Superior melee rune in PvE?

Wondering if survivablitiy against clusters of 4-6 melee MOBs is greater with superior axe (16 skill) or without sacrificing any HPs for skill points? Is going above 12 skill (modified) really worthwhile? Running a war/ele and suspect I might achive greater benefit from augmenting the skill conjure is dependant upon rather than throwing large amounts of atribute into an unmodified 12 in axe.

Thoughts?

I read somewhere in these forums that going above 12 in anything isn't worth it as you only get 1% more effectiveness after 12.

I go along the thought of a good defense is a good offense. The mobs can't kill you if they are dead. And with a superior vigor and superior absorption, and a minor in tactics and strength, you can use some skills in the tactics line to give you a better chance at survivability, and strength for some more armor penetration. There is a very good axe build in the forums.

I'd thought so too. But I recently read Ensign's thread on evicerate vs. cleave and noted "Since every Axe Warrior worth talking about has a 16 in Axe Mastery we'll use that as our basis, with a 10 in Strength as that's a pretty typical value for that attribute." But I wasn't sure if he was refering strictly to a PvP environment. Though he does state: "Not counting the skills, you're looking at an aggregate 18.86% damage boost from going to level 16 over level 12." Wonder how that compares to the 1 point per level of conjure magic?

Personally strength just gets my scraps. The bulk of my attribute points are in axe, with the remainder distributed between earth and air (for conjure, tho I haven't decided if air or water is better here...glimmering mark is nice, but water has extra armor spells).

Edit: I really should finish reading the relevant thread before opening my mouth...that's what I get for starting a post at 4am.