KMC Forums - SaberPike Speculation

The Saberpike is a weapon that hasn't had a terrible lot of exposure. The most notable wielder of one would be Darth Nihl and aside from him I can only think of Kazden Paratus as an avid wielder of one.
The lightsaber pike employs the same combat style as the duel-bladed saber. Both are staff weapons, but the pike has a shaft of saber-resistant metal and a short blade on only one end. - page 64 The Jedi Path
Something I have noticed about the saberpike is that everyone and everything loves to compare it to the saberstaff, and I can see why, but when delving deeper into the weapon you will realize that it is another beast entirely.
Advantages
The Saberpikes long hilt gives it the advantage of range, by adjusting your grip to the back of the hilt you can lengthen the reach at the sacrifice of a marginal amount of precision and control.
The long hilt also gives the wielder a lot of leverage, making it a great weapon for pulling off power attacks.
The long hilt also gives you a lot of control over the blade, and would allow for a lot of precision.
Disadvantages
The weapon is bulky and cumbersome, and like the saberstaff many positions and maneuvers are rendered difficult or impossible
This is open for speculation but in the jedi path it states that the shaft is made of lightsaber resistant metals, this would mean that the wielder could use the shaft as a defensive part of the weapon and wield it like a saberstaff for quick and easy defense. How ever if the shaft were not made of lightsaber resistant material this weapon would be terrible at close quarters defense, the slow and elaborate moves needed to maneuver the blade around ones body to effectively prevent the hilt from being hit and defending the wielder would make defense nearly impossible and I would suggest evasion and retreat as the better option.
Overall Thoughts
I personally like the Saberpike and I think a humanoid character (Kazden Paratus was a spiderish thing) should be created that not only wields the lightsaber pike but is among the greats (Better than Nihl). The weapon is optimized for fighting at a greater distance than typical, keeping the opponent at a distance while you batter away at them. In this regard I consider it far different from the saberstaff. The Saberpike offensively at least would or should employ a far different move set than a saberstaff. The saberstaff although a staff weapon doesn't allow for the same amount of range that the saberpike does and this feature of the saberpike is something a wielder should takes full advantage of. On the defensive it should be wielded like a saberstaff, with the hands in the middle, using both ends to defend by rotating the blade (unless of course you didn't make the shaft out of lightsaber resistant material, which in that case RUN.)
The shaft wouldn't provide any cutting power, it still could be used as a blunt instrument to strike and offset opponents. Overall it is a good weapon that hasn't had much exposure. Although it can be bulky and cumbersome at times, it allows for a long ranged assault and solid defense if built out of the right stuff.

anyways I would like to hear your thoughts.