Maximum damage

Many high-level players on Guild Wars will only use or buy a weapon from another player if it is a "max damage" weapon (a weapon that inflicts the best damage its class has to offer). Also mastery requirements for weapons vary even if all of them are maximum damage weapons, however if it is a maximum damage weapon expect the requirements to be at least level 7 or higher (i.e. Storm Bow Dmg. 15-28 Piercing Damage 'Requires Lv. 11 Marksmanship'). Savvy players will try to find a weapon that has the lowest requirement available and maximum damage at the same time. Here is a list of the maximum damage values for each type of weapon.

Hammers
Maximum damage for hammers is 19-35 (blunt damage, varies with hammer haft).

Axes
Maximum damage for axes is 6-28 (slashing damage, varies with axe haft).

Swords
Maximum damage for swords is 15-22 (slashing damage, varies with sword hilt application, Note: all fiery dragon swords come with fire damage but it can be overriden with a sword hilt)

Bows
Maximum damage for bows is 15-28 (piercing damage, varies with bow string application).

Staves & Canes
Two handed staves and one handed canes have a maximum damage of 11-22 (Varies with staff/cane drop and type, always ranged Fire damage Cold damage Lightning damage Earth damage Chaos damage Shadow Damage Holy Damage)