Tungsten and tungsten carbide were exposed to high heat flux (29.8-59.6GW/m2) using a femtosecond laser with different incident angles (0°, 30°, 45°, 60°). The total heat flux was accumulated through laser pulses in ambient air. The aim of these experiments was to simulate the high heat flux conditions and oxidation to show the surface damage and ablation in harsh environments. At 1–8 laser pulses numbers, the tungsten surface was more durable than tungsten carbide, but at very high pulse numbers (~ 5,200) the opposite was true. Due to laser induced plasma formation, the surface damage mostly took the form of craters that were near-circular at low impact angles and more elongated at higher angles. A cluster of tungsten oxide debris also formed on the tungsten surfaces. Laser Induced Periodic Surface Structures (LIPSS) and grooves were formed during laser exposure, and their geometries vary with laser intensity and with laser impact angle. The period of laser induced surface changes increased for both tungsten and tungsten carbide surfaces as the incident angle increased. More mass was lost in from tungsten than tungsten carbide, which agrees on the morphological responses. The mass loss by laser ablation overwhelmed the possible mass gains from surface oxidation.