Execute, itself, at lower %AP per Rage than Slam... why?

Half holding out hope that the tooltip and dummy output values I’m seeing are from some unique bug, but if not…

Why is a Colossus Arms’ 20-Rage Execute now doing (in itself) only 78% the (direct) damage of a (similarly 20-Rage) Slam?

Yes, I get that Execute triggers Executioner’s Precision, amounting to an extra 80% of a Slam each time, brings its total up to 236% Slam damage for 40 [36] Rage (or, brings Execute 130% [36] to 162% [18] the efficiency of Slam), but…

…why the hell is the bonus it applies towards a different skill doing as much as the slight majority of Rage’s worth of a skill’s direct damage… on an ‘execute’ skill actually named “Execute”, of all things?

Shouldn’t the “Execute”, you know, be what actually kills things in itself, at least as much as the least kill-y filler available to the class, rather than somehow even less?

While Execute has always been the crit-health filler rather than the capitalizing skill itself, it’s gone so far in that direction that it seems more Festering Strike than anything approaching a killing blow. Without Executioner’s Precision (not saying that anyone would ever skip that talent, but thematically this is still important), is Execute even worth using without overflowing Rage? By itself, it’s only 86% as Rage-efficient as Slam…

For a long time now I’d have preferred that MS buff Execute without relying on the awkwardness of Fatality rather than the inverse via Executioner’s Precision, but it’s largely been whatever. But now? This just feels so thematically backward. Execute seems now to be a DoA-until-talented Mortal Sunder.

If Execute is to have so little Rage efficiency in itself (again, not relevant in terms of total output, but still very relevant thematically), you’d think Rage would be increased and Execute at least given double-duty as a consistently available overflow option for whenever we want it regardless of enemy HP with EP applying only on Sudden Death and under 35|20% enemy health. (In which case, drop the Rage refunding except from %overkill and just increase its damage dealt by 11% to maintain the same efficiency.)

/rant

Inb4:
Yes, taking the obligatory EP means one also takes SB for an extra, in effect ~5.5% Execute damage via the added crit chance and bonus. That’s still not enough to bring Execute to more than 92% the Rage efficiency of Slam in itself, though. Which, again, just feels pretty… off… to me.

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Were you in warmode when looking at all this ingame?

I ask since Slam’s value is dramatically increased in PvP to where it is superior to Execute in almost every single facet. So there’s a chance that you could be comparing them incorrectly unintentionally.

Although looking at some logs for colossus wars comparing damage per cast execute is higher than slam but looking at the min/max hits they have very similar hits for their minimum crits which is also an interesting observation at the fallout of their recent 15% execute nerf and just goes to show the incompetence at the dev team’s balance decisions not considering other hero talents when nerfing the better performing option through base ability damage as opposed to nerfing through hero talent mods like they should.

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Nope, haven’t turned WM on that toon since BfA and Details testing was just on the PvE Target Dummies.

Tooltip for Execute reads 532k. Tooltip for Slam reads 343k. Their actual numbers spamming solely 40-Rage Executes vs. Slams with Sharpened Blades and no Ashen Juggernaut or Cruel Strikes follows an almost identical ratio (40R Executes average hit about 55-60% stronger than Slams testing 50 of each under identical circumstances). Given that Slam costs 20 and Execute 40 36, though, that puts Slam as the more Rage efficient in itself (Execute at ~15650 DPR vs. ~17150 DPR for Slam).

Then yeah that checks out on the log comparison on min crit hits between execute/slam being almost identical now since those would be 20 rage crits.

Even min crits are favoring Slam over Execute for me, by a significant margin (a 20-Rage Execute doing under 80% a Slam), though admittedly hitting exactly a 20 each time is a bit harder and has given me fewer sample points. Dividing by Rage spent via script, though, Execute as a whole is still under 90% of Slam’s damage-per-Rage efficiency even with Sharpened Blades.

/sigh

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This is another sign of how out of touch blizz is with the spec/class and how desperate we need a rework

Slam cracking up more damage than our EXECUTE, does blizz even know what those skills names should imply in the gameplay? cause it looks like they are only looking at spreadsheets and damage related to procs and modifiers

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