Maces or axes in WotLK?Follow

I've just reached 375 in BSing on my warr and was ready to make my epic mace, but then looking at the WotLK talent trees it seems that warrior maces are getting a serious nerf. Is it worth putting all the mats into creating the epic mace and then rerolling axesmith in WotLK, or should I accept a short-term limit in axes at the mo, but be ready with the big hitter when the expansion comes out?

I'd like to get an idea of what others think. I'm sure BSing is due for a boost so I'd certainly like to stick with weaponsmithing of some sort, and the swords have never really appealed, as maces or axes are definitely cooler!

OK thanks for that. I wasn't sure quite how one stacked up against the other. I guess I'll also have to see how sword spec will be changed in WotLK (if at all).

I guess this also means I'll have to lvl my 2h sword as I haven't wielded one of those since the Cyclonian quest reward.

Thanks again

the 6 second internal cd on extra attack procs and hamstring no longer triggering extra attack procs = fail for sword spec in raids.

why must everything be balanced around pvp...

So just to get this clear, is it being suggested that despite the proposed nerfs to hamstring, 2h sword still seems to be the best bet. Poleaxe is better than it was and maces are now last on the list?

Is this also the case for the arms warrior in pvp too?

Sorry about the questions but having only ever wielded one type of 2h weapon from mid 50s onwards I don't have the experience to say that x is better than y, and while I agree that the best way to find out is to wield each weapon type I'm not sure whether I'd like to spend all that time grinding weapon skill on a weapon class that I'd soon find myself abandoning anyway.

If they're going to stick with Mace Spec the way it is, I can't imagine any reason to go for it .. if it's rage gen they want, then a 5% chance (which seems to be the standard proc rate for weapon specs) to get 50 rage, or maybe even a full rage bar, would be the minimum, otherwise it's useless.

As for sword vs axe (pre Wrath) ... oh boy, the arguments I've read about that .. however, at EJ, I once saw someone do some extensive testing around which spec produces more damage, and it turned out the sword did more damage over an hour (something like 0.1% more). The logic being that if both have a 5% chance to proc, then they both have a chance to deal double damage, which pretty much makes them equal. The difference is that the extra proc from sword can crit ... that's an extra bit of damage that you can hope for with a sword that you can't with an axe.

HOWEVER, with the changes to axe spec for wrath - extra crit damage with your axe - it clearly pulls ahead than the sword in PvE. PvP - you still want the sword ... relying on crits in PvP is not a good idea ... an extra attack will not be gimped by resilience.

It remains to be seen until some testing is done as to whether it will be better than sword or axe spec. Depending on the mob (some have more armor than others so 15% will vary) it looks promissing. We need to find out how much armor raid bosses have to make a comparison. All in all though it looks promissing.