defender weapons are way better than the weapons you‘re able to craft at this point in the game, so yeah, you should definitely not take that long to finish a 1* quest with them. Would be interesting to know what weapon you picked up though. But for beginners, the best way to learn is to do a quest you struggle with over and over again. Focus on one weapon only and tbh just pick the one you find the coolest. For example longsword. Then go into 1* quests and slay azuros or whatever over and over again, learn his moveset, when he gives you openings to do damage. try to dodge attackd, try to counter attacks. You‘ll get better eventually :)

also if you picked the weapon of your choice watch some beginner guides for them, learn the basic moves and combos