>>278594OP as shit, though I'm not sure if you need the midgame onward ones as thats around when I started using it.
Blocks almost everything. And high damage when you actually hit.
Though some of the later DLCs bosses punishes that though, not sure.
Also I took a look, it trivializes Queen's Knight and Gilded Hunter, without blocking you need to time your dodges for their quick strikes, but with blocking just sit there and tank. And build for stamina iirc. But honestly its been awhile.
Also Zweihander is the good one you can get relatively early, 96 defense against all attacks, until you get AWKB or other late game swords at least. AWKB has lower defense against some attacks but those are really rare in the base game so irrelevant.