[FatherCrixius]

50 HP on a crit would make it only 3 - 5x stronger than pre-existing vampiric weapons, before any of the other Monster spine strengths are factored in. I like this weapon, I like it's theming; but it is undeniably power creeped in such a way that even with the provided nerfs in this thread it will continue to be the best basic hitting weapon in the game: regardless of class combo.

Denying people from just thwunking you into guard is nice and all, but that's not really where this weapon shines. 

If you can reduce your damage taken per round to around 200~, which is obviously very easy in a one on one, Monster spine as a use case provides an effective 50% DR. On top of it's very bloated base stats, weapon parts, and passives it isn't even competitive to find a replacement for this thing. This ignores the crit damage amped knockdown, reductions to parry effectiveness n hit, built in aoe's etcetera.

This wep is far better than anchor edge was, and even post suggested nerfs will continue to be so.