Originally Posted by
Erica
With Trauma I think it looks a lot like you'd WWing against two targets as well. I might have overlooked something, but:
Assume 25% crit, 50% damage bonus on CS.
WW does 240% damage. Trauma increases it by 20%, trait by 15%, WotfK refunds 2 rage for each target you crit. That means WW does 240%*(1+20%)*(1+15%) = 331.2%, 414% with crits. Average rage cost of 25 - 2*25%*(number of targets). That gives you 16.9%/rage for one target, 34.5%/rage for two, 52.9%/rage for three.
Execute does 700%, gets +15% crit from trait. That means an average damage with crits of 700%*(1+40%) = 980% at a cost of 40 rage meaning 24.5%/rage which is much worse than WW against two targets.
If you add a 50% CS debuff on the main target WW increases to 25.3%/rage for one, 43.1% for two, 61.7% for three, while Execute only increases to 36.8%. However, the first Execute after CS gets buffed by Precise Strikes and Shattered Defenses which makes it much more worthwhile at 70.3%/rage.
So as far as I can tell the rule is basically: If you're fighting 2-3 targets, use one Execute after CS, then just spam WW instead of Execute. Against 4+ targets, skip the Shattered Defenses Execute as well.
Some talents affect this.
Sweeping Strikes doubles the value of Execute (assuming it's working properly now) and it'll be worth using against two targets without CS and three with CS up, and against up to seven targets with Shattered Defenses+Precise Strikes up.
With Fervor for Battle it's not worth using a Shattered Defenses Execute against three targets.
Opportunity Strikes increases the value of WW but I can't be bothered to do the numbers on it.
Also, it's important to remember that this is just raw damage/rage and the real world is often a lot more subtle. Execute is obviously better at killing priority targets which might be more helpful than adding AOE damage. Execute also spends rage faster which means higher burst DPS and the ability to spend your rage faster which might end up being more efficient than having CS/some other burst window expire with leftover rage.
Please correct me if I missed something or made a mistake.