Blazefury vs Mallet of the Tides.

[Atlantian]

I am currently tanking with [item]Blazeguard[/item] and i'm looking at the next logical upgrade. I findmyself with a bit of a delemia.

[item]Blazefury[/item] or [item]Mallet of the Tides[/item]

So, faced with these two, i'm not convinced there is a significant difference. My gut says that the Blazefury would produce more threat but then looking at the weapon rating on the Mallet I find myself questioning that. I know that clearly the Mallet has more stats but i'm more concerned with threat output than the small defense and stamina change. Any thoughts? Is there another weapon that I have missed that would superior in the same item range?

[Narshe]

You have more +hit with Blazefury than Mallet. The only difference between +hit and wpn skill is that you gain some parry and dodge reduction.
I would choose Blazefury: More damage and stats.

[Atlantian]

now. weapon skill can counter some dodge and parry. but, is that only for the weapon itself? for overall threat pure hit is better since i'm more concerned about my shield slam missing than i am about a autoattack or HS being parried.

[Narshe]

Shield Slam can also be parried or dodged, isnt it?

[Atlantian]

yes, but i doubt weapon skill would assit your shield slam not being dodge or parried since it isnt "shield skill"

[Wartorn]

Get the crafted BP, so you don't have to worry about +hit.

[Nunes]

yes, but i doubt weapon skill would assit your shield slam not being dodge or parried since it isnt "shield skill"

Shield Slam + Shield Bash work off your main hand weapon skill.

[Arrivan]

One other thing to consider is the parry mechanic, that is, if an attack is parried, the unit that parried attacks immediately after parrying. This has been discussed and parsed in depth on the Elitist Jerks forums. The weapon skill in the Mallet would reduce the chance that your attacks will be parried, hence reducing the chance of getting splattered. But really, the difference between using the Mallet and Blazefury would be quite small, so I wouldn't use this as a definitive decision making criteria. However, it's something to consider.

[MasterWolf]

If you can get the neccesary +hit without the Sword, go for the Mallet.

If the Mallet drops and you haven't made BF yet, stick to the Mallet and get the T3 Chest Smith piece.

[Kazeyonoma]

If you're human the mallet wins, if you're not, I'd stick with blazefury.

[veneretio]

Remember Mallet is getting buffed in the next patch.

[Oda]

The buff to the Mallet has led me to stop collecting Blazefury mats and switch to gathering Breastplate mats.

The Mallet's now within 1 DPS of Blazefury, causes fewer parries, and allows me a bit more leeway with gear in terms of the crit-cap, and I'm human.

Blazefury is slightly better, IMO (especially for looks), but I'd take the Mallet + the T3 Chestpiece over Blazefury and T5 chest or, say, Panzar'Thar.

[Crimsonstorm]

If you have no other sources of weapon skill, the mallet is 1.2% hit and probably around .6% dodge reduction. Thats worth like 10 more hit rating than Blazefury has. It has more stam, it has defense instead of agi.

Overall its incredibly close (after the mallet buff). Almost identical.