So, i remember reading that for axes you should try to balance dex and str, but i cant find where i read that..

My question is that if i have dex gear should i be adding points to dex alone, or am i right to be adding points to str in an attempt to make them even?
I’m surely about to fail my pally MQ, and i just want to know an answer before I climb again

Thanks!

I always do more damage if I fully invest in dex. Points and dex gear. That shouldn't be the case but damage says otherwise.

Guess it's a preference. Can try different ways if you climb with paladin for a bit.

I always thought it was irrelevant which stat you add.

Best way to confirm is probably as per subwolfs suggestion.

You can try at level 1 setting all points to dex, and then reroll and try all str, and half/half, then check the damage value on your highest damage axe.

If its all the same then its likely irrelevant, otherwise it should give some hints on what is best (i.e. should you be trying to max 1 stat or keep them equal).

If the ~10 starting stats arent enough, on your next mq you can just try all str or all dex (the opposite of your current choice) and compare the damage on the same axe when you have an equal str/dex points.

How crit is impacted is another thing to consider too.

This post was edited by Bradymuck on Jul 8 2026 07:15pm

I wasn’t sure if it was like D2 where str for a barb gives more damage, so I tried doing all str points and all dex gear. It seems like it made no difference, and I missed out on a lot of the crit chance I’d have gotten from dex

Strength should also give crit chance too, but I dont believe anyone can confirm any formulas as such.

Nice dmg calculator

https://forums.d2jsp.org/topic.php?t=91874826&f=74

can confirm axes do not care which stat you put it in. ideally have even numbers though. if you have 154 str and 37 dex after items, +1 dex will increase damage, +1 strength wont due to even numbers. very minor optimisation though

i believe any "i prefer dex" or "i prefer 50/50" is just bias because that's what they've always done. enough testing has been done to prove my point. if i was to be wrong, max dex would be higher chance of being optimal as thats how it used to work and there may be some residual coding boosting it



already did. in short as you should know, weapon have damage ratio's. Whilst both contribute to crit chance, the lower end one contributes more crit chance, not enough to make it worthwhile putting stats there, but it means any glyphs/extra stats from items arn't worthless for it.

This damage calculator has been proven to be wrong.


Rex used to swear by it. But as stated. Dex seems to produce more damage even though the calculation is the same. I agree with him.. im a STR guy but my dex always seemed to be more powerful with axes.
Keeping in mind I never really use axes a lot. But I have. And when i did it seemed all dex was better than all str.. but on paper they say its equal. So yes its kinda preference but the damage speaks for itself

i'd like to see the proof.
i've specifically done stat tests with axes over 1000 actions and it's been equal.

vague feelings and randomness of a general climb isn't really what i'm looking for as "proof"

Also bear in mind axes is the only one it's "possibly" wrong with, seeing every other weapon has it's own formula. Axes whilst i have some numbers for it for crit i don't have enough to give "this is the answer". where pretty much every other weapon is at 10k+ actions. Axes are only at about 1-3k. I was going to do the axe test when i hit HH, but i've not had the mojo for a few years now.
Heavies looked "similar" to their base counterparts with a variance of around 1% but there could be something slightly different with those, nothing crazy different or the tests would have already picked it up.


Lastly rex pretty much always had to argue with anything i said, or anything anyone said to be honest. I just had to call him out on crap half the time and then back it up with actual logic/math.

This post was edited by Bigheaded on Jul 10 2026 10:55am