How to experiment with different weapons on a run?

Im pretty new to the Souls series, ive played DS1 for a while and now im doing my first run in DS3.

One thing that i have a hard time with is being able to experiment with different weapons on a run, because i tend to upgrade one of the earlier weapons consistently and so statwise, the weapon i started upgrading earlier, is usually my strongest weapon and so every time i try a cool different weapon i find, i feel like they are weaker.

In my current run, im using a broadsword. Ive found it pretty early in the game and something about its animations or idk what just felt nicer than other weapons. I wanted to try a dex build, cuz in my ds1 i focused solely on str and poise, but i wanted to be fast this time.

Anyways, how do you guys approach this issue, if you experience it? I guess if you already know what many weapons do from the get go, its easier to choose which one to use, but thats def not my case :D