What is a good warrior build with blade & shield ?

Thanks

1.Blade
2.Block
3.Either Heavy Armor/Light Armor
4.Either Atheletics/Armorer
5.Hand to Hand
6.Either Marksman or Merchantile, but this is my opinion
7.Alchemy-I do not consider this a Mage only Skill, It is easy to level and very useful for all characters.

Ideally I try to pick one Skill per Attribute, but I have been disarmed enough to always carry a spare weapon or invest in Hand to Hand. In three and four I would go for either Heavy Armor and Atheletics/or Light Armor and Armorer. In five I would consider Restoration, because it will give you a Skill that adds Willpower. In six I would use Marksman for a non magic ranged attack, but repairs and training cost Septims.

Race should be Redguard, Orc, or Nord.

Birthsign, the Warrior, unless you plan on playing long enough to max Strength and Endurance on your own, otherwise I'd recommend maybe the Atronach for the spell absorption.

Skills,
1. Blade
2. Block
3. Heavy Armor
4. Athletics
5. Acrobatics
6. Armorer
7. Your pick! I'd say Restoration or Alchemy.

Redguard - good solid warrior race with a super special power.

Atronach - 50% spell absorption = half the spells or enchanted weapon strikes you take are harmless. As you can equip more spell absorption gear, it just gets better. Defense is important for a warrior and magic defense is a big part of that.

Major skills: Take blade for sure, then comsider picking no more than one from your important attributes. Personality is not important. Willpower for an atronach is not important. Factor in how important the features of slow leveling and controlability are for each of your major skill selections. Consider if you want any major skills that you can easily ignore to help you control leveling (like speechcraft).

Take a Redguard for a pure fighter. The once a day Adrenaline Rush really rocks when you need it.

Blade & Restoration are essential, the rest of the majors depend on how you want to play it.
Some just go for hack and slash (and use alteration / alchemy), others head down the path of efficient levelling or RP.

If you really want a pure warrior you could always simply use the stock Warrior class. Pick whatever race you think looks cool and then get the Warrior, the Lord (for the healing power), or the Atronach (for the awesome magic protection) as your birthsign.

With regards to Heavy armored then the Nord is without a doubt the best all out warrior. Orc and then an Imperial or Redguard are next.

Nords are great character but lack magic & stealth related starting skill bonuses. They do have a good magic resistance though to make up for it (i.e. good resistance to frost).

Definitely choose:
1. Blade / Blunt
2. Heavy Armor
3. armorer
4. block

And build up in these skills first..

I wouldn't pick acrobatics or athletics etc if you are going heavy armor as the two don't compliment each other until much later on. Choose something like restoration (so you can heal yourself when in Oblivion gates or in dungeons)

If you want athletics etc I'd go with a Dunmer, Redguard or Khajiit and choose blade (or blunt if Redguard) with light armor.

Nords ftw :toughninja:

Redguard, born under the Atronach

Blade
Light Armor
Restoration
Acrobatics
Armorer
Athletics
Destruction

As for Light Armor, keep it as a major, but wear only heavy or a mix, with emphasis on the heavy. Leather Armor, Ebony Gauntlets, Dwarven Greaves, Leather Boots.... no helm
As for Destruction, don't use it until you are level 15 ish and then play it as you've picked up some tips along the way.

Okay - the mostly counter-intuitive build. This is the meta-gaming build. the unfortunate fact is that Oblivion's leveling system is so warped that if you pick the skills and such that make the most superficial sense, you end up gimping your character. You can overcome that, but it requires metagaming during the game - deliberately training skills you won't use, efficiently leveling, buffing with alchemy/enchantments, adjusting the difficulty..... I prefer to get all my metagaming out of the way right at the beginning, so that I don't have to pay any attention to any of that during the game, and that's what this build does. I absolutely guarantee that this build, as odd as it might look, will dominate.

