How viable is sword and board tank build on master difficulty, how does it perform compared to let's say dual wield light armor ? I bet someone plays 1h+shield in full plate on master here that can share some thoughts

A heavy armor wearing sword/board warrior is probably the most effective way to play the game. Other builds tend to be a bit sketchy.

I play with 1h and shield on master, but use light armor, not heavy. I find it works great..so long as u put some skill into archery for some encounters. Compared to the dual wield style, I find it a lot better being able to block again (played dual wield first). Put perks in 1h, block, L armor, archery and smithing. With the light armor perk for stamina re generation, the bashing with the shield combined with power attacks kicks the ass of any enemy

I ended up backstabbing everyone I can(and casting spells at everyone I can't) but I always thought 1h axes were a nice synergy with "tank" build because of the DOT bleed. Though I don't know just how effective the bleed is.

This game has made a fantastic leap forward in the shield department, they really work how you would expect a shield to work, negating almost all damage you take while blocking. The sword and board style is a lot more rigorous on your stamina, as each block takes away a bit of stamina, and the very powerful and useful shield bash takes a decent amount of stamina to use as well so i would suggest dropping some level up points into stamina to keep you going for long fights.

But as far as difficulty its very good in master, a well timed shield bash can, stop enemy mages from casting, knock weapons out of enemies hands (talented ability) and my favorite thing, stop a dragon who is pelting you with fire/frost breath. A power bash from a shield is a 100% stagger on any opponent. also with elemental blocking and the shield from peryite the deadric prince (wont give away what it does if you havent found it yet) you will take almost no spell damage while blocking.

I would know about master. I am not a big fan though. I don't have a very defensive mind set. I always forget to block so my block skill was really blow. I prefer my two handed warrior. but each to his own. :shrug: