Arms Warrior Frequently Asked Questions — Shadowlands Pre-Patch 9.0.1

Yes. Until you reach the execute phase, ensuring you do not starve so much that you are unable to cast Mortal Strike on cooldown will help maintain consistent damage and the Mastery: Deep Wounds debuff. In practice, this is a minor concern and does not take much in the way of micro-management. When using Test of Might however, your filler abilities can be delayed until you are over 60 Rage, in order to pool Rage for more ability use during Colossus Smash.

Mortal Strike is weaker and less efficient damage per rage than Execute, however it is necessary to maintain Deep Wounds. That said, the debuff lasts 12 seconds and is also applied by Colossus Smash and Bladestorm, so Mortal Strike does not need to be used on cooldown.

Due to the number of variables involved, the typical answer is to simulate it for better accuracy. Between gear, set bonuses, trinkets, Azerite traits, and sometimes even talents, there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all, especially with the advent of Azerite Armor creating many more permutations between otherwise similar Arms Warriors.

The only exception to this rule is when a specific fight dictates a certain set of optimal talents and gear pieces that enhance their strength. If you are curious about what kind of setup to go for a specific fight, WarcraftLogs.com's rankings and statistics are a good place to see what others are doing.

We have a guide on how to sim yourself here:

More is better; there are no major breakpoints or limits to worry about, and in most cases, the amount of any one stat is less important than the raw amount of total stats. This is another situation in which simming your available gear will be more accurate than any generic answer.