I have been doing a lot of testing and research between all weapons for 2.3 and I have noticed that threw the Mace/Sword nerfs they both still stand as the strongest weapons/specs that the warrior can use. Although they still come with a trade off….
Maces: Still procs very often even without using Deep stunder / Stunherald testing with the S2/S1 maces. I was very impressed with how the stuns are still coming in handy with interrupts and even if your target immunes like how they did prior to the nerf ,You will end up with higher rage gained overall and even if it’s a one rage point extra per immune it might be the one rage point that allows for your excute earlier than other targets taking you down “hypothetically”.
Swords: Are amazing for there often double procs and the best thing is that Maces can get there stuns in most useless moments on the targets you don’t care for stunning but there is never a bad time for the double proc from your sword, In the mean while Maces are still a very useful tool once the proc hits at the perfect time.
The Trade off:
(2v2) Maces are very strong for 2v2 it’s almost a no-brainer going for a different weapon since warriors are not blessed with the best CC’s in the game, I know I know “but the S3 mace is ugly” well deal with it because once it takes you to the 2300+ it will be pretty darn sweet.
(3v3) Maces and Swords come very close in 3v3, At this point if you will go for a weapon you have to decide which way you want to run your arena teams, better is ask yourself “do I care more about 5’s or 2’s??” what weapon you want to go for on your 3’s is pretty much irrelevant. One way I look at it is if you care about your 3’s team more than any other then at that point you make your choice upon the Matrix you are running.
Example: A) If you run a Warrior/ Elemental shaman/ Paladin then your best bet is Swords.
B) If you run a Warrior/ Warlock/ Druid then your best bet would be Maces.
(5v5) Swords are the most dominant in almost all cases of 5v5 especially if your 5’s has a Shaman. Here you will see a whole lot of double procs. Your cleaves will be beautiful especially staked with WW/SS omg you will feel like a million bucks.
Yes Maces are good but Swords are insane in 5’s a even if you do get focus fired and you are forced to use Shield/Sword you will be still getting your double procs with your one hander Sword and have the ongoing damage needed unlike the Mace you might get a stun off but with how FF works that stun won’t help you that much, especially if you are still on the 1st target and they want to take you down and you want to take your target down at the same time.
*Axes: where a great weapon to use S1 and early S2 when stacking resilience was a possibility but not anymore imo.
*Enchants: Executioner is the way to go with whatever you are wielding as a 2 hander (Hint: the S3 gear gives “Ignore armor” for a reason). After a lot of testing it comes up higher with damage success over Savagery and Mongoose.
I hope I was helpful enough to a lot of the Warriors in here, good luck on what you do after all.![]()