Has anyone else stuck with the starting hunter axe for a long time? (Obviously upgrading it is I go along) I just find it handles the best for my play style out of any weapon I've come across. I remember in DS2 I spent a lot of time with a very early weapon too. I don't know if I'm weird or if it's generally accepted that you play what you're comfortable with rather than what's got the highest stats in a Souls game?

The axe is a fine weapon. The souls series doesn't really deal in weapon upgrades so much as differing playstyles. In DS2 one of the best weapons was the basic longsword. It gave you great slashing with a thrusting 2H R2. The axe in Bloodborne is going to give you a ton of damage with a lot of AoE flexibility. You probably won't need to change weapons ever.

The main reason for getting another weapon is changing your playstyle. The axes lends itself to medium speed and flexibility. You could change that to the kirkhammer giving you way more single target damage at a much slower pace. Both weapons are viable, just different.

I'm almost done with my platinum and I've used the axe almost exclusively the whole time. I can do thousands of points of damage very quickly at this point. It's fucking amazing.

Havent used the Axe, stuck with saw blade the whole game. Its fast, high damage, and allows for good long chain attacks. Havent lost the 3 PVP fights when I was invaded with it. Trying the weapon the last boss unlocks, dam is lower, and its much slower. Dont think I like it other then the R2 charge attack which will knock down an enemy.

I haven't veered away from the cane very much.

Motherfucking Kirkhammer. The hammer is excellent for staggering enemies and dealing big blows of single damage, and the sword is really versatile (especially the lunge attack after dodging to the side). The R2 thrust attack with the sword is gold. With the strength scaling and some nice gems I have slotted, my damage stat on that thing is north of 600.

I completed the entire game with the Axe, I think i tried the wheel, hammer, and ludwigs but nothing ever felt like it was hitting as hard as the axe did.

I love the axe for normal PvE - I swear the easiest way to hit 99 bullets / vials is to roll with just the axe in 2H mode between bosses. You never take damage with that thing's AoE, DPS and knockback.

However, I prefer the cane in boss fights as it gives me more flexibility with range and has a much faster attack speed for when I need to poke. Thankfully I'm running a quality build so both are doing decent damage.