or suppress a shielder without giving him the chance to get an attack in.
Be warned that this isn't possible against a decent shielder. He will always have time to counter-attack, no matter how high your WPF and weapon speed are.
That being said, having high ath will let you dance out of range of 1h swings. You can then quickly move back in to strike while your opponent's weapon is still moving. This is especially good against short weapons such as the pick and warhammer.
Edit:
You might want a point or two in shield. You are going to find yourself in situations where the enemy team has a lot of ranged. A cheap, light shield can make a huge difference when closing the gap against archers.
