Those war spear sideswings used by an agility player render 1, maybe 2 frames before they connect. It won't hurt much, but it usually won't glance.
Useable with shield+useable on horseback+rears horses+good stab damage+fast sideswings that don't glance=versatile weapon that's good in most situations.
Sure, dueling against a Longsword user you'll be at a disadvantage, but everyone is at a disadvantage dueling a Longsword user, so join the party. Of course the devs saw this and decided the solution was to buff the Longsword, so good luck getting them to improve spears or anything else.