I've always been fond of s'n'b warriors and it was naturally my first choice of character when I bought the game. I ruined my experience by power levelling smithing and enchanting, I think it was the WoW min-maxer inside me. I ended up stopping and trying out a few different characters but now I've gone back to my first love. With the addition of a little roleplaying I'm really enjoying my Orc Warrior, I'm still doing smithing but only with self found ores and I'm steering clear of enchanting, makes finding upgrades more enjoyable.

I've always liked Axe's for Orcs, just feels right that they should be wielding them. I've researched the weapon perks and the general feeling is that none of them are stand out winners and possibly not even worth the points with a lot more attractive perks in other trees. I plan to not put points into a weapon perk until late game, after I've got everything else I want.

My question is about the natural swing speeds of the 1-handed weapons. I've been swapping between the 3, but mainly using an Axe. I haven't been using the swing speed shout, just the natural speed. I've found a pretty good rythm with my Axe, a power attack staggering the enemy followed by two normal hits and then another power attack, it feels like it works out perfectly with the 2nd power attack landing just at the right time, staggering the enemy again. I haven't had a lot of time to test out all the different weapons because of work, but was wondering if there was any similar rythms with the other weapons, or benefits of the little faster Sword or the little slower Mace. I feel like the combo of Power Attack-Normal-Normal-Power Attack with a sword might be too fast and the 2nd power attack might not stagger, and then with the mace it might be a little slow, allowing the enemy to counter after the 2nd normal hit before the 2nd power attack lands.

So just wondering what other people think in regards to swing speed, staggers and good timing. From my limited experience Axes feel pretty good but not sure if there is a better option for me. I'd imagine a Sword would be handy to get a quick hit in after a block, possibly allowing 2 hits in times where you'd only get 1 with the other weapons.