[CORY]

I was thinking about starting a new character with patch 1.3 and an orc warrior sounded pretty fun. I was thinking sword and board style as opposed to dual wielding. How have some of you other sword and board players liked playing that style? I guess I kind of picture an Orc using a shield with his sword and thus it appeals to me from an RP perspective. What other skills might I mix in with it, without getting into magic to much?

Best setup I found thus far. 1hander, shield and heavy armor, powered by smithing.

You DO NOT need magic. I don't use magic at all excepting some occasional Healing spells on myself while out of combat. You also DO NOT need bows. Only time I use bows is when a dragon attacks a town and just refuses to land so the only way is to shoot a bow while it lands on a roof. The other time I use a bow is when I need to pull a room filled with mobs into a choke point so I can chop them up 1 or 2 at a time (used this tactic a lot in Potema's throne room which was filled with draugr and not doable Rambo style, so I just pulled them one by one into the doorway).

Sword and board is superior to a 2hander build because you can block blows much better with a shield, you can stagger opponents on demand with a shield bash, you can interrupt mage flamethrowers, and get 50% resistance to magic while you block. Combat is way more fun and involved rather than smashing some guy's face in with a 2hander. The down side is that your damage is pretty low but I make up for that by having a little bit of enchanting, just to add 15 fire damage to a weapon and also able to make it with a decent amount of charge so I don't have to pop a soul gem to recharge the weapon every 5 mobs.

[Tinkerbells]

I find it hard to drop the two handed weapons. I am running a 200+ damage battle axe. by tomorrow i hope to run a 300+ weapon. Help me get off my two handed addiction. i mean i just took on two giants and two mammoths in melee combat, it takes 3-4 hits to kill a dragon and almost every monster in the game is one hit so it is hard to give it up.

I am not sure what end game weapon stats look like but if your axe is 300+ by using the potions, and whatever else it is to get ur enchanting to like 800% (exaggerated number) then I am not interested. I like to RP and stay within my bounds. I am not here to play the "l0l lets see how much armor and weapon damage I can stack by maxing x, using y potions, etc"

[ruCkii]

I would also reccomend taking the Perk, Arcane Blacksmith, if you want to use enchanted weapons, then it can't hurt to be able to improve them to add to the damage output.

TBH, I have a lot of success with an unenchanted Nord Hero Sword (can only be smithed at Skyforge in Whiterun) I have mine improved to Flawless, coupled with Ysgramor's Shield (10 or 15% magic resistance), and having Power Bash, Elemental Protection and Block Runner means you become one hell of a Mage slayer.

[Zualett]

I'm doing something like this with a redguard, except it's more like "Mace and Face" (you come up with a term for a shield that rhymes with mace)

I think "Brace and Mace" as in brace for impact then mace them

[Josh Sabatini]

Quick Reflexes- This is another perk that is not completely necessary. If you have slow reflexes and can't see a power attack coming in time to shield bash it then by all means.

The main thing about this perk is to get the slow-time, allowing the player to easily dodge the attack to heal or attack from the side. Depending on the enemy and weapon, you can dodge and throw in several attacks before the slow-time is out.

[Carlos Rojas]

This is the setup I use as well. It's amazing! You really do need the perks to maximise the experience though.

Shield Wall- Very good perk but unless you literally want to take almost no damage when blocking; it's not necessary to max it out.
Deflect Arrows- Don't take this perk expecting to be completely safe from arrows. It does not work that way. Unless the arrow hits your shield it won't deflect it. It's mildly helpful.
Quick Reflexes- This is another perk that is not completely necessary. If you have slow reflexes and can't see a power attack coming in time to shield bash it then by all means.
Power Bash- This perk is a MUST when you go sword and board. Makes a great interupt against melee power attacks, dragon's breath, and caster spells.
Elemental Protection- So helpful against Dragons, Wisps, and most casters. Highly reccomend taking Block Runner along with this perk.
Deadly Bash- There's really no reason not to take this perk if you already have Power Bash. It increases the dmg output. You can also one-shot mudcrabs, wolves, and skeevers.
Block Runner- This perk coupled with Elemental Protection spells doom for casters. The mobility it gives while blocking is too good to ignore.
Disarming Bash- It sounds great which is why I took it, but I have had this perk for nearly 10 levels and I don't think I have seen it disarm once. Not sure if its a glitched.
Shield Charge- For a final perk in the block tree this is really "meh." My recommendation is to pass on this and take "Critical Charge" in the one-handed tree instead.

You have got to be joking re Quick Reflexes... Its hands down the best perk in the tree.

You get a free Slow Time effect every damn time someone power attacks, they start the attack you drop block sidestep the attack and throw your own power attack at their stumbling slow-mo joke of an attack.

[Chris Ellis]

Imo, shields are what makes warriors worth playing. Block Runner <3

[Alyesha Neufeld]

You have got to be joking re Quick Reflexes... Its hands down the best perk in the tree.

You get a free Slow Time effect every damn time someone power attacks, they start the attack you drop block sidestep the attack and throw your own power attack at their stumbling slow-mo joke of an attack.

This. That Slow Time can give you more than just an evaded power attack, you can get to the other side of them and hit them once or twice during that time. I suspect it would be an invaluable help if you weren't blocking with a shield, but with a less reliable block using a 2H or 1H sans shield.

Agreed on Deflect Arrows though, it helps out some but if they don't fire it right at your shield you'll get hit anyways and there aren't any tower shields as far as I know.

And Block Runner is definitely a must-have, bashes are also pretty good as interrupts for casting mages.

[Laura Tempel]

I am not sure what end game weapon stats look like but if your axe is 300+ by using the potions, and whatever else it is to get ur enchanting to like 800% (exaggerated number) then I am not interested. I like to RP and stay within my bounds. I am not here to play the "l0l lets see how much armor and weapon damage I can stack by maxing x, using y potions, etc"

No that will be my tweak i have yet to do that stuff because i know once i do i will get board. i have a set of armor that is all smithing boost, i then go upgrade my axe. i do this once every 25 points in enchanting, i have yet to make my 100 point enchanted smithing gear. I do not plan on doing the whole use alchemy enchant item to get better enchant potion then use potion to make better alchemy enchant item, rinse repeat (like i said i am saving that for my tweak after i have beat the game with all three types of main characters. 200+ is a ebony battle axe, i plan on using a new set of smithing gear and a "demon" axe. if not 300+ it will be damn close.

By the way are there any good Head enchants all i can find is stuff that helps alchemy and magic nether of which my current character uses.

[Bethany Watkin]

You have got to be joking re Quick Reflexes... Its hands down the best perk in the tree.
You get a free Slow Time effect every damn time someone power attacks, they start the attack you drop block sidestep the attack and throw your own power attack at their stumbling slow-mo joke of an attack.

Completely unnecessary. Power attacks are easily defended even without the slow time. There's no need for all that side-stepping when you can simply block, bash, swat, and power attack and ