Imo,
2h eez mode, but so is Pole.
1h is effective, but was fucking depressing to play due to amount of teamhits and tincans (seriously, I glanced 80% of the time on loomed cans with 7 PS and 130 wpf, what is this shit).
As for stagger, it should be reduced by about 50%, not removed. Just so you can't get free hits in, but is still effective for battle.