I wonder if an identical test with a 2-handed weapon would be comperable or not to polearm, thus clarifying if animation in fact changes weapon speed.
so, in one round i have the direct change from
0 wpf 0 pstrike 21 agi
then
0 wpf 0 pstrike 3 agi
and know what? its damn slow and yes its freakin fast with 21 agi.
(no shield involved)
I preformed my time per attack test with a practice longsword (two handed and speed 94) and a nordic short sword (one handed and speed 103.)
With the practice longsword, 1 two handed proficiency, and 3 agility: 1.16 seconds per thrust, slash, or overhand
With the practice longsword, 1 two handed proficiency, and 15 agility: 1.15 seconds per thrust, slash, or overhand
With the nordic short sword, 1 one handed proficiency, and 3 agility: 1.07 seconds per thrust, slash, or overhand
With the nordic short sword, 1 one handed proficiency, and 15 agility: 1.07 seconds per thrust, slash, or overhand
A difference of 12 agility had no significant impact on the time per attack for a weapon. The difference in time per attack was less than 1% and was within the error limit of this testing method. The time per attack for a 94 speed two handed weapon was the same as for a 94 speed polearm (used with both hands) when both are used with 1 weapon proficiency. Holding a shield does not change the time per attack for a one handed weapon.
There's a problem though: you can't get WPF without agility.
True, weapon master currently yeilds ~8 proficiency points per rank for a level 30 character who is placing all of their WPF in a single proficiency. Spending 3 attribute points in agility and 1 skill point for weapon master reduces your time per attack by ~7 milliseconds if you are only training a single proficiency.