I went 15/21 shielder/thrower with 100 1h wpf a couple of gens ago, and didnt like pierce, prefered the cleaver for the extra reach and archer hunting power. This is personal, though, I suggest you try them for a while and decide by yourself.
For the picks, i prefer over the military, as I feel lost with less than 70 reach. Other than that, again, personal taste: extra speed and damage, or the reach...
also, Im a fan of blunt over pierce due to knockdown, it doesnt always come, but if it comes (aim for the head), its a respite and youll feel grateful to it.
But again, if you look at kinngrimm, or many others, do very well with the steel pick
The thing with 1hers, which has always given me a big headache, is that they are pretty well balanced imo. You can get the standard sword: around 100 reach, 97/98 speed and decent damage, trade a stab for speed (scimi), or go for shorter more cutting weapons (axes, cleaver) or even shorter piercing or blunt damage, or even get the length and the blunt, but slow speed (military hammer, pretty good imo, but needs more wpf), but overall i dont think there is a "best" weapon, just a matter of preference. Also, the stab is powerful, but hard to use, so watch out if you use because it might well be the last thing you do.