World of Warcraft Warrior PVP - Murth

Sword vs Mace

This is the question that has been asked over and over again in the warrior forum.

which one should I pick ? Sword or Mace?

For the new warriors who don’t know that Poleaxe is bad, Poleaxe spec is bad because of resilience reducing its effectiveness by 20% and

which proc would you rather get when you spam Hamstring?

an extra attack from Sword spec ?

or a 3 second stun from Mace spec ?

or a Crit of 150 with hamstring with Poleaxe spec ?

So the choice is really only Sword or Mace, on my earlier post I’m now favoring Crit Gems over STR / AP because of the burst potential. Sword has a lot better burst potential aswell than Mace but mace is still more popular because its easier to play with.

I think the popularity of mace is due to one thing. Resto Druids. Mace spec is the best weapon of taking down a Resto Druid, a Mace spec proc on a druid while he’s in caster form is priceless. I play a druid myself and I’ve always found mace spec warriors a lot more intimidating than sword spec because a 3second mace stun can screw a druid over in many ways. (stop cyclone/root , stop druid from pillar kiting in travel form)
While a sword proc will just do more damage.

But since patch 2.4 druid nerf they become less of a problem, chasing a druid is a lot easier since they loss their 15% speed bonus from PVP set.

Sword Pros

1. Better burst, great for switching target, killing pets.

2. More damage than Mace spec and more rage.

3. Better synergy with Shaman’s Windfury Totem (slightly more chance to proc windfury)

4. The extra damage scale with gear, ( sword spec will continue to get better while mace spec stays static)

Mace Pros

1. Good for killing Druids. ( chasing a Druid around a pillar is much easier with mace spec, a mace proc allows  you to catch up)

2. Better for killing healers (extra interrupt from mace spec can be crucial to taking down a paladin or resto shaman)

3. Better for chasing any target (mace stun will stop the target in its track allowing you and your team mate to catch up)

4. Better for ‘Peeling’ melee target off your team mate (a mace stun is just what you needed for your healer to walk away just out of melee range allowing slowing effects to wear off)

So in summary I’m not saying which is better but because druid teams are less of a problem in 2.4 I will play with Sword spec a lot more because my gear is at optimum level (Full S3 armor and weapons). I think Sword can benefit more with a skilled player because all the advantages of Mace spec can be compensated with the player skill of good timing and judgement.

To choose which is best also depends on your group make up,

eg play 2vs2 with a shaman (which is the new druid for 2s) I really enjoyed the play style of playing with a resto shaman, lots of burst and target switching, I really think sword is better with this setup

but I play 3s with Ret Pally , Resto Shaman, Warrior which in this situation I think Mace spec is better. as Warrior main job is to lock down main targer with stun,hamstring, and MS a so pally can remain close to DPS. Mace spec stun is also good synergy with Ret Pally as they gain more damage on stunned target.

and in 5s I play 3 melee 2 healer group with Rogue, I think Sword spec benefit more in this setup because we can switch target and kill anyone is a few second. During this time rogue probably applied a kidney shot and paladin hammer straight after. Mace spec proc will usually get wasted because a proc during a Kidney shot/Hoj stun still counts towards dimishing return.

well I got lots of gold and both weapons so I respec a lot depending which group I run with.

but if you’re just starting out I’d recommend you craft yourself a Stormherald because its easier to get started with, and save up for sword once you have most of your season 3 pvp gear

next post progress report with 2h Fury spec