Edit: I completely misread and misinterpreted what I was reading and typing. Ignore me please.

well people you answer too fast! thank you!

maybe hold one handed sword with both hands is more a necesity,

put atention in this concept art: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_4lrm97dBqNo/TUFlw5fTXtI/AAAAAAAAAY8/kWbMCXwYAKc/s1600/artofskyrim_010_argoniandragon.jpg

as you can see, the warrior drop away his sword (accidentally), well maybe you can say "my ass thats just concept art!" well you′re right but is a good theory, maybe now you can release the shield (due the attack of a dragon or some other kind of inconvenient) and instead of collect it back, in the middle of the fight is more prudent just hold your sword with both hands and defend yourself.

supporting this theory is also the spanish magazine "when a dragon lands the ground rumbles and shakes"

Early on we heard that you could block by pushing both buttons.... but recently in a french mag we hear the only way you can block is...

If you have both a shield and weapon or if you have a 2 handed weapon.

Now it is enterly possible they misunderstood but its also very likely they simply decided to make 2 weapon combat a more offensive form of combat along side magic and keep blocking available only to 2 handers and shield and weapon style.

They may have decioded the advantages of 2 weapons needed a counterbalance.... then again they could have just realized it was bloody hard to push both buttons at the same time in combat fast enough and often enough to be of use so they deiced to rebalance it without the ability to block.... AND that that also lead to the magic and weapon combo also loosing its ability to block and that in tern resulted in even the shield and spell combo loosing it too.

Or it could just have looked cooler that way.

There isn't, just a blade skill

Blocking with swords is as old as using a shield itself. I know this has nothing to do with TES or Skyrim but you must know nothing about swordsmanship if you do not know that a sword can also be used to block a blow from another sword. Also parrying with a sword is not the same as BLOCKING with a sword.



Correct there is a 1 handed skill and 2 handed skill. You will choose the type you want to use, then you will pick as a perk whether you want to use blades, maces or axes which, yes, are no longer considered blunts.

It actually makes a lot of sense. Try blocking a Battle Axe swing with a sword...not likely... :toughninja:

Me explainyou?

OK, i'll cut the corny remarks and answer straight: we don't know :shrug: .
On one hand, Todd Howard said that you'll be able to block by pressing both triggers/both mouse buttons.
On the other hand the PS3 magazine says you will be able to block only if you use a shield or a two-handed weapon (because of a lack of buttons for block).
Conflicting info. That's why everyone's losing their head :ahhh:

Say my opponent does a over head swing, I would simply have to hold my sword above my head brace both ends with my hands and catch the axe on its hilt, not blade. The key to blocking large maces and axes with a sword is that you never try to block the deadly part of the weapon but try to stop the swing by blocking the shaft of the weapon. It's actually swordsmanship 101, stuff like this is found written in books dating back to the medieval ages.

I always found it hilarious how you can block a two-handed warhammer with one hand, troll physics much?

Hopefully there will be more http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWUMto_ibas&feature=fvwrel for me to want to block with a shield rather than a weapon this time around.

:confused:
At the link not what you said

One melon weights 5 feathers,

? whats wrong with the link? you have to admit, there was not much http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fn5EUIsP-uI&feature=related in what you used to block with in oblivion.

I've got the official PlayStation magazine and heres a direct quote of what Todd says in the interview.

I'm not seeing the connection to watermelons

i just found it weird i was able to block arrows just as well with my http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEPzr2pu5PU&feature=related as i was with my daedric shield.

<_< somethings not right here..........

I'm not really sure how that would end up in RL though... Depends on the circumstances. In theory it should be possible... I guess the real problem was the animations in Oblivion where you could block a battle axe with a dagger and stuff like that... I personally would balance that with an unarmored skill paired with high agility (some perks perhaps) where you would evade the blows rather than absorb them thus making a fight more of a raw power vs. mobilty thing.

Didn't oblivion have some kind of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5Ok5oxcFng&feature=related with high enough acrobatics?

Yes,you could dodge. It was highly impractical and basically useless. What I had in mind was more like a perk (of sort) giving you a 5% (or more) chance to automatically evade the blow.

I agree, in RL it is always a gamble to block like that too. If the blade of your sword broke you were SOL. In game, no I don't see it happening. I actually like the idea that they are forcing you to be more of a specialist than someone who does everything. Jack of all trades, master of none right? I never really liked it in Oblivion that I could just master every skill up to 100 and do everything. The whole lure of repeatability is that you do something different each time, was kinda pointless in Oblivion because one character could do everything. I am not saying it should be in, but someone on the first page was lost as to how someone could use a sword IRL to block, when swords are one of the simplest technologies we invented... Just makes me want to :shrug:

Edited in

I am also not saying that I was forced to master all skills. I remade many characters to try out everything, I just think it was a silly move. Every RPG I have ever played makes the character decide what they want to be, and become great at it. Oblivion let you do everything and to me it killed the RPGness of the game by doing that so I am happy to hear they did away with it.

Just the ability to dodge by holding down the block and pressing the jump button in the direction you want to go in.

Agreed. If I'm a master of sneak I expect not to be detected in a dark corner where there is multiple creatures when I pop one off in the head with an arrow. On the other hand if they are humans they should (as they will) go in a alert state and try to find you. Ofcourse given that there is enough light on the victim and/or the others are close enough to hear the thud of the body as it hits the ground. Making it a bit more when and where should I take out a target.

In oblivion you were forced to have some skill in melee or magic so you can face the creatures and humans that detect you. There is not much room to run in a cave.

Thanks for the quote, makes more sense now, so we can block with one handed weapons, we just can't block dual wielding.