I don't understand how the second option's argument is valid, we can't really know how powerful it would be without any context, and they could easily make it less effective than blocking with a two hander.

I'd say shield > 2h > 1h for blocking effectiveness(how often you get staggered and such). Since you have both hands on a 2h it does make sense that you can take more force blocking with it. If you use a 1h weapon to block a powerful swing with a 2handed weapon you should be asking for problems.

They could even get around the control issue, just make attack = parry/block with 1h if you time it to respond to an enemy swinging.

The thing is, we can seemingly block with a one-handed weapon without a spell equipped in the other hand. So...

I think it'd be really cool to be able to have a magical shield to block as a mage. Not just to have a spell that increased my armor rating, but to have a spell that you could hold down the button and have a mystical shield appear on your arm as if it were a real shield that could block and absorb damage just the same while slowly draining your magicka while you hold the button down. That'd be way cool. I'd be more likely to be a mage if that was the case.

Sources? :confused:

Todd himself, I think; but a lot is probably still speculation. Check http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1167518-official-playstation-magazine/.

Just put a shield in your left and a spell in your right...
No need for a weapon when you can flambe the enemy with a flamethrower!

That would cut the word sword from Spellsword .

Honestly, I have my fingers crossed that that mag got something wrong.

First post, sweeeet. I was thinking about this and a way round it to keep everyone happy and came up with this idea. A perk. Say you wanted a sword in your right and a electric spell in your left, you couldn't realistically block a swing from an axe with a flimsy sword but... what if... using your magic skills you catch the axe before it hits you, electricity and sparks ensue giving you time to get a free hit in?! This is definatly a perk I would want in game. Ofcourse there would have to be limitations to this regarding your level and the enemies, how upgraded the perk was and your magic skill but think about it. Your up against a powerfull character, going blow to blow he knocks you off balance... he steps up for a certain kill move and you summon all your power to block his sword mid swing, electricity crackling up your arm and onto his sword! Caught of guard by this totally bad ass move you've just pulled he fails to see your sword dart out untill its... bam. To late. I think the idea of a perk being used to create in a sense a magic shield for an arm is really cool, if it gets implimented then they could even go as far as changing the appearance of your arm the more you use it. This could make it possible to actually see if an enemy can use it so you'd have to watch out for tell tale burn marks or perma-frosted skin. This could totally work ingame.

Its simple and obvious once you think about it.

A pure mage cant block as they have no block perks.. They cant use armor much because they have no armor perks.. and they have the least number of hps. Oh and they cant hide well.

Thus they have to be concidered the most offense oriented attack style. Any warrior is far more defnese oriented simply due to hps and armor alone.

So combining a shield and magic is like combining a 2 handed weapon and a shield....only more so.

So ALL combat involving spells has to be on magics style of combat. And thats just it.

So now a spellsword just has to deal with the combat style of mages rather then that of warriors as in ob. It was bound to happen when magic was fixed and improved.

I prefer my magical arm block perk idea. It should only work if you wield a weapon in the other hand though and not for a pure mage, I agree with the rest that you say though, this is just for a spellsword.

It' not a mmorpg, it won't piss anyone off or give anyone an advantage

I don't care as long as it's fairly balanced and the combat is fun.

I heard some sources that you can block by pressing both buttons at once with two weapons so it should be possible to implement with one weapon to.
Anyway paralyze on touch sounds more effective than blocking.

Im against this until i see some gameplay trailers and see this for myself. I think this will take away from the Spellsword/Battlemage classes, and others who decide to use magic in addition to a shield and a weapon.