I'm sure the merits of spears can be discussed in the Got a Real World Weapon/ Armor/ Tactic thread until we're all blue in the keyboard. I think after all the logistics of crafting and training are discussed, it all might boil down to a mentality of "I have a chance of hitting him first!"
As a ghost brute shrieker, I scream about this on the ethereal plane where nobody can hear me. I forgot the template that also got rid of wis or cha.