Choosing MH/OH re: Weapon Ratios

[captnamazing]

Level 33 warrior here. When I was lower level, I was using the slow weapon in Mainhand and fast weapon in Offhand. Since then, I've reversed that because of things my guildmates have told me, as well as stuff I have read on the forums (such as Wurmslayer is best in Offhand). I've noticed my threat being better, but I don't really know why.

Today I scored a cheap WS since the patch changed it to Primary only, and a friend of mine (bard, former paladin in 1999) and I got into an argument, him saying that WS should ONLY be used in MH, and me saying the opposite based on what I've come across researching best warrior weapon combos.

Anyway, I would like to hear WHY I've been told that it's better to have the faster weapon in the MH and slower, better ratio in OH. It seems counterintuitive, considering the mechanics of DW.

[pharmakos]

basically, there's a damage bonus that gets added to each swing for the main hand only. it is the same number each swing, regardless of the delay of the weapon. if your damage bonus is, say, +10, then a weapon with a delay of 20 is going to have a total damage bonus of 300 each minute, whereas a weapon with a delay of 40 is only going to have a total damage bonus of 150 each minute.

someone else will probably be able to explain it better than me, though.

[reppa]

slower weapons have a greater dmg bonus its not a flat rate

[falkun]

Originally Posted by reppa [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

slower weapons have a greater dmg bonus its not a flat rate

For 1H, it IS a flat rate, its only a scaling bonus for 2H weapons.

Therefore, assuming two weapons of equal DPS, put the faster one in your MH for better overall damage.

The rule of thumb is faster weapon in primary, higher DPS in secondary. This will hold true when both weapons are approximately the same DPS. For the full formula, see Game Mechanics for Melee Damage.