I went from sword and shield to the long sword and then to the switch axe and hammer.
I used the long sword the most for the single player mode but my favorite is the switch axe. Hammer is just fun to use to bash in monster skulls with but it sucks that you can't cut tails off. I generally use switch axe against all monsters but only use hammer against anything but deviljho, alatreon, ceadeus, diablos, and agnakator. I use the long sword as an alternative to the switch axe but its not really used much these days.
I used the long sword the most for the single player mode but my favorite is the switch axe. Hammer is just fun to use to bash in monster skulls with but it sucks that you can't cut tails off. I generally use switch axe against all monsters but only use hammer against anything but deviljho, alatreon, ceadeus, diablos, and agnakator. I use the long sword as an alternative to the switch axe but its not really used much these days.