Bear Quest

[Relinquish]

Most of the loot on that quest is barbarian/ranger only it seems. However it seems odd to me that the greataxe it drops is ranger only. I've never seen a ranger use a greataxe before. I can see it being fighter/barbarian/ranger only. But as it is now seems rather odd.

[ShiftingAllegiances]

Just because you don't see it doesn't make it a falsehood.

[Relinquish]

I'm not that happy to see my suggestions shot down with a few sentences everytime, to be honest this prevents me from making alot of suggestions.

[Y-T]

I haven't seen the axe myself, but perhaps the bonuses it gives are very rangery? ;)

[Sandstorm]

The axe is limited to rangers by enchantment, not by weapon type. Its weapon type is a martial weapon, which both rangers and fighters can use equally. However, only rangers are allowed to use this specific weapon, either due to an enchantment on it, or some other force.

[Egon the Monkey]

I'll admit that yes, ranger only weapons, fine. But, surely a more commonly used weapon like a battleaxe or handaxe (which is finesseable for DEX rangers) would get more use. As it is there are a bunch of these axes around that few people would ever want to buy.

[Goblin Butcher]

Could be they want to encourage folk to use this particular weapon rather than dual wielding weapons or other types of weaponry.

I'd also point out that a "dex ranger" as you call it would probably be inept at wielding any weapon other than a bow anyway, due to ab/damage loss for dual wielding. My above point, much like yours, only being relevant if the DM team is forced to take mechanical prowess into consideration when creating an item!

[Egon the Monkey]

Okay, but the point is that so few rangers choose greataxes and so many barbs do that it's hard for a barbarian to get a good ax, and then when they do, it turns out to be Ranger only. The old Ranger Longsword was IMO better as most rangers I played or knew had a bow and a weapon/shield set.

[Goblin Butcher]

Um, maybe the jist is that just because great axe gives you an optimal crit multiplier as a barbarian doesn't mean you should automatically choose it as your weapon! There are some neat two handed weapons out there that are just as good as an axe when you weigh the pro's/con's for a barbarian!

Though now we're veering off. This item may not be ranger only on purpose. A ranger with a two handed weapon ~of any kind~ is an ~utterly brutal~ foe. +13~15/+8~10 ab vs favored enemy is easily doable by level 6, thats without a single buff.

So anyway, if we are using mechanics to justify the weapons purpose, I'd say a ranger with an G.Axe strength based vs his favored enemy is going to ~utterly crush~ said enemy.

[Caddies]

I'd guess that you guys are looking into it too much. Although I haven't seen it, I am assuming its just an axe enchanted with magic only rangers can make use of, similar in that respect to...every single weapon/item in the game which has class restrictions on it.

[Snoteye]

I only skimmed through this report, have never seen the axe in question, and know nothing about the quest, but this is what I get:
 
Because it's more common for barbarians and fighters, both of which are Str based classes, to use greataxes than the more Dex based ranger, greataxes must be useable by at least the two former classes?
 
Well, at least I'm positive this isn't a bug. I'm also positive it's not hard for barbarians or fighters to get good axes.

[Egon the Monkey]

Well, it's more that I've never met a Greataxe Ranger, so it's good loot which just goes to waste as a result of nobody using it, and on the last run we picked up two of the things, which nobody wanted. I'd have thought a weapon in more common use by rangers would have been better.

[Snoteye]

There are plenty of very, very good weapons that never see much use because they're not optimal weapons. That's no reason to remove them.

[Skrillix]

One word for all of you that say that rangers never use greataxes...

[size=12]Lumberjacks[/size]

[The Crimson Magician]

As Skrillix said.