I played the last beta with sword a shield DK and had all the mitigation skills I could get up to 19. It seem to me like the block mechanic in this TESO actually caused more overall stat damage if you blocked something. It seems like you took slightly less health damage and a huge amount of stam damage when you blocked something as compared to not blocking. It seemed to me you would be better off trying to dodge as a tank then trying to block anything or taking the hit to the face as if you blocked something you would run out of stam to taunt anything.

Anyone have any different opinions or experience with block in different elder scrolls games?

this is something i am sure they will tweak but i dont think they intend you to stand there and block through encounter it seems it was used to counter specials

You have to remember that ESO was made by Zenimax and not Bethesda, can't compare to other games other than by lore

I think it really depends on the mob for me. Some mobs are great to block because they get stunned and you can do some great counter attacks against them while they are like that. Other mobs it may be better to dodge their abilities (like a lot of mages skills). The shield does have some awesome abilities that you can take advantage of though like the one ability that will allow you to reflect back magic (or absorb a portion of it with the morph) and things of that nature. But as far as dodging and blocking, it really is based of what the situation is.

it seems realistic to loose stamina by blocking (with a shield).

i was blocking with my duel daggers. it was not taking alot of stamina from me to use my weapons to block.

Shields are supposed to cost less stamina to block with I thought? If it's costing more compared to blocking with a weapon it might be a bug

Yeah, I have been dodging all over the place instead of blocking normal hits. I did use interrupts though.

It works as you said, blocking reduces physical damage at the cost of stamina for non special attacks. For most enemies this means the difference in taking a small hit to a slightly smaller hit (in which case the stamina loss would be a high cost for the benefit), however it helps more with harder hitting enemies. Also bear in mind that there are still passives to be upgraded regarding blocking at that level. Remember that the stamina cost per block is nothing in comparison to a single dodge as well.

For special attacks then blocking really shines when you get a stun and potential knockdown from it

so, if you raise a 20 lb shield to block my attack that is supose to be less stamina cost then raising a dagger or sword which weighs less then the shield?

I think the difference comes in with how much you block.

With a shield you use up more stamina but you block more of the incoming damage.

With a weapon, you're actually parrying/deflecting, not blocking, and you end up taking more damage but using less stamina. Really, deflecting/blocking with a weapon is only there to stun enemies and give you counters, not actually stop the damage.

This is why I wish more games gave bucklers a fair shake.

instead of the usual "the bigger the shield the better."

Bucklers were one of hte most used items throughout the middle ages, even lasting longer then shields, for a reason.

Much lighter, quicker to use, you could let go of it (not strapped to your arm like a shield), it was great for offensive too (bashing, slicing, catching weapons, etc).

I am actually designing my DK around Dots and blocks. I will dot everything then bunker down and bash. There are enchantments, passives, actives that all increase block mitigation as well as reduce block cost.

I did test it last beta to some extent and I felt it was very overpowered but I had nothing to compare it to so not sure if everything is overpowered or not. (Was kill 2 level 12s at level 8).

The stamina loss is on the actual block itself. Trying to block a weapon swing with a shield is a damn sight less draining than blocking a weapon swing with another weapon.

If I am running around with a 20 lb shield I expect not to have to raise it at all but it to have wheels

You also fight with 10 lbs single handed swords I assume?

All kidding aside, yes while a 1,5 lbs sword is easier to raise for a block compared to a 6 lbs shield, the shield is designed around deflecting blocks. I guess giving up more stamina to reduce the damage you take by a larger factor is reasonable

From my experience in the beta, blocking normal attacks didn't consume much stamina at all, and protected my character well. The trick though, is that blocking doesn't do much against their power attacks (would often stagger me and deplete my stamina). You can't just block their power attacks, you have to counter them (using both Right and Left mouse buttons together) to interrupt their power attacks.

After a while it became second nature that while holding RMB for block, I'd just tap LMB to counter when I saw the red field or their animation indicating a power attack.

Hmm, I found some enemies using a backhand swing (twohanded skill), and when I blocked them they'd stun themselves so I could easily finish them.

Depends, there are 3 types of charged or power attack.

-Block is enough to create the stun.

-Bash is required to stun.

-Dodge is required as blocking is not enough. May or may not stun as a result of the attack (the enemy charges etc may stun the enemy).

The visual cues are usually easy enough to distinguish which is which.

You have skills to reduce the cost of blocking. On the dodge side, I don't know if it was input lag but my char did not dodge often when I tried.

anyone remember what the blocking enhancement on armor did?

Nvm that was jewelry.

I found that the default keystroke timing for double tap (which triggers the dodge roll) was too short. You can increase it with a slider in the settings, although I think that using a modifier key will always be more reliable.

I rebound some keys to get tab to be my dodge roll. I found this to be much more precise then the double tapping.

Y a I like this idea and SHIFT seems to fit the bill for me!