Sword v maul

Syiccal · October 2016

So which does more dmg in pvp
2h sword or 2h maul sharpened trait.
I currently use a gold sword but have a purple maul in bank of same set is it worth making gold or stick with sword

DannyLV702 · October 2016

A sword is most effective against sorcs, shield stackers, light armor users. A maul is better against heavy armor users or also if you don't have major breach or sharpened. Remember that if you have major breach plus sharpened, the 20% penetration from your maul is less useful because it takes into consideration the remainder of their resistances. The current meta is heavy armor for everyone other than magic sorcs it seems so you can't go wrong with a maul. If you struggle with shields though, I recommend a sword.

Sunburnt_Penguin · October 2016

I did some very rough calcs on this a while back and I found that a sharpened maul does more damage than a sharpened sword against anyone with >14k resistance without major fracture already applied and >19k with it applied.

Alucardo · October 2016

I like the maul, but only because it has a more satisfying sound when you hit people with it. The sword sounds really tinny. For One Tamriel I definitely prefer blunt weapons for the extra armor penetration. Hell, even magicka characters are wearing heavy armor this patch (not that I blame them).
On my stam sorc I also don't have major fracture, so the extra pen comes in really handy. If you use your 2h mainly as a buff bar with heals, a sword would be better, because the extra damage = extra healing.
Basically, if you're lacking physical penetration, go for the maul. If you already have that in spades, then use the sword for more damage.

Syiccal · October 2016

Yea I use surprise attack plus sharpened sword and have some points into penetration so I think I might be covered just making sure I was doing right thing really.

out51d3r · October 2016

Light armor users will have 10 or 11k defense. Medium 11 or 12k. Heavy armor has alot(unless you stack penetration very extremely high, you won't overpenetrate heavy). Major Ward adds 5k to any of these.

10-12k penetration is basically the pvp sweet spot, in my opinion. It's easy to achieve(sharpened+fracture+a few cp), and will never go to waste. In the current meta it's reasonable to go even deeper on penetration, but not really required.

LegendaryMage · October 2016

If I remember right, 20% from a 2h maul comes in first, and benefits you more or less, depending on your target's starting resistances. Even the % add-on I use displays the 20% pen value in front of everything else.

cschwingeb14_ESO · November 2016

From Asayre's calcs, 20% pen happens before any flat penetration, but after armor debuffs. So if you're running major breach and/or night mothers, you have to adjust your calculations accordingly.

In general, I don't find people in PvP with less than 18k armor (light with heavy chest/legs and major armor buff), unless they are shield stacking.

And that turns it into a shield breaker kind of discussion. Sword if you hate shield stackers, maul for everyone else.

raasdal · November 2016

It all depends.

Do you want 10% damage increase against some players, but 0% against others? (Maul)

Or do you want 5% against everyone ? (Sword)

I always choose Sword, because you will be surprised how much damage is actually absorbed by shields. ALL magicka classes run Shields. Not just Mag Sorcs. And even Stamina are using shields, like DK's forexample. On top of that, you have Barrier and all sorts of other random sources of damage shields.

For PvP i would personally never choose a solution that would gimp me against shields, to give me advantage on non-shields, unless the advantage was MUCH more that the disadvantage (like gaining 30% damage boost against shields, in exchange for loosing 5% on nonshielded).

Soris · November 2016

Alucardo wrote: »

I like the maul, but only because it has a more satisfying sound when you hit people with it.

This.
Also this --> HAMMER TIME

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otCpCn0l4Wo

Strider_Roshin · November 2016

Depends. The maul does less than 1% more damage against opponents wearing all heavy in my case, but I also cause major fracture, and I have 85 points into piercing. If you don't use use a move that causes major fracture, use a maul. If you don't want to invest CP into piercing, use a maul. If you have a similar set up as myself, use a greatsword.

Hexys · November 2016

I don't think there really is a 'best option', they are just a bit situational.

Sword: More damage overall, also on your proc sets and bigger heals.
Maul: More damage overall VS tanks but not against shields, least likely option to use.
Axe: The bleed damage is actually alot, if you have some more DoT's running and you proc this, that alot of pressure!