I will not enter the rank choice argument here, but I only want to point out that youāre wrong on the Transcendence part, while weapon upgrades are indeed the same for both type of weapons (for example +11 is +868) since theyāre based on weapons quality/level, Transcendence is different, since itās calculated as a % based on the weapon base damage instead.
Example:
350 One-Handed Mace:
No Transcendence ------> MATK 1203 MAX PATK 1264
Transcendence Lvl 5 ----> MATK 2406 MAX PATK 2528 (+100%)
Transcendence Lvl 10 --> MATK 3609 MAX PATK 3792 (+200%)
350 Two-Handed Mace:
No Transcendence ------> MATK 1444 MAX PATK 1589
Transcendence Lvl 5 ----> MATK 2888 MAX PATK 3178 (+100%)
Transcendence Lvl 10 --> MATK 4332 MAX PATK 4767 (+200%)
As you can see, weāre talking about a 241 MATK/ 325 MAXPATK difference with no Transcendence, but 723 MATK / 975 MAX PATK at Transcendence 10 (exactly +200%).
So when considering weapons, always keep in mind that further upgrading your transcendence level will widen the gap more and more.