Axes:
Axes are interesting, if at times unpredictable, weapons due to the spread in their base damage range. While an axe is capable of having a higher base damage than a sword, you'll also be dealing less damage at times due to the large gap between the minimum and maximum values. Axes have decent attack speed, and a skill set comparable to swords - the choice between the two really comes down to choosing to do consistent damage, or chancing at big damage.
Hammers:
The heavy hitter of the melee weaponry, hammers are all about big damage strikes. Hammers have the highest maximum damage output, but are also the slowest of the three weapon types, to a very noticeable degree. Since hammers are two handed weapons, characters wielding one will not be able to use a shield or focus items in conjunction with them - this makes hammers an undesirable main weapon choice if you're planning to spec points into the Tactics line. However, the skills line tied in to hammers can be useful, a many of the attacks focus on knockdowns and weakening your foes.
Swords:
The classic standard of weaponry in fantasy settings (spears would have been more prominent in real life) swords are a good choice for new Warriors. Out of the three weapon types, swords have the most 'average' damage, due to the close ranges that will appear on their minimum-maximum damage. However, to counter this, swords also have the lowest output in terms of the maximum base damage of the weapon. Swords are also possessed of a fast base attack speed - this is a desirable quality for even non-Warrior professions, for example, a Mesmer using Illusionary Weaponry would want a weapon that attacks quickly.
Now that we've got a weapon decided on, if it's an axe, sword, or wand (which we'll get to shortly) we can take another item with us in the offhand, either a shield, or a focus. Which of them is more useful depends on the way you choose to play your character, so here are some details on both that should help you decide:
Focus Items:
When held in the offhand, Focus items can add to your maximum amount of available mana. Some will have no requirements attached to using them, but will usually only yield a few extra (3, as an example.) More powerful versions will have a requirement, for example, +10 Energy, Fire Magic 7+; in this case you'd need to have your Fire Magic attribute at level 7 or greater to gain the full benefit of the focus. As you can imagine this is only beneficial if you have a focus that applies to a magic line that your character uses. One is available for each casting-related attribute, as such, it is very common to see mage type characters weilding these. However, melee types that use high energy attacks can be seen making use of them as well, for example, Warrior/Elementalists. However, a focus adds no innate defense bonus (though defense bonus modifiers can spawn on them.)
Shields:
Shields help increase your character's ability to defend themselves, and come in one of two basic varities: Strength shields, and Tactics shields. Between the two, Tactics based shields are much more common. Like focus items, shields will often come with a requirement that must be met in order for your character to receive the full benefit of using the item. As an example, Tactics 9+. Because of this, Strength shields are only useful to a primary Warrior (as no other characters have access to the Strength attribute) and shields in general only useful to Warrior primary or secondaries that plan in speccing points into the Tactics line.
So that's all fine and well for the close range stuff, but what if you want to use bows, you say? Well, we can cover that, too. Bows are two handed weapons, so you won't be able to equip anything in the offhand. Bows also have a varity of different ranges - some are long range, but slow attacking (Longbow, Flatbow, etc.) while others have a short range, but a faster attack speed (Shortbow, Hornbow, etc.) It's usually a good idea to bring one for each base type (long or short range) if you must choose between them, then let's take a closer look:
Long Range:
A good choice for the Ranger that is looking to deal damage without putting themselves so much into harm's way. Using a long range bow typically relegates the Ranger into a 'support' position - as the slow rate of fire makes it hard to take down an enemy single handedly - especially if the opposing side has efficient Monks. However, long range attacks make an excellent lead off to a fight - if an enemy decides to charge your group, you can make sure they're going to pay the price for doing so.
Short Range:
Typically the point of being a Ranger is to be able to attack from a distance - so why would you want to short change that, you might ask? The reason is that the range of your weapons not only affects your rate of fire, it affects how long it takes for an arrow to hit its target. This becomes especially important to a Ranger playing the 'interrupt game' - that is, using skills that interrupt an enemy's actions. Examples of this would be skills like Concussion Shot, or Savage Shot. Since it takes less time, you have a greater chance of timing it correctly - however, you are also closer in the fray as a trade off.
Lastly comes the caster's weapons, Wands, and Staves. As of the time of this writing, there is no reason to consider using staves over wands. They offer no additional damage, and are two handed, thus preventing you from using a second item such as a focus. Unlike swords and other weapons, wands and staves are not tied to a specific attribute line to deal their damage. Instead, they are linked to the magic Attribute line that corresponds with their damage type. For example, a Fire Wand would be tied to the Elementalist's Fire Magic line. Because of this, wands are a good choice for the traditional caster to take along - it's a little extra ranged damage between casting your spells.
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