Playing with an axe in Dauntless isn’t always easy. Well, it will be after you read this axe guide for the Stalker’s Mercy, but besides that! In all seriousness, this Dauntless axe guide will be taking you through how to use the BEAST MODE axe build in Dauntless. Big damage, big numbers.
Starting off this axe guide, we have all of the required equipment slots.
Weapon: Stalker’s Mercy
Whenever you deal damage with the axe, it will generate an orb. Each orb increases damage by 2.5%. If there are more than five orbs in the axe, it will double damage to 5%. You can have an unlimited amount of orbs for an insane amount of damage. The passive on Stalker’s Mercy makes it great for creating the best axe build in Dauntless.
Stalker’s Mercy Cells
* Wild Frenzy – When under 50% health, increase attack speed by 25%
* Energized – +40% weapon charge rate
Head: Dark Watch
* Overpower – +70% damage vs staggered behemoths
Chest: Boreal Resolve
* Iceborne – 30% reduced damage when below 50% health; 8% lifesteal when below 50% health
Arms: Hellplate Bracers
* Overpower – +70% damage vs staggered behemoths
Legs: Boreal March
* Molten – Damage generates three molten hearts granting immunity to burning and increased attack and movement speed.
Lantern: Drask’s Eye
* Energized – +40% weapon charge rate
How To Play With This Dauntless Axe Guide
Remember, each piece of this build is tailored around the passive of Stalker’s Mercy. You will need that weapon to make use of this Beast Mode axe build. The idea is to charge up your axe as fast as possible for maximum damage when you throw it at behemoths.
Perks from each of the cells are at their max of +6 in this Dauntless axe build. With energized you will have a bonus on your weapon charge rate, helping you build orbs on the axe.
The Iceborne perk gives you better defense when you are below 50% health. It also has an 8% life steal per hit to keep you topped up at 50%. You will want to be a little reckless while fighting to take advantage of the Iceborne perk. Both Rage (deal +25% damage) and Wild Frenzy (+25% attack speed) only activate when under 50% health.
Start a fight by building up as many orb charges on the axe as you can. Once you reach 50% health, you’re ready to start chucking your axe. Activate the instant ability on Drask’s Eye for an increased 30% damage for 6 seconds and then use Grim Onslaught to throw your weapon. Grab your axe in time, and you will be able to perform another throw before the 30% damage bonus is up.
The mixture of attack speed and healing helps you go crazy with damage, but be careful. Some behemoth moves will one-shot you because you cannot heal more than 50% when fighting alone. You’ll need to know which moves to dodge to avoid dying to those moves. That’s honestly the biggest downside of this build, since missing one attack can mean failure.
Tonics
Tonics that are a great complement for this playstyle include the Blitz Tonic, Frenzy Tonic, and the Stamina Tonic. You’ll want to use the Blitz Tonic to augment your attack speed to charge your axe. Pop the Frenzy Tonic when you’re ready to yeet your axe into the monster’s face for maximum damage.
Finally, the Stamina Tonic is essential to this build. Every best Axe build guide for the game tells you how stamina-starved the axe can be.
That’s it for this build. Let us know what you think in the comments below!
