Herculean Axe

A Herculean Axe is an Axe introduced in Golden Sun: Dark Dawn. It is notable for being the most powerful Axe-class weapon in the game, and by extension the series.

Basic Description by Game
The Herculean Axe increases the wielder's base Attack by 186 points. It can be sold for 21000 coins and subsequently rebought 28000 coins.

In Dark Dawn, it is forged from Orihalcon by Obaba (the game's blacksmith and Briggs' grandmother) with a 10% chance of being forged, the same as the Excalibur which is forged by the same material. It can be equipped on Matthew, Tyrell and Eoleo. The Herculean Axe has four Unleashes: Stone Justice, Barrage, Meltdown, and Olympus Rage. Stone Justice is a Venus-based Unleash that adds 11 points of damage and may also drop agility by 50%. Barrage is a Mars-based Unleash that adds 20 points of damage and may Stun the target. Meltdown is a Mars-based Unleash adds 47 points of damage, hits up to three targets, and may drop each target's Defense by 25%. Olympus Rage is a Mars-based Unleash that multiplies damage by 2 and has a chance of instantly felling the target.

Analysis
The Herculean Axe holds an interesting niche in the lineup of "ultimate weapons". In many ways, it looks extremely similar to its fellow Orihalcon weapon, the Excalibur. The Herculean Axe has 6 points of Attack more than the Excalibur, which means that it is clearly the superior weapon for characters whose damage output comes primarily from Djinn or Psynergy (such as Quick Strike).

If the character is performing regular attacks, however, a look at unleashes is in order. The first three unleashes of Excalibur will usually hit harder than their Herculean counterparts, but the Herculean Axe has a great utility unleash in Meltdown, which hits three targets and reduces their Defense by the equivalent of two Debilitates.

Excalibur's Legend vs. Herculean Axe's Olympus Rage mostly comes down to a matter of power vs. consistency. Legend has a 60% chance to hit for triple damage (including the +73 additional damage), but the remaining 40% it hits for a somewhat uninspiring base damage +73. Olympus Rage, on the other hand, will hit for twice base damage, guaranteed. To use mathematical terminology, while Legend's damage has a higher statistical mean and mode, Olympus Rage's damage has a higher minimum, making it more consistent. It should also be noted that Olympus Rage has the additional benefit of potentially downing a target.

In the end, the Herculean Axe usually ends up being Eoleo's weapon of choice, since Matthew has the Sol Blade, while Tyrell generally ends up with either the Excalibur, the Levatine, or the Darksword. Eoleo's naturally higher Fire Power means that most of the Axe's unleashes will be properly supported, and with the most common unleashes being either multi-target or guaranteed powerful, he becomes a great addition for either random encounters or boss fights with multiple targets.

It is worth noting, however, that Eoleo may very well obtain a higher average damage with either Tisiphone Edge or Phaeton's Blade, due to those weapons also having very strong unleashes.

Trivia

 * The Herculean Axe unleashes all the signature unleashes of artifact axes (found not bought). Themis' Axe's Stone Justice, Vulcan Axe's Barrage, and Giant Axe's Meltdown.

Etymology
The Herculean Axe is a reference to Hercules, the son of Zeus.