By confirmed they mean, "it has been said on the forums but nobody can actually find an official link to it, therefore it must be true"

It is confirmed you cannot block with dual wielding, think it was on that Facebook question time thing.

I decided to add a poll and edited in a last minute question after doing so (It's early, here, and I'm not thinking straight. ). Sorry about any inconveniences.

I can understand people's frustrations with this. I think you should be able to parry with one weapon and attack with the other while dual wielding. Of course, the parry would not be as effective as a block with a shield. When parrying you should still take a little damage, your weapon should degrade faster, and it would be nice to have a chance at your weapon being disarmed. I think that would strike a good balance.

However, my biggest issue with melee combat has always been with the shorter weapons, like daggers. They're just totally ineffective compared to larger weapons. Blocking or parrying with daggers doesn't make a lot of sense, but what I'd like to see is the ability to dodge, or move in quick on your oppenent and stab him in the shoulder before his swing can come down. Something like that. I just find it lame to run right at someone swinging wildly with a dagger, blocking when I can, none of which is very tactical nor realistic.

So where is the link? I am not saying it is in. You probably won't be able to block/parry when dual weilding. But all i keep seeing is people talking about it being confirmed, when nobody actually seems to have seen the original post and has a link to it.

The supposed confirmation came from either Pete Hines or Nick Breckon on Twitter.

Bare with me a sec, trying to find it, I'm listening to a podcast as I think it's mentioned in there.

EDIT: Or like seti18 said it could have been twitter... wish I bookmarked useful links lol.

I'd like to see blocking while dual wwielding but only defelcts like half dmg taken or less and with sword and staff u can block parry but it only deflects very little dmg, and if u block with shield u deflect most of the dmg.

The thread about the Facebook Q&A:

http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1217578-gametrailers-quakecon-qa-more-like-just-a/page__p__18260051__hl__quakecon+q%26amp%3Ba__fromsearch__1#entry18260051

Um, no.
By confirmed I mean it was stated by a developer on their official facebook page.
Nice try at a witty comment, though. :goodjob:

I can see parrying in the form of swinging your sword when they swing their sword and a chance to parry it.

Basically if you time it right you parry their blow and open up a small second to land a blow yourself. You would basically use the same buttons you use to attack but when it connects with another characters sword thier is a chance to block or parry the blow.

It's probably because this is Skyrim, the land of the Nords. Nords tend to be big, and strong. Therefore, alot of them have a penchant for two-handed weapons. You really don't want to see what happens when a longsword trys to parry a Warhammer, Battle Axe or Claymore. It's not pretty.

I humbley stand corrected, although you guys have no idea how many times I have posted in these topics asking for that link without an answer and finally someone has found it. Thanks!

No problem. But I did post the link in one of the previous threads too, so it has been up there

Don't worry it happens a lot, one person says something then someone takes it as being confirmed, then it spreads lol.

This is why I wish they would just confirm if we can bash with weapons. It seems possible and makes sense to make up for blocking, but it hasn't been confirmed, so I don't know for sure. If they would just confirm it then it's likely these kind of topics would stop.

Well, thats ridiculous. I've got two swords, so I'll let this dude smash my face in.

yeah but bashing still has a chance of staggering its not 100%, so even though youd have to time it just right, you could still end up taking all of the damage

i guess the whole bashing system is better than nothing, youll still have to put some thought into the combat but im still disappointed with not being able to block/parry

the whole balance issue is just a weak excuse, theres loads of ways to balance the combat and still keep parrying or blocking for DW

Yeah, this is one aspect I've read about that's a little unsettling which kinda compromises the whole new dual wielding thing. I see no reason why L+R click/bumper simultaneously (or whatever) ≠ block with whatever one's got. It seems as though one can't block with anything but a shield? That in Oblivion one could at least partially deflect an attack even with a single dagger, bow, or stave was awesome and felt natural, I mean, if someone's coming at you, you're gonna use whatever's at your disposal to minimize the damage to yourself.

• Spell | Spell / Unarmed <--- Block Oblivion style
  
• Spell | Staff <---Block with staff in both hands
  
• Spell | One Handed <--- Block Oblivion style
  
• Spell | Shield <--- Normal shield block
  
• Staff | Spell <---Block with staff in both hands
  
• Staff | Staff <---Block with both in an 'X'
  
• Staff | One Handed <---Block with both in an 'X'
  
• Staff | Shield <--- Block Oblivion style
  
• Shield | Spell <---Normal shield block
  
• Shield | Staff <---Normal shield block
  
• Shield | One Handed <---Normal shield block
  
• Shield | Shield <---Turtle (Normal shield block x 2)
  
• One Handed | Spell <--- Block Oblivion style
  
• One Handed | Staff <---Block with both in an 'X'
  
• One Handed | One Handed <---Block with both in an 'X'
  
• One Handed | Shield <---Normal shield block
  
• Bow & Arrow <--- Block Oblivion style
  
• Two Handed <--- Block Oblivion style

Why not?

If I wanted to use both weapons at the same time I could probably tap both triggers. If I wanted to do a quick parry, hold both.
Ah well, time to find a technique now. I hate thinking!

Seems silly you can't do any (AFAIK) defensive maneuvers while dual-wielding. No dodges, no parrying...nothing?

I believe the bash (IIRC Todd bashed a Draugr in the E3 demo) is a way of going with the offensive nature of the dual-wielding setup. Although parrying would have as well, lol. Is parrying hard to implement? Does it appear in many other video game titles in a nonlinear game setting? Low on the "To-Do" priority list? There's a reason, and I'd like to hear it. Even with the Sword and Spell combo, you should be able to reduce damage with a Shield spell at least.

They said that combat will feel more "Visceral", so knowing that dual-wield was a wanted feature, why would they not put parrying in? I'd like to believe that it's in and we haven't seen it in action yet, but that's assuming Nick's vague response on the Facebook Q&A was referring to "blocking" as in using the weapons to stop the opponent's weapon completely, similar to a shield, and not parrying as was explained earlier in this thread. Blocking and Parrying, two different things, correct?

I hope it's in, which is strange seeing as I'll possibly never use them. It just feels like it should be it, it would help to complete the feel of dual-wielding combat.

You can still block with a 1-handed weapon.

Becuase then it would rely on the block skill. Why make the block skill optional, if nearly every character is going to have to use it? It's not like alchemy where if you don't use it, just ignore.

I think this is why it is limited in Skyrim, so it has more of a gameplay implication, blocking is more a choice than a necessity. If you do not wanna block then (if confirmed anyway) you can use bash to knock back enemies if you time it right, this gives another option to people who do not want to have to use the block skill for every melee based character.

Personally I feel blocking would be excessive, parry however should be perk based in my opinion, once practised with a single handed weapon (either singular or dual wielded) it would be a natural skill progression to learn how to use the weapon effectively.

even though i origanolly started the block with both triggers i also standby using your speed an cunning to evade strikes while duel weilding if there is no block or parry option