I either had a perk on by mistake or I can't count or I changed the difficulty and forgot, Daedric warhammer blocks 40%.

550
390.4 (159.6)
486.16 (63.84) (40%)
524.46 (25.54) (83.88) (40% enchant or 4/5 perk)

Edit: Iron Warhammer and Iron Greatsword blocks for the same amount

Okay, Dom... 40% is still pretty good for not spending perks, right? And is that you hitting the cap with a single block enchant?

-Loth

The cap is 85% for block, but any closer than that and you're wasting a perk or enchant slot

But what will be the results with studded/iron (trailer-Dovakhiin) gear?
Would somebody test it pls?

Yeah... my point is that you hit the dang cap with one enchant slot! Or am I wrong?

-Loth

You're wrong! I'm 1.12% away

LOL obviously blocking svcks if it takes ONE ENTIRE ENCHANT SLOT to hit the friggin' cap without perks! Did you have a 100 Block for your test character?

-Loth

Yeah, but blocking means I'm not killing anything

Yes, 100 skill

I don't know if you guys have heard about this but some people over at the Gamefaqs forums have been discussing some kind of bug/change with regards to patch 1.3 http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/615803-the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/61301061, but the details aren't clear.

I'm not sure if they're saying that

1) trying to use Fortify XX enchantments/potions is useless when you have 100 base skill in XX, or if
2) trying to fortify a skill more than 100%, ie have more than a cumulative total of +100% in Fortify XX Skill effects no longer works. (This option would mean the theoretical maximum Effective Skill is 200, ie 100 + 100% of 100. Right now the sky is apparently the limit with regards to useful increases in Smithing/Enchanting, so this would pose quite an issue.)

Have any of you noticed something different after updating to 1.3?

Ha, you're right about that, until you bash them, which causes stagger 100% of the time even against dragons IIRC, and then you give them the coup de grace in style. If we can prove by the numbers that blocking mitigation with weapons and shields is a viable way to save perks, then the template can be altered/given an alternate route to account for this, and also Cheshyr can fill in some of the missing pieces of the main thread.

-Loth

No idea what they're talking about. My +246% smithing is working just fine as well as my +188% one handed set.

To echo Cheshyr's earlier sentiment, blocking makes TES melee combat so much more engaging. If we can optimize a Two Handed build that (1) maximizes damage without trivializing Alduin; and (2) relies on skillful Blocking to hit the physical mitigation cap much earlier in game, that would be ideal in my mind.

Yeah, that was a kinda chaotic thread to read, anyway... half of the posts were hate screed or wondering if Obsidian is making the South Park game.

-Loth

I agree... this debate/research is sorely needed, as the dual wield thing has been done to death, IMHO. Dual wield wins total damage output, period... but when you are one-shotting everything, how much is too much? I think that everyone contributing to the earlier threads has proven beyond the shadow of a doubt that you can kick this game's ass with dual wielding. So... what about the other styles?

-Loth

Edit: Erp, sorry about the doublepost, guys... my bad.

70 Enchanting with 2/5 Enchanter will let you make 20% Fortify Block enchantments. Two of those and a two handed weapon should hit the block cap of 85%

Awesome threads, i appreciate all of your work immensely. Stumbled on this on accident and the next moment an hour was gone TT.

Cheshyr is anti-dual-maces. That makes me sad.

The Quick Reflexes perk works for weapon blocking... slow down time without a shout, anyone? With that and Block Runner, you're a dang ninja... all you need is stamina, which is the fastest regen-ing stat you have. I'm liking Block as a good place to add optional "helper" perk points for 2H weapon users.

-Loth

Thread 7: http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1313851-complete-character-design-freedom-damage-resist-caps-and-ridiculous-damage-thread-7/

I love dual maces. But you guys spent 2 days proving to me, despite my best efforts, that maces are suboptimal in every way... except they still one-shot Alduin... but that doesn't matter when in the pursuit of maximum dps. Yes, I'm still bitter. I'm just reporting results at this point.

We could run around using the console to give enemies daedric and glass armor then boost their armor skill to 100. Then maces would own them.

On a side note, when you pass level 100 the third digit clips behind the experience bar.

edit; My Daedric Warhammer hits Alduin for 1576.8

Yeah, I know it wasn't your guys fault. It's Bethesda's fault for not armoring any of our enemies, thereby making the perks useless. And it was wrong of me to care one way or the other. Science doesn't have an opinion; it only has results.

Re: equation. I've got something close, but I'm having trouble with endpoints again. The lowest you can have smithing is 15, so why do we have a datapoint at 14? That nonlinearity is causing some trouble. The 0.0555 slope seems to be working pretty well, but tehre's still another variable in here I haven't been able to pin down yet.

I am science and I have an opinion. My opinion is that it is very wrong that I can't two shot Alduin with a two hander. Fix it.

Yeah, I guess 3 power attacks is too much effort. I'll see what I can do.

I am enjoying this thread way too much. Somebody needs to 1 shot me.

When the CK comes out we will get static level enemies wearing armor and maybe a hard cap on crafting levels so maces will shine again