The first row are the different types of items.
The second row are the different types of weapons.
Sword;Axe;Bow;Spear;Whip;Scythe;Staff;Legendary;Soul of Weapon.
The type may not be same as in eng ver as i translated literally.
Otherwise the columns beside the picture is as follows:
name of weapon; level required to use; AP; Durability; Magic Atk; weapon speed which is same for all sword.
(Min AP + Max AP) / 2 + skill damage = Kinda the same on both weapons.
And ask yourself this. If one was superior to the other, do you think both would exist?
Sword is faster more consistent damage, while axe is slow and varying damage.
Would be nice to see a comparison on these two weapons as well if you have an archer character Aiwarz. Your sword/axe comparison spelled out very well the differences and for my warrior maiden I switched over to sword and am quite happy doing so. My gun chick will be very unhappy though if I have to switch her over to bow.
When you get your hand on legend weapons it might change again what you prefer. Legend axe has +darkness % damage, while legend sword has +holy % damage. And Dire warrior use darkness attacks while Temple warriors use holy attacks.
So basicly, always use a (refined) weapon. And then just use the one with best stats you can find.