You can get this maul free by doing the Oh Deer Me quest. I think it's given out in Castleview Hamlet. Check the quests, list by zone... part to find it.
If your HO's give you a buff that lets you proc in damage (do extra damage occasionally), go for the fastest weapon you can find (that still does reasonable normal damage). Of course I'm assuming that proc rate is tied to your swing rate (it was in old eq). My druid gets ... I think it is called Inspired Piety at least once a fight doing HOs. It lets him proc Blessed Weapon in melee, doing about 32 pts of damage, mid teens lvl.