Little bit new to 1H, coming from 2H/Archer

[Kazimiri]

Coming back and having all my purdy heirloom points, I immediately went back into my archer roots and loomed up a Rus Bow to MW.

Really still not feeling archer specially with the new Slot system, I felt very gimped and decided to move back into melee, having already done fair bit of 2H for a couple of my generations, I figure its time to try my hand at 1H.

Now I did a direct trade for my Rus for a Deadly Steel Pick which I will say I am liking alot right now, but I'm not convinced I still do like the Warhammer, and some of the Swords.

Just really not sure what I should go for, I imagine I can trade straight across Pick -> various 1H's.

Currently looking mostly at Warhammer but just not sure.
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Oh and for the Warhammer/Pick build should I be going, 18/18 or 15/21?  I didn't consider 21/15 due to not enough agi to close the distance.

[Vibe]

I'd say go pick, because it's fast as shit and incredibly hard to block.

As for build, both 18/18 and 15/21 will do, but I guess I would go 18/18 for 6 power strike, I think with 6 ath you're fast enough anyway, atleast for tincans/STR stackers.

[v/onMega]

Easy as that:

Dont go lower then 15 agi.
5 athl, wm and shield.

Enough in battle when you got:
Really good awareness, timing and in worst case, manual blocking skill.

21 agi means u can overcome bad positioning on the field due to better acceleration and running.
Your shield will last longer due to more shieldskill.

That much for the agi u can get with standard builds.

Now str...the up or downside of your build...
15 str: hit and die like a sissy.
21 str: hit like a man and take a lot of hits.

(assuming a str oriented build can stack more IF, 7 to be precise)

I am exaggerating a little on the str part...

There is shielders playing with high agi...and thats only effective with picks or hammers.

Feel free to try it!

I went for a 21/15 last gen...and it felt good for my playstyle / abilities.
~ 3.4 / 1  k/d ratio, survivability and a good punch, sporting a mw knightly arming sword.

[Elmokki]

I personally play 24/15, which is same as 21/15 apart from 0 ironflesh and 1 more power strike. I'm using a tempered espada eslavona and keep stabbing people as much as I can. 31p and 8 ps do hurt and 1h stabs have a fairly decent animation in terms of reach. Except for the longest weapons, when I see a polearm or 2h overhead I just run towards them and stab them in the face with very low risk and fairly high chance of success. That said, occasionally slashes are a good idea (especially after you've stabbed people a few times and people automatically block downwards when fighting against you) so I wouldn't go for less than 21 str for espada build.

For next gen I'm tempted to try 18/18, but I adore the espada and I don't know if I'd have to try to trade it for a steel pick or a warhammer - both rather good weapons though - to be effective.

[Kazimiri]

I'm sticking with Pick for now then I love the head hits with it, very easy to get great head hits in, the knockdown from warhammer is pretty rare.

I think I'll get 18/18 to get best of both worlds.

Also to help shields so I can shield without using a husc better like a heavy kite or something to reduce cost.

[Penitent]

I'm sticking with Pick for now then I love the head hits with it, very easy to get great head hits in, the knockdown from warhammer is pretty rare.

I think I'll get 18/18 to get best of both worlds.

Also to help shields so I can shield without using a husc better like a heavy kite or something to reduce cost.

The steel pick is the best weapon in the game.*
It does more damage than the warhammer and is significantly faster.  The knockdown is too rare to compensate.  In fact, all the blunt 1h weapons are obsolete when compared to the steel pick and military pick.  They do more damage and are much faster.
All the 1h weapons have pros and cons.  The steel pick has the most pros (damage ++++++, speed ++++) and the least cons (length ---). (Like my measurement system?)

5 athletics is enough to kick ass with the steel pick.  More is better.  You could get by with 6 PS too if you are using that weapon.  Again, more is better.

*a prerequisite for being considered the best weapon in the game is that is must be able to be used with a shield.