Early Game: Train Axes 100%?

[Laraso]

So, I've been having fun making tank hill orcs with Makhleb recently. I use Axes so I can damage as many enemies as possible to take advantage of Makhleb's HP regeneration. Once I get to the temple, I'm virtually invincible until halfway into mid-game, where that "invincibility" quickly falls apart (I'm still effective, but I have to fight a lot more 1v1 fights instead of 1v5). However, after remembering that Demonspawn can get Spirit Shield + Faster Mana Regeneration + Mana Regen on Damage + HP Regen on Kill mutations, I immediately began trying to get one set up with Makhleb. My theory is that if I can manage to get the "tank" mutations while also worshiping Makhleb, I should be able to effortlessly handle swarms of monsters with a decent axe.

The problem I'm having though is XP allocation. When I was playing with the hill orc, I didn't have to worry about it very much because they have such great aptitudes. That's not the case for the Demonspawn, and I'm having a lot more trouble getting one into the mid-game than I was with hill orcs. Would exclusively training Axes (100% allocation) until I get my attack speed to "average" be a good idea, or would that gimp me as I approach mid-game with lousy AC/EV skills?

[Sandman25]

Don't fight 1 vs 5 if you can fight 1 vs 1.
1) It is possible to get really unlucky and die
2) If a dangerous monster comes into view you can have problems with retreating because the weak monsters can block your retreat path

[Psieye]

Would exclusively training Axes (100% allocation) until I get my attack speed to "average" be a good idea

Depending on exactly what you mean by 'decent axe', I would continue until your attack speed is at min.delay (after a minor detour to grab low levels of defence skills). Your first goal is to output sufficient damage, becoming a 'tank' is something for midgame onwards, not an earlygame EXP investment goal.

Incidentally, if you really want to enjoy being a 'tank' and don't care for anything else, strongly consider a DDBe and hope you get a big vampiric 2h axe.

[Laraso]

Depending on exactly what you mean by 'decent axe',

When I say "decent axe", I'm implying that I have found something better than the hand-axe I start with by the time I reach the lair. Also, what do you mean "min.delay", and how will I tell when I have reached that?

[Thalfon]

In your inventory look at the weapon you're interested in, and the game will tell you its delay as a %. For example, that hand axe has a delay of 130%. Generally we leave off the last digit and call that a delay of 13. That means it takes 13 aut (or 1.3 turns) to swing the axe with no Axes skill.

A weapon's minimum delay is one half of its base delay rounded down, but never more than 7. So for the hand axe, it's (13/2) = 6.5 which rounds down to 6. Every other axe has base delay >=14, so they all have min.delay of 7.

Every two points in your weapon skill reduces the delay of your weapon by 1. So for a hand axe with base delay 13 and min delay 6, you need 2*(13-6) = 14 Axes skill to reach min.delay.

Min.delay is the first goal, but as Psieye says, don't forget defences entirely. Getting to 14 quickly is good, but say you pick up an early executioner's axe (with Trog it's not all that unlikely). You don't want to try to get to 26 Axes without having trained defence at all. One good rule of thumb is to avoid using a weapon which puts your delay much (or at all) above 10, because it means enemies will start to get multiple attacks between yours.

[Laraso]

but say you pick up an early executioner's axe (with Trog it's not all that unlikely). You don't want to try to get to 26 Axes without having trained defence at all. One good rule of thumb is to avoid using a weapon which puts your delay much (or at all) above 10, because it means enemies will start to get multiple attacks between yours.

So that means in such a situation it would be best to stash the Executioner's Axe and continue using the hand-axe until later in the game when you are more capable of using it?

[battaile]

but say you pick up an early executioner's axe (with Trog it's not all that unlikely). You don't want to try to get to 26 Axes without having trained defence at all. One good rule of thumb is to avoid using a weapon which puts your delay much (or at all) above 10, because it means enemies will start to get multiple attacks between yours.

So that means in such a situation it would be best to stash the Executioner's Axe and continue using the hand-axe until later in the game when you are more capable of using it?

Realistically you should have something in between the two (like a battleaxe) that'd serve you best until you've gotten your skill up a little higher. If you are actually faced with the unlikely choice of hand-axe or Exe axe with nothing in between at skill level 14 I'd definitely go with the Exe axe.

[Psieye]

but say you pick up an early executioner's axe (with Trog it's not all that unlikely). You don't want to try to get to 26 Axes without having trained defence at all. One good rule of thumb is to avoid using a weapon which puts your delay much (or at all) above 10, because it means enemies will start to get multiple attacks between yours.

So that means in such a situation it would be best to stash the Executioner's Axe and continue using the hand-axe until later in the game when you are more capable of using it?

This comes down to how comfortable you are with long-delay swings. The Exec Axe will do more damage, but you will have less room to realise when you've picked a bad fight.