Without the wpf, I lose a point in powerstrike and a good amount of swing speed. I got outswung a ton with 131 wpf, and on my stf with 172, the difference is night and day. It allows the slower blunt weapons to swing nearly as fast as the cut weapons, with much better earlier hits.
My 15/24 stf is working out so well, I decided I will do 18/27 over 21/24. With 66 body armor and 54 hp, I was tanking more hits (and avoiding even more) than my 76 hp main in 56 body armor.
Let's say each point in athletics + 3 agi allows you to maintain the same speed with 7.5 more weight.
Let's also say a competitive speed to be fast is 7ath with 15 total weight. 9ath will let me wear 15 more weight of armor, especially since a lot of that original 15 weight consisted of weapons/boots/helmets/gloves that won't change the weight that much. That's the difference between tunic over mail and the heaviest of plate. Not to mention the acceleration stays great, and PS past 6 isn't affected by blunt weapons too much.
The massive amount of wpf will keep my damage high. 5 shield is better than 5 IF, so 2h variants may be worse since they just get shot up. 18 strength is also the minimum for all the heaviest armor and gear outside of the great maul.
Strength: 18
Agility: 27
Hit points: 53
Skills to attributes: 8
Power Strike: 6
Shield: 5
Athletics: 9
Weapon Master: 9
One Handed: 185
With a blunt weapon and a sword, consistent damage will be made. It can easily catch archers while running in plate, and deal good amounts of damage with blunt. If there is a knockdown, a held attack+speed bonus can deal multiples of damage of a normal swing. Held attacks are easier to land in general with higher ath. Good armor + speed bonus manipulation helps mitigate damage. Hoplite weapons can be used with 1wpf if sorely needed against cav. Weaknesses are getting hit by blunt weapons or getting knocked down. I learned that I don't need exorbitant amounts of speed, just competitive levels of 6-7ath medium armor is more than fast enough.
185 wpf? Utter insanity, I must do this. Moving faster than infantry with gothic plate with bevor? Priceless.