As someone who generally hates Colossus Smash, and who thinks it's a large part of why players don't play Fury anymore, it's good to see the likes of Hazzikostas consider making the attack a talent. In essence, it should work just as it does now (20 second cooldown, 6 second 100% ArP debuff) and this would also mean that the new glyph (duration 20 seconds, 40% ArP) would continue to work as currently planned.
Pretty simple.
For me, I think this is the most elegant solution to an attack that was something of a busted flush to begin with. We shouldn't pretend Colossus Smash doesn't have a chequered history because, frankly, we know it does. It was introduced in Cataclysm, giving warriors an ArP mechanic in the expansion after ArP was removed as a troublesome statistic, and Blizzard have essentially failed to balance it properly ever since; particularly in PvP.
So, if we make Colossus Smash a talent, we have two large considerations to take under review:
1) Fury and Arms would have a rotational gap to fill.
2) Protection could conceivably pick up Colossus Smash.
Starting with the first consideration, it's true that Fury and Arms would need something with which to fill the gap that's been left behind. Luckily, we can look back at warriors pre-CS to find the simplest answers. Fury could see Whirlwind replace Colossus Smash, with its rage cost and damage re-tuned in order to make it work while Arms could see Sudden Death proc Execute rather than Colossus Smash, effectively being a direct replacement in the rotation.
So far, so good.
The second issue is potentially more complicated but, actually, it needn't be. If Colossus Smash was taken as a talent for tanks, what would be the net result? Well, not a lot. The Protection rotation is hardly overbearing as it is, and Colossus Smash could potentially provide an additional damage boost that wouldn't necessarily be difficult to tune.
However, the biggest issue with Protection (and something that I think is actually positive) is the implications of Gladiator Stance. Gladiators will effectively lose Revenge in their rotation, to an extent, which would mean another rotational attack would make sense and could provide some interesting gameplay.
To this point, what we've effectively done (crudely, but we've done it) is remove Colossus Smash for those that dislike it, ensured it's still available for those that do, and kept the glyph for those who sort of like it but find the six-second window on the undesirable side.
A wider issue, and arguably a secondary one, is what tier Colossus Smash should go onto. It's difficult to find an appropriate tier, because we're talking about a rotational attack which is something that doesn't necessarily fit in any of the current tiers. To me, that implies a need for an entirely new tier in order to make the choice compelling. In order to free up a tier, here's the route I'd take:
Tier 1 (15): Juggernaut, Double-Time, Warbringer
Tier 2 (30): Enraged Regeneration, Second Wind, Impending Victory
Tier 3 (45): Storm Bolt, Shockwave, Dragon Roar
Tier 4 (60): Mass Spell Reflection, Safeguard, Vigilance
Tier 5 (75): Avatar, Bladestorm, Ignite Weapon/Gladiator's Resolve
In short, I've removed the tier including Staggering Shout, Piercing Howl and Disrupting Shout and replaced Bloodbath with Ignite Weapon/Gladiator's Resolve. This is because I'd prefer to see Piercing Howl as baseline, and warriors don't need either Staggering or Disrupting Shout at all with Pummel and Intimidating Shout as baseline. I've replaced Bloodbath because Ignite Weapon is a DPS increase, similar to Avatar and Bladestorm, while Gladiator's Resolve should arguably come in before level 100 to give players a chance to learn it before end game.
That leaves our tier 6 talents, at level 100, for an entirely new tier that includes the following:
Colossus Smash: Smashes a target for 175% weapon damage plus 2218 and weakens their defenses, allowing your attacks to bypass 100% of their armor for 6 sec, and causes the Physical Vulnerability effect on the target.
Rend: Wounds the target causing them to bleed for X damage plus an additional Y, based on weapon damage, over 18 sec. Ignores armor.
Now, these are two rotational attacks for those that like them - Colossus Smash can work two ways thanks to the glyph, and Rend making a comeback would make a lot of players happy because I, and a lot of people I know, really liked it. Hell, glyphs could be used to make it even more interesting. However, it's worth noting that we've already replaced the rotational talents with Whirlwind and Execute respectively; as a result, the third talent on this tier should be something passive so that those who don't want another attack don't need one. I offer this:
Lambs to the Slaughter: Your Mortal Strike, Bloodthirst and Shield Slam cause the Slaughter effect, which increases the damage of your Overpower, Wild Strike and Revenge by 25%. Stacks twice. Lasts 18 sec.
So, now we have the passive DPS increase for those that don't want another rotational attack, while retaining Colossus Smash gameplay for the players that like it, bringing back Rend for those who miss it, and providing a bit more depth to the potential of Gladiator's Resolve.
Clearly, my tuning numbers would need fixed but I think this is a pretty good solution to what I've already mentioned, while also sexing up a talent tree that, frankly, isn't very interesting.
What do you guys think?