poisonous axes a set distance away from the caster. Once it reaches its maximum distance, they’ll remain spinning in place until they’re recalled using the Harrowing Storm dual-wield skill, dealing additional poison and torment damage to enemies that they strike on the way back.

Players will be able to stack up to six stationary axes before recalling them. Enemies struck by at least five returning axes will also be temporarily immobilized.

The new weapon proficiencies will go live for all existing classes as part of the second major update for Secrets of the Obscure. The update won’t be arriving until early 2024 but avid players can take it for a test run in a beta test that’s scheduled to begin on November 28th.

In the meantime, you can check out the Venomous Axe skill in action in the teaser video below.