I've always considered swords the best weapons by far... you can find the Blade of Chaos very early in the game (which can be the best sword in the game!).
I'm now replaying and found a good claymore early with Stun(4) and Deathblow(4) enchantments... combined with Freeze, this made it very easy to take out the entire Orc camp at only level 20. With Deathblow(4), you can sometimes kill Elite Orc chiefs in one hit...
