Best Avowed Two Handed Build – Power Attack King

Latest Update: June 29, 2026 – Categories: Avowed, Avowed Builds

Welcome to our Two Handed build guide for Avowed. This build does incredible damage via Two Handed power attacks and stacking bleeds and can easily stun-lock most enemies using Barbaric Shout. In this build guide, we review the best Attributes, Weapons, Armor, Accessories, Skills, Passives, Companions, and much more!

This build has been updated for the Avowed Anniversary Update.

Table Of Contents

• Two Handed Build Overview
• Who Should Play the Two Handed Build?
• Avowed Two Handed Build Pros and Cons
• Best Race Options
• Best Background
• Best Attributes
• Best Weapons
• Best Armor
• Best Accessories
• Best Skills
• Leveling Guide
• Combat Tips
• Recommended Companions
• More Avowed Builds

Avowed Two Handed Build Overview

This Two Handed Build for Avowed excels at melee combat, one-shotting most normal enemies with high weapon damage, and quickly taking down bosses with powerful Axe strikes and stacking Bleed damage. With this build you will be able to charge into Combat or tackle back-line mages and healers with ease, quickly dispatching them. You can then stun and bleed more sturdy targets to take them down more methodically. With the right companions at your side you can make quick work on anything the Living Lands throws at you, plus the build is extremely fun to play and simple, allowing for an easy playstyle.

Related Guides

• Best Class For You in Avowed
• Avowed Character Creation Guide
• All Avowed Skills Updated for 2026

Who Should Play the Two Handed Build for Avowed?

If you like running headfirst into combat, cutting down your enemies (sometimes in one hit), then this Two Handed build for Avowed is for you! If you like prioritizing damage above all else, glass-cannon style, then this is also an excellent build. The Two Handed playstyle is all about risk and reward, charging in with your Great Axe to eliminate priority targets fast, then backing off momentarily while your cooldowns reset.

This build is also extremely easy to play, requiring only one active weapon in most cases and ignoring secondary weapons – the ultimate in simple playstyles! Be aware that you can die quickly in combat though, particularly versus casters, if you are not paying attention, but with some practice, the Two Handed build for Avowed absolutely devastates everything in the game.

Avowed Two Handed Build Pros and Cons

The Two-Handed Build can deal insane damage, but also functions a bit as a glass-cannon, meaning you can go down quickly if you are not paying attention!

Pros

• High Damage
• High Stun
• Bleed Damage melts bosses
• Low Essence Cost
• Can One Shot smaller enemies

Cons

• Low Maximum Health
• Glass Cannon – takes increased damage
• Limited Ranged Attack options
• Weak when surrounded by enemies
• Reliant on Companions for support when abilities are on cooldown

Best Race Options

With five playable races now available following the anniversary update, players have more options than ever to tailor their build. While the stat differences aren’t huge, your choice of playable race does have an impact early on in powering your build, plus you should consider height differences when in playing in first person.

The best playable race for the Two Handed Build in Avowed is Aumaua, as they have the best early damage spike in the game thanks to +2 Might at the start of the game. Their large size and height also makes it easy to spot enemies at a distance.

Another solid option would be the Human Race for their combination of +1 Might and +1 Resolve, which provides a nice balance of pure damage (Might) and Maximum Stamina (Resolve), which lets you attack more before becoming exhausted. Or for more survivability select the Dwarf Race which has a nice balance of +1 Might and +1 Constitution, providing increased damage and health.

Best Background Choice

Backgrounds in Avowed are primarily a role-playing tool. They shape how you experience the story and how NPCs react to your words, but they don’t create hard mechanical restrictions that matter beyond the early game. Your background also determines your starting stat allocation (you can change this before leaving character creation) as well as your starting weapon in the game’s tutorial.

In terms of roleplaying alignment, the War Hero is the best background for the Two Handed Build in Avowed.

The War Hero background positions your character as a decorated veteran of imperial campaigns, renowned for decisive victories and disciplined battlefield leadership. Your military career earned you respect, medals, and eventually a promotion to elite units before the emperor found a new use for your talents in the frontier.

The default attribute emphasis falls heavily on Might 3 and Resolve 3, with solid Constitution backing up the frontline fantasy. This creates a character who hits hard, maintains stamina for extended combat through blocking and power attacks, and survives punishment that would fell lighter backgrounds.

Best Two Handed Build Attributes

To maximize your damage output, survivability, and mobility, this Two Handed Build should prioritize Might, Resolve, Dexterity, and Constitution.