Race: Any. Seriously. Redguards, Dunmer, Nords and Orcs have a bit of an advantage, but pretty much any race works out. Race will make a bit of difference in birthsign choice.
Sign: The Lord, The Atronach or The Thief are my favorites - The Lord for the healing power, The Atronach for spell absorption, The Thief to make up for speed and agility penalties and for the luck bonus. The Warrior can also be a good choice for a naturally weak race. It mostly depends on race and playstyle.
Favored attributes: Endurance and Luck
Specialization: Combat
Majors:
Marksman (increases slowly if you use it)
Mercantile (the slowest increasing skill in the entire game)
Restoration (the second-slowest increasing skill in the game)
Acrobatics (easily controllable and, since it's a stealth skill, will increase relatively slowly with a combat spec)
Destruction (don't use it at all - it's there to take up space and to provide access to weakness to effects)
Mysticism (don't use it at all - takes up space and provides access to soul trap)
Blunt or Blade (the one you DON'T plan on using)

Put him in heavy armor, repair everything you can get your hands on and train him in Armorer. He'll easily gain all the endurance he'll ever need. Give him whatever weapon you prefer - faster is better though. With a fast weapon, he'll gain melee weapon experience and skill increases, and strength bonuses, easily and without you having to pay attention. Just run around and do whatever you want with him and all the leveling and bonuses and everything will take care of themselves. No need for efficient leveling or alchemy buffs or any of the tricks for overcoming Oblivion's warped leveling system. Just play the game and let it all sort itself out. By about level 18 or so, he'll be uber. Guaranteed. Note though - this build will max levels somewhere in the 20s. To get him up higher than that (I never bother, since all he's going to do is get a bit more uber), you'll have to switch to the unused weapon or train Destruction or Mysticism.

I'm going to go against the tide a little bit, and suggest a Dunmer, especially if you're planning to do the Main Quest early. This, because the Dunmer's natural immunity to fire make him impervious to a lot of the low-level enemies you encounter early in the MQ. The Dunmer also has a once-a-day Summons which is particularly useful at low level, and a bonus to both Blade and Marksman.

If you're willing to give up some of the fire resistance, you can go with the Lord birthsign, which gives you a very good healing spell.

Blade, Block, Marksman, Light Armor (wear a mix, as suggested above), and two or three skills you don't plan to use too much in the early game. I suggest Marksman because you really ought to have some sort of ranged offensive skill. Destruction would substitute, but then you're getting into more of a battlemage type.

Thank you for the replies.

How would I distribute my stats?

I personally train one Minor Skill to give my characters at least one +5 Attribute gain per Level, but some people like to go for two or three +5 increases on every level-up. I have found aiming for a five point gain on two or three Attributes can interfere with my enjoyment of my game, I usually end up with a five point gain in speed on my first two levels because of my playstyle, so I usually go for a +3 to strength at my first level-up, and the +3 is easy to get, I know where one Skill book for Hand to Hand is and a location for some free Hand to Hand Training. I always invest one point on Luck.
On my second level-up I usually try to get a +5 to my Endurance Attribute to go with a +5 to Speed. After level two I will train one Skill for for a +5 in the corresponding Attribute, then pick the second highest Attribute gain and spend another point in luck.

For a pure warrior, I would submit your attribute priorities are (in order):

1. Endurance. This is your hitpoints. Gains are not retroactive. This means that if you want the most hitpoints, you want to start endurance high and build it quickly and aggressively.

2. Strength. This is your melee damage. (It also help you lug more junk around which translates to gold).

3. Agility. This helps reduce how much you are staggered when you get hit. (It also helps your bow damage IF you are using a bow as a backup or alternate weapon).

Well known theory, less experienced fact. Poor Lothran has maxed Agility and Block and still he gets staggered when defending himself. He has now picked up his bow and poison... :ninja:

This is an area of great amusemant to me. I love it when a big Nord or Orc, practicing blocking with a shield in the tutorial, is staggered by a rat.

1. Blunt/Blade
2. Armorer
3. Blcok
4. Heavy Armor
5. Athletics
6. A magic skill (probably Alteration* or restoration... but Illusion could be sweet...)
7. ??? A favorite skill of yours

*For the shield bonuses, encumbrance spells, magic shields etc....

Everyone has cover just about everything so I will just list my warrior and let you decide
1. Blade
2.Block
3.lightarmor(because 50% bonus when you reach master level makes it about the same as heavy armor)
4.armorer
5.Restoration (Because if you are at a high level with this skill potions are not needed)
6. Hand to Hand ( good for if you lose your weapon in a fight or if it gets broken)
7. athletics ( helps with speed with this and speed leveled up nothing can catch you)

For signs warrior is what I pick for obvious strength and endurance bonuses but you can also chose thief for speed luck and agility bonuses