I suggest GS + axe/warhorn to start out with. You’ll do most damage autoattacking with axe.
When you get to the point where you can use master level traits then swap to GS + sword/warhorn and use GS whenever in combat.
As for traits you may as well go for signet mastery first (discipline VI) but once you’re able to use master level traits you’ll want forceful greatsword (arms X) as soon as possible, which is why I suggested you switch setups in the above paragraph.
Try to pick weapons that have power as their primary attribute and once you get to the point where they have two attributes, you’ll want power primary and precision secondary stats.
Put minor sigils of air and minor sigils of fire on your weapons if you really want to top it off but since you’ll frequently be able to upgrade gear it doesn’t matter that much.
just put every damage trait you can get + warrior sprint
GS/Sw-Wh is what you need for top mobility also good damage, you can change to Axe-Mace once you need more damage
Mace offhand isn’t really worth it for open world trash because they all die fast anyways. Vuln stacking isn’t as important when you’re alone as it is when you’re in groups.
When leveling up, the most important thing you can do for yourself is maximize swiftness uptime and general mobility.
Yeah for leveling up there’s not really much of a point in using other offhands the vast majority of the time.
You won’t have enough swiftness uptime with just your signet elite and warhorn + signet of rage using the signet mastery trait is a lot better than just leaving the flat 25% movement speed increase from warrior’s sprint is.
made my level so much easy from 1-30