1. Might – Boosts overall damage and carry weight, making it essential for dealing consistent damage.
2. Resolve – Improves Maximum Stamina, allowing you to fight for longer before needing to back off
3. Dexterity – Improves Attack Speed and Action Speed.
4. Constitution – Increase your Maximum Health and Resistances

Avowed Two Handed Build Best Weapons

The best weapons for the Two Handed build in Avowed are the Limb-Taker Two-Handed Axe, combined with your choice of secondary weapons.

Limb-Taker

• Base Effects
  • Severing Blow: Power Attacks deal moderate Bleed Accumulation.
  • Bleeding Lash: Hits deal +10% bonus Bleed Damage
• Best Enchantment
  • Blood-Soaked Blade: Killing an enemy gives you +50% Attack Speed for 8 seconds.

The Limb-Taker unique Two-Handed axe is truly one of the most powerful weapons in Avowed, making this Two Handed build easily slice through enemies like butter! Not only does this weapon have high Physical Damage and Stun stats, but it also easily stacks bonus Bleed damage, meaning even if you don’t kill an enemy in one hit, they can easily bleed out just a few seconds later. This is especially useful to rack up extra damage versus tankier targets and bosses to finish them off quickly.

For the enchantment, make sure to select Blood-Soaked Blade, as you will already be dealing high Bleed Accumulation, rendering the other enchantment useless. Plus the bonus attack speed here is excellent.

Limb-Taker is one of the two rewards from the side quest A Cure for Rage in the Galawain’s Tusks region. The quest can be activated by talking to Warden Lerae, located between The Sallow Steppe and Southern Warden Tower. Choose to Attack Grakohr to get Limb-Taker.

Other Weapons

The focus of this build is obviously Two Handed weapons, but for a secondary weapon I recommend using something with range such as the Arquebus. This will allow you to attack enemies at various elevations and long range that you may not be able to get to right away as a melee build. Some of your skills including Barbaric Shout will even work with the Arquebus to increase Stun and Physical damage.

One Last Trick

• BaseEffects
  • Ricochet: Bullets bounce to hit an additional enemy within range.
  • Gunnery: +20% Reload Speed
• Best Enchantment
  • Trick Shot: Bullets bounce to hit 2 additional enemies within range.

After blasting through the game’s first zone, you’ll want to quickly upgrade to The Last Trick, a unique arquebus variant obtained from the Steel Resolve side quest in the second zone. This weapon comes with a +20% Reload Speed bonus which is extremely helpful when you want to power through your shots and take down tough opponents quickly, plus your shots can bounce to one additional target for even more damage!

For upgrades, choose Trick Shot to hit up to 2 enemies within range.

For a powerful Two-Handed weapon obtained earlier in the game, look to acquire the unique Two-Hander Horsecutter. This weapon deals bonus Bleed damage much like the Limb-Taker but can be obtained in the game’s second region. It can be found at Wavesculpt Hollow, in the Emerald Stair region, just south of Maxim’s Claim, by defeating the Skeleton boss there.

Best Two Handed Build Armor

The best armor for the Two Handed build is the Helwalker’s Vestments Armor, Berserker Boots, and Skald’s Gauntlets. The Helwalker’s Vestments armor provides huge bonuses for a melee build, including +25% Melee Damage and +50% Critical Hit damage with melee weapons at the expense of less damage reduction, while the Berserker Boots double your Stamina Regeneration and Skald’s Gauntlets boost power attacks and Axe Damage.

Helwalker’s Vestments

• The Path of Scars: +25% Melee Damage; -50% Damage Reduction
• Shared Transcedence: +50% Critical Hit Damage with Melee Weapons

Helwalker’s Vestments are the best Armor for the Two Handed Build due to the +50% Critical Damage multiplier which applies to melee attacks. This means your Critical Strikes and Special Attacks always hit much harder and since we have so much attack speed on this build, the net benefit is a huge damage increase.

Be aware that you will take more damage with this item equipped, so you’ll need to dodge enemy attacks whenever possible or use Temporary Health shields such as Barbaric Shout Rank 2.

Berserker Boots

• Bonus Effect:
  • -10% incoming Fire, Frost, and Shock Damage.
• Enchantment:
  • Frenzied Strides: +100% Stamina regeneration rate

The Berserker Boots are the best option for the Two Handed build because they greatly increase your Stamina Regeneration rate. This allows you to attack more consistently and without needing to pause as often for Stamina to come back while in the middle of combat.

The Berserker Boots are found in the Galawain’s Tusks region at the Outcast Cave Camp.

Skald’s Gauntlets

• Bonus Effect:
  • +5% Power Attack Damage
• Enchantment:
  • And Their Champion Fell, Sundered: +15% Attack Damage with great swords, great hammers, and great axes.

