Post by skribs
2H weapons have less DPS overall than DW, but you don't normally melee - if anything it's a joust (and a big 2H will get you a bigger joust). But Jousting is mainly for PvP, dont even consider this if you PvE.
The real important thing is stats - you want the most stats. DW usually offers better enchants (if you double them), whereas 2H have more stats (1H has a stat modifier of 0.42 - doubled its 0.84, while 2H is 1.00).
Look at
the comparison of
a 1H PvP weapon vs.
a similar-level 2H PvP weapon. If you double the 1H values, you end up with this advantage for the 2H: 19 Stam, 9 Res, 16 AP, 8 Crit
Total of 37.67 stat difference at ilvl 200, which increases as items get farther apart.
Now look at enchants. For a 2H, the best stat value is
Massacre, which gives an additional 55 stat value. For a 1H, the best is
Accuracy, which gives an additional 50 stat value each (100 doubled). That's a difference of 45 stats, making the 1H slightly better using ilvl 200 weapons. However, it requires more money to get the extra enchant, and the end result is a difference of roughly 8 stat points (e.g. half a rare gem).
If you then look at
the comparison of
a higher-level 1H PvP weapon vs.
a similar-level 2H PvP weapon, and again double the 1H values, you get this advantage for the 2H: 28 Stam, 12 Res, 36 AP, 12 Crit.
Total of 50.67 stat difference at ilvl 2H, giving 2H a total of 5.67 value once enchants are factored in. In comparison, that's roughly 1/3 of a rare gem.
You can expect similar results with PvE gear, it will be the same amount of stats on the weapons - just different stats they're arranged under.
So...DW is better if you're undergeared and willing to enchant, 2H is better if you're highly geared or if you're overgeared or skimping on the enchants. It should also be noted that neither really matters if one choice is a much higher ilvl over the other. Whatever your gear level, I'd go 2H for PvP, though, for the bigger jousts (and be sure your weapons are as slow as possible).