Is there a Meta Zaw to build?

[Chaemyerelis]

Just ranked up my ostron standing to max and looking to make my first zaw. I also have those plague blueprints from that event not too long ago.

[Tsoe]

have fun 😄 arcane zaw are heaven

[(PSN)OriginalEquinox]

I was told to build a plague zaw for status and speed, not half bad

[PoisonHD]

Plague Zaw's are the best in slot for a lot of melee weapons at the moment. Plague kripath polearm is my way to go, I forget the attachments though

[kingvaldemir]

They say pleague zaws are the best, though i prefer the dokhram more. Kinda depends on the preferences IMO. I think you might need some testing and see which one is the most suitable for you

[(PSN)SteveOMatic]

Polearms are the best performing for the most part.

Plague zaw polearm: plague kripath, plague bokwin, link of your choice 

Regular zaw:  Dokrahm, Shtung, and link of your choice.  I think i built it with vargheet jai II

[kgabor]

I also recommend the Plague Kripath, but i think of it as more of a weapon you would use for fun than actual meta even though it's strong, especially with the plague arcanes.

You can use those tactically to stagger and halve the EHP of groups of enemies hit by their AoE with the Viral procs, but watch out for self damage!

I used it with combo mods a while ago and didn't make an entirely optimal meta build, it might work with a riven.

[Xzorn]

There is no generalized meta for anything outside what is forced onto us like Eidolons.

The best Zaw for the job depends entirely on what you're hitting and the level range you intend to fight.

For majority of guns there's a rule that " Corrosive Status eventually always wins " when dealing with scaling armored enemies but this is not the case for melee due to a multitude of stronger mod options. Condition Overload, Sacrificial Steel, Blood Rush, Shattering Impact, ect.

Zaws make the best Polearms and Machetes in the game. How you build them depends if you want to generalize or specialize and what you want to specialize on. There's not one build to rule them all when it comes to... well just about any weapon but this couldn't be more true with Zaws. If you choose to go Corrosive Status then the weapon needs to be fast. If you choose to go Bleed than the weapon needs high Status high damage which is generally slower. Gas can kinda go either way depending on the build but tends to lean towards Status high damage. If you want the best total DPS than a hybrid Crit / Status is ideal though all Zaws are hybrids technically a more Crit weighted one will do better against Infested.

The Heavy Blade Zaw though not particularly great on IPS weight has the longest reach of any Heavy Blade which can make it an attractive Infested mower.

The Rapier Zaw is also decent though I think Destraza Prime superseded it. Not sure. I'm not a Rapier guy.

Staves are okay. Specifically the Plague one.

Scythes, Hammers and Nikana all get outclassed by another weapon in their category.

Some Examples:

Spoiler

Cyath Polearm Armor Bleed Build:

Cyath + Shtung + Ekwana Jai

Kirpath Polearm Armor Corrosive Build:

Plague Kirpath + Seekala + Ekwana II Jai

Machete Armor Bleed Build:

Cyath + Korb + Ekwana Jai

Infested Heavy Blade:

Dokrahm + Shtung + Vargeet Jai / Vargeet Jai II

 

 

Edited December 2, 2018 by Xzorn

[Fluxinated]

dagger zaw, best zaw

[0_The_F00l]

Well you can kinda build em to your own playstyle, 

With that being said. 

2h zaw grips will have more range than 1h ones. 

Near 15% Crit (14 or 18 with plague) 25% (32 or 27 with plague) status will net you most versatile zaw for hybrids utilizing both blood rush and condition overload. 

Speed near 1 will have most use as it will scale better with speed mods but still have enough damage per hit. 

Plague kripath (pole arm) , dohkram (heavy blade), plague keewar(staff) tend to be most useful for purely dishing damage. 

The addition of the exodia arcanes makes em even stronger. 

 

Semlar zaw builder can be used for previewing your builds. 

Edited December 2, 2018 by 0_The_F00l