Skald’s Guantlets are by far the best gloves for any build focused on Two-Handed weapons thanks to their massive +15% damage boost to Two-Handed greatswords, hammers and axes. The bonus Power Attack Damage is useful too, as we use power attacks quite often for this build too.

Other Armor Options

The Berserker Scales armor makes for a strong risk-reward approach to combat, boosting your damage massively at low health and with a constant boost to crit chance. Keep in mind you can mitigate some of the risk here with damage reduction and companions.

The Berserker Scales are obtained inside Amalia’s Chest in her camp in Galawain’s Tusk. To access the camp and the key to the chest you complete the Wardens Warding Side Quest.

Stelgaer’s Pride is another fantastic chest armor piece for the Two Handed Build which casts Barbaric Shout when you take damage greater than 20% of your Maximum Health, while also increasing your Stamina Regeneration.

The Tranton Family Greaves, also found in Emerald Stair, provide an additional +10% movement speed boost, which stacks with the breastplate mentioned above, along with a 20% increase in dodge distance, making it easier to evade melee enemies.

Best Two Handed Build Accessories

The best accessories for the Two Handed Build in Avowed are the Mortal Haven Amulet, Ring of Pain Amplification, and Ring Of The Founder. Mortal Haven automatically casts Arcane Veil when you drop below 25% Health with a 20 second cooldown. This is the ultimate survivability tool and helps to counteract the lower damage reduction we have from using Helwalker’s Vestments.

The Ring of Pain Amplification greatly boosts Critical Damage which applies to our special attacks. Finally, the Ring Of The Founder is great for finishing off easier enemies in one shot as it increases your initial hit damage versus full health targets.

Mortal Haven

• Lesser Veiling: While below 25% Maximum Health, cast Arcane Veil every 20 seconds.

The Mortal Haven Amulet is one of the best accessories in Avowed from a utility standpoint, and is especially good for Glass Canon style builds, which match the Two Handed playstyle, giving you a quick defensive proc when your Health drops too low, allowing you time to react and adjust.

Ring of Pain Amplification

• Critical Damage: +15% Critical Damage

A solid early-game option is the Ring of Amplification, which provides a 15% boost to critical damage. Since critical hits are a key feature of this build, this ring ensures that every shot lands with maximum impact.

Ring of the Founder

• Hatred Unshackled: +10% Damage against enemies with full Health.

The Ring of the Founder is another excellent option, offering a 10% damage boost against full-health enemies. This is particularly useful when initiating fights, as your opening shots will deal extra damage, making it easier to eliminate enemies before they become a threat.

Other Accessories

For stats, the Cartographer’s Companion Amulet is one of the best accessories in Avowed from a raw stats point of view, providing 5 total attribute points. Dexterity increases Attack Speed and Action Speed while Perception increases Critical Hit Chance.

The Cartographer’s Companion accessory can be looted from one of the corpses in Urvalnau’s Den in the Galawain’s Tusks region.

Best Two Handed Build Skills

The Best skills for a Two Handed build in Avowed are Barbaric Shout, Brawn, Bleeding Cuts, and Arcane Veil. These abilities in particular boost your Stun potential, Two-Handed Damage, and improve your Bleed damage and Survivability.

All recommended skills are listed below.

Fighter Skills

The Fighter Skill Tree for Avowed focuses on close-quarters dominance, durability, and crowd control using physical force. The recommended Fighter Tree skills are:

• Charge (Rank 3) – Dash forward and smash into anything in your way, interrupting enemies. This is your gap closer, great for getting in close and destroying the back line of enemy groups, so get this as your first skill.
• Driving Kick (Rank 1) – A powerful kick that breaks through enemy Blocks, dealing damage and launching enemies through the air. Use this versus tank enemies with shields to break their block and stagger them or just for fun to send smaller enemies flying.
• Toughness (Rank 1) – Increases your Maximum Health by 20% at rank 1, 35% at rank 2, and 45% at rank 3. This is useful for the build as we can still get a high Health stat without investing much into Constitution.
• Barbaric Shout (Rank 3) – This is the signature ability for the Avowed Two Handed build, making your attack uninterruptible and dealing higher stun. Rank 3 is essential here as it nearly doubles the duration of this powerful buff. Keep in mind that the 2nd rank can taunt nearby enemies, but if you cast this outside of the range of combat before the battle starts, you won’t need to worry about the taunt effect.
• Bleeding Cuts (Rank 3) – With Bleeding Cuts rank 3 your power attack should immediately set targets bleeding which is a powerful damage over time effect.
• Devastating Criticals (Rank 3) – Critical Hits with melee weapons deal 30% more damage.
• Brawn (Rank 3) – Increases damage with two-handed melee weapons by 25% at rank 1, 40% at rank 2, and 50% at rank 3.
• Bloodlust (Rank 3) – The Bleeding status deals increased damage to enemies, plus gain 20% Attack Damage against Bleeding enemies.
• Adrenaline (Rank 2) – When below 50% Health, your Attack Damage is increased by 25%. When below 25% Health, your Attack Damage is increased by another 25% and Stability is increased by 20%.
• Retribution (Rank 1) – After taking damage from an enemy, your next attack within 5 seconds deals +70% of the original damage you received.
• Vanguard (Rank 3) – Gain a chance to negate incoming attacks, up to 30% at Rank 3.

