I think Tydeus(?) made a big mistake with buffing many 110-120 reach 2h to ridiculous speeds. Especially when compared to 1h. Whenever I play swashbuckler I feel outclassed on all fronts now, not even the sweet 1h animations can prevent the playstyle from feeling pointless compared to 2h. A 96 speed Miaodao and a 97 speed Nordic Champion Sword, hahwat? Other weapons that I find have ridiculously good speed/length/damage ratios in the 2h category are the Greatsword, Sword of War, Flambard, Dadao. I thought he did a 1 speed buff accross the board, but he might have done more to 2h.
I don't think 1h should be compared to other weapons, they are not made for duel. They are like hoplite build, of course it's hard to duel with them but when it comes to ganking, they are just perfect. Or even in big messy melee, when 2h and polearm are blocked by someone too close (or usually a friendly shielder hiding behind your ass), the 1h is good.
About the comparison polearme-2h , I think they are just the same. The longsword might be a little too fast tho (but it's also possible that we have difficulties to block them because of the 1h-2h animation that it shares with the bastard sword) . Concerning the miadao and dadao, the animation is so easy to read, that it's not very difficult to counter them (they are part of the tiny group of weapon that i'm able to chamber
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