So best ways to counter a fast 2h is to do it without shield
Makes sense to me. There should be no dominant melee class. They each serve different purposes.
1H + Shield = wall for your teammates to hide behind, easiest survivability in large melees or against throwers/archers, must be opportunist to land blows. Attacks are very targeted and not meant for fending off multiple opponents. That's what the shield is for.
2H = Dominant in small skirmishes. High damage + speed, but attacks are still quite targeted, though less so than 1H.
Polearm = High damage output and keeps enemies at a distance in large melees. Anti-cav. However still vulnerable (unless using a shield which robs their weapon of much speed, damage, and versatility). Thrives on open ground in large fights against multiple opponents where they can make wide swings indiscriminately. Loses this advantage in smaller fights or cluster fucks where they have to be careful about hitting teammates or the enemy does not and can simply block one strike and close the distance.
This is the way I think things should work, anyway. There's also some wiggle room, where for instance some heavy 2H work more like polearms, some polearms are better for duels (Iron Staff?), etc.
I wish there was more emphasis in this game on balancing the equipment itself rather than limiting availability on a mostly linear power scale.
