In comparison, yes both 1h/shield and 2h are good, but in all honesty the shield user has to make less mistakes then the 2h fighter in order win a fight mainly because of many 2h fighters going pure strength now.
For example it will take me 4-5 swings to kill a pure strength build 2h fighter when I die in 1-2 swings. Compound that with superiour range, speed, and weapon stun after a parry it is indeed quite difficult to be a shield user (not including huscarl shield).
On the flip side people say that the shield is a huge advantage and it is when it comes to survivability at range, but there is a speed rating on the shield and a penalty to the speed of your weapon when you use a shield. Essentially manual blocking is faster, doesn't break, and stuns lighter 1h weapons. On the flip side shield blocks in all directions from the front. Also shields are not forever, they do indeed break fairly easily (I use the elite cavalry shield on foot) with the exception of the high tier shields.
Honestly what I find is that if a 2h enemy blocks my attack, I need to immediately block their next swing, if I block their attack, often their swing speed is so fast I can't even swing back in time before being hit by their next attack. hence the "spam" that many shield users face, and why I use a fast shield.
I don't really care anymore about the speed debate because 2h and polearms are faster then 1h WITH a shield, however the time it takes to attack again after striking a shield is not modified and if anything is shorter than a complete swing. The only thing I would like to see is that perhaps when you strike a shield you need to wait till the time of a completed attack before being able to swing again.
This would make it basically come down to block/swing for both parties. Then the 2h player has the speed and range advantage to step out of combat and re-enter it with an attack instead of just left attack over and over again with a faster weapon.
Some other things I noticed are:
Backpedaling and stab for 2h and polearm is over powered and should work the same as a 1h. It has been quoted by other players that the most difficult attack to do successfully is a 1h stab because it requires the fighter to be moving forward in order to successfully use the attack. The 2h stabs on the other hand can be done moving in any direction.
Next is that 2h and polearm weapons can go through physical obstacles that 1h weapons normally get caught on, like fighting in a tight space and the 1h players weapon hits the wall next to them, and the 2h poleaxe fighters weapon just goes through the wall and hits the other person. Also this includes the weapons ghosting through team mates that would normally result in a TK.
From my observations I have found that 2h and polearm is much less restricted by the physics in this game in comparison to 1h weapons which litterally get caught on everything.
+2 cents
