The atgeir is great. It's a good alternative when 1h&shield gameplay becomes stale.

The secondary attack is great against groups of enemies. For those running out of stamina while using it, you aren't really supposed to keep spinning.

A spin (which staggers most mobs) followed by a poke or two then strafe backwards (to allow the mobs to regroup) then rinse and repeat. You can safely deal with packs of fulings or even fuling berserkers this way. It is basically a kiting weapon.

Also, it helps to eat proper food instead of just cooked meats which don't really give you alot of stamina.

I imagine further along in development weapons will see a lot more balancing to give viable pros and cons. As is mace+small shield is the strongest by far due to the huge advantage of a strong parry and how universally valuable blunt damage is.
And of course bows are just super weapons, but that's kinda like how it was irl.

They all have advantages and disadvantages. What use a bow, with no arrows?

I use it to harvest barley.

Atgeir is my go-to weapon with a Mace&Shield as my backup. There's something really satisfying about using a polearm, even with its high energy cost, but hey, at least it helps me work on stamina management in combat.

It’s my favorite weapon in the game. The middle attack is a life saver

Agreed, nothing wrong with the Atgeir, a nice weapon.

But weapon preferences differ broadly... can't force anyone to love a weapon that they don't like to use.

I personally love the Atgeir. It keeps you at a safer distance when attacking. But my biggest complaint is the amount of stamina it uses per strike. It leaves you totally open to a wicked beating if your not careful.

It's a very high energy weapon.
Works ok in a group, not so much against groups.
Can be useful in farming. But imo it feels abit cheaty using it like a scythe. Good for large fields tho.

I prefer Axe and Shield. But I also use Sword/Hammer as well.