Personally I go with a mace type. When I do get a sword I wait for the silver sword, but by that point in the game it's a bit late to change up.

Some people like the spear but I never got into one. Maybe in the new areas not out yet they might have an enemy resistant to blunt and pierce <bow> and status effects it might be better to work up slash... but at this point with the current enemies I just see no reason to use a sword. If I need slash I can always use an ax.