I still play Skyrim, but I was making a new All-Out Shield-1 Hander Melee Character. With All Heavy Armour.

I already discovered how to Shield Bash and Block. I also knew how to Power Attack. Is there any other pointers I should follow?

PS. Shield bash saved my life many times against 2 Handers.

practice your fancy footwork... as at times you will need to be able to move around against two enemies.

Make sure you get the perks.. but also keep the balance with heavy, 1h and...whatever melee you are using.

Off the top of my head, swords are fast but have a low chance to stagger on a power attack, while maces are slow but stagger well. Axes are somewhere in between - but how happy a medium they are is really your call. Perks-wise, Bladesman (the sword perk) seems to be unpopular, mainly because the extra damage is calculated from base weapon damage, and isn't affected by extra damage from smithing, skill level, or the Armsman perk.

That said, don't let numbers rule you - I played an archer/swordsman quite happily for many levels, with no regrets.

Along with Areial's footwork recommendation, remember you can also sprint-dodge (i.e., hold down the sprint key and strafe left or right). Great for those two-handed power attacks from opponents against whom bashing doesn't seem to work. A disclaimer, though - I only sprint-dodged with a light armor character, so I'm not sure how effective it would be with heavy armor.

Thank you for the advice!

The block perk 'quick reflexes' is a great perk to get and can be got quite early. Gives you much more time to dodge power attacks. Could be considered a little overpowered but will keep you alive!

My girls used to use daggers for sheer speed....still great for multi paralysing groups of bandits or mages.


But probably our best melee combat expert here, who shall remain nameless (Sah Vulon) pointed out that with a mace you kill faster giving enemies less time to hit back AND most importantly you can have the bone breaker perks which ignore armour....whats not to like. Adella keeps a good dagger for back up still incase of being disarmed and as it weighs little you can keep it as an alternate specialist enchantment weapon like maybe just for soul trapping or turning undead etc.


If you are going one hander, get a good block enchantement on a shield....then add a perk or two. Shields can save you and if you funnel enemies ( like through a door) you can sit behind a shield while your health recovers. Shields can also deflect arrows and stagger bash real good.


I have little experience of two hander.....but many attest that the longer reach makes up for the slower swing. Trying to be good at one and two hander is probably not wise since it will spread perks too thin. The whole movement thing with two hander seems slower too....There are advantages to staying light your feet!

The problem with the mace perk is that most high level enemies (dragons, draugh, dwemer, all animals - basically anything but human) don't wear armour so it's kinda useless - high level bandits are the only thing you can really use it for...

Since when do high level draugr not wear armour? Plus high level bandits (Marauders) ARE a serious enough threat to make the mace perks significantly useful. Ooooo so, What about Falmer then?


Dwemer machines Im not sure about.....they certainly behave under combat as though theres an armour rating factoring in there.


Only animals and dragons are for sure armour free and at level 40 with a good mace you can one hit kill a bear on Legendary.....leaving only dragons from your list as serious non armoured enemies that will laugh off the mace ignore armour perk.

Pretty sure Draugh armour is just part of the body mesh, so yes they are visually wearing armour but they don't have an armour rating that can be ignored (aside from a few with shields). I could be totally wrong, going off a YouTube video I saw once discussing one handed builds...

Edit: I imagine Falmer would be affected by the perk as they have separate armour pieces. Having read a little more on the subject I would say that its actually completely useless. Even the highest level bandits will only wear Unimproved Scaled Horn or Steel Plate armour (according to UESP) and the only armour perk they have is Custom Fit. Their armour rating is therefore pretty damn low to begin with so even ignoring 75% of their armour (for which you need 90 in one handed and therefore gonna be pretty deadly anyway) it only ignores a small number of armour points.