Ranger Skills

The Ranger Skill Tree emphasizes precision, mobility, and stealth, catering to both ranged sharpshooters and agile melee fighters. The recommended Fighter Tree skills are:

• Evasive (Rank 2) – Reduces the Stamina cost of Dodge.
• Survivalist (Rank 3) – Unlock the best foods and recipes for this build with powerful effects.

Wizard Skills

The Wizard Skill Tree is the primary source of elemental area-of-effect damage and battlefield manipulation. The recommended Wizard Tree skills are:

• Arcane Veil (Rank 3) – Invokes a powerful arcane shield for 20 seconds that makes your spell casting Uninterruptable and increases your Damage Reduction by 25%. Gives more useful upgrades at higher rank, including reflecting arrows and projectiles at Rank 2, and knocking back Melee attackers at Rank 3.

Avowed Two Handed Build Leveling Guide

Players can unlock 35 total talent points in Avowed, starting with 1 point per level at level 2, and including 1 bonus point for levels 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30.

Combat Tips for the Two Handed Build

Before entering combat, make sure to buff yourself with Barbaric Shout. At rank 3, this gives you a sizable temporary health pool, plus causes all of your attacks to deal increased stun. This will allow you to unleash insane damage during the first 10-15 seconds of combat. Next, cast Arcane Veil to increase your defensive potential, reflecting arrows and other projectiles and knocking back melee attackers.

Your next step is charging into to combat and dealing huge damage! Make sure to start each fight by prioritizing spell casters first. Wizards can be deadly as you have more limited health, but luckily they will fold in one or two axe hits. Next, target any healing enemies as these will make the fight much more annoying – again, one or two axe hits here should destroy any healer enemies very quickly. Use the Charge ability to quickly get into melee range or penetrate the backlines of enemy groups, Devastating Kick can also be used to interrupt casting enemies.

Once your Barbaric Shout and Arcane Veil have faded you will be susceptible to much more incoming damage, so back off and rely on your companions during this time until you can refresh these two buffs.

Once all casters are eliminated from the field, your job is take down tankier enemies and bosses. Refresh Barbaric Shout if needed here to increase your stun and make sure to use Devastating Kick to break down shields. 3-4 Heavy Attacks at most should be needed to fully stun a boss and initiate your special attack. You should also be ramping up Bleeds at this time. Allow Kai to step in and tank for a bit after this if needed, while using Giatta to heal the party.

Recommended Companions

1. Kai – Kai’s Fire and Ire ability to taunt enemies, and his second wind make him a reliable tank, which deals decent damage and stuns thanks to the low cooldown of Fire and Ire. His ability to pull aggro from enemies and take melee or ranged pressure off you for a few seconds is incredibly helpful when facing off against multiple enemies at once and particularly versus bosses.
2. Giatta – As the primary healing companion in Avowed, Giatta is a very good companion to bring along with any melee build. Her abilities will help with emergency heals, plus increase attack speed and add temporary health for better survival.

The Final Word

The Two Handed build in Avowed is one of the most powerful playstyles in the game, offering amazing damage and mobility, plus the ability to stun lock basic enemies and bosses thanks to the power of Barbaric shout. This Two Handed build is perfect for deleting everything on the battlefield and is a ton of fun to play!

Update Log

• March 29, 2026 – build created for Avowed Anniversary Update
• June 29, 2026 – updated skills section

More Avowed Builds

Looking for the best Avowed Builds? We’ve got you covered! Check out our best Avowed Builds below, with detailed skill explanations, gear loadouts, and leveling guides.

• Avowed Complete Builds List
• Avowed Battle Mage Build
• Avowed Fighter Build
• Avowed Gun Mage Build
• Avowed Gunslinger Build
• Avowed Ranger Build
• Avowed Rogue Build
• Avowed Spellblade Build
• Avowed Two Handed Build
• Avowed Unarmed Build
• Avowed Wand Build
• Avowed Wizard Build