The 2-handed sword with a focus or haste SA, plus the right buffs, is a very good combo for a Destroyer. Poles are also useful for fast leveling in places like the cats. Myself, I treat the 2-hander sword as primary weapon, and I try to keep a pole as a secondary weapon.
TBH, i did both pole and 2-hander. I cleared rooms faster w/2hander solo than running around grabbing mobs and using pole arm. Plus, I had to wait for the respawn from polearming. The only advantage to polearming was consuming less SS, but faster xp using 2hander and less risk of death using the 2-hander. Rage all the way.
after talking to all of the non-botted destroyers on my server i can say with confidence that none of them does aoe with a polearm for exactly that reason. 2h sword is less dangerous and faster because of continuous spawn and no gathering time.
I've done a LOT of experimenting on the fastest way to level with Destroyer. I can say with confidence that if you have out-of-party SE buffs that AoE poling is faster than 2H sword at least until 6x levels. If you only have access to Destroyer "self-buffs", L2 scrolls and potions you will be better off by far with 2H sword. The only time 2H sword is close to poling is when you have Rage+Frenzy, but you need extremely good buffs [56+ prophet, CoV, SwS songs for reducing skill reuse, Seraphim Gift, BD dance] to have a decent cooldown time on Frenzy to rely on that for primary source of XP. 2H sword with Rage can be almost non-stop [about 90 seconds of Rage with about 15 seconds down time at 800 attack speed], it is very safe, but it is BORING compared to the thrill of pulling a huge train of mobs and poling them to death!
As a result, I use polearm exclusively for fast XP. I get 2X the XP poling (at least from level 40 to 62) in the catacombs. Up until about level 55 you can easily handle two full rooms [16 mobs - only problem is finding the empty rooms] poling so long as you have VR buff. Above level 60 I pull one room when I have only Rage and 2 rooms when I have Rage+Frenzy+Zealot. And yes, you do die occassionally, but the XP is still faster. Above level 52 equipment is very important for AoE poling and less so for 2H sword. If you are going to pole you will want BW Heavy, STR+4 and probably DEX+4 as well with the highest Patk pole you can get [with crit stun SA, wideblow not needed in cats only when outside in fields]. You'll have a bit more options with 2H sword but above 52 you will probably want the same setup, it's just not as important.
Here are the weapons I would recommend for fast XP:
Poling Weapons
40-51: Orcish Poleaxe with Crit Stun [get used to not having wideblow, it takes a bit of practice to learn how to pull but well worth it]
52-60: Lance with Crit Stun
61-75: Halberd with Crit Stun or Haste or Tallum Glaive with Health. I'm using Halberd now but am considering a switch to the Tallum Glaive.
2H Weapons
40-51: Berserker Blade with Focus
52-60: Great Sword with Focus
61-75: Infernal Master with Focus
Another decent option for 61-75 is to use the Doom Crusher with Health. A lot of catacomb mobs are blunt weak. I haven't personally tested this out but intend to try in the 7x levels.
or put another way, do i want to kill mobs 1 at a time, or 4-8 at a time? will i level faster killing mobs 4 at a time? if i get to use one shot per 4 mobs, will i use 75% less shots, and is that cheaper..... hmmmmmm
but if you are unsocial and do not have a 2 box, 2 handed blunt (like the doom crusher)
I have decided to try a polearm as a secondary weapon to my
Titan Hammer. If I get a War Pick or Winged Spear (same stats,
diff look) can I exchange that to the Trader of Mammon for a
Glaive? About how much ancient adena do I need? D grade.
Daily thought: I figured it out, PK was written into Lineage2 to
make you mad so you will level faster! :)
Poling is the fastest way to level an Destroyer hands down. Is it as safe as going from one mob to the next with a blunt or 2 handed sword.....no. However it is more fun.
I screamed through the early 50's poling in the catas. Then I screamed from lvl 62-66 in Giants Cave poling. Sure the stuns can suck sometimes but you have the hp to survive a few whacks.
I have two main wpns. One for normal parties and one for pole parties. The crit stun on the pole is very nice, but now I have health on my Tallium Glaive. Having the extra hp in the higher catas is a plus. With health on the pole I can activate frenzy with 2400 hp left. That gives a nice cushion for not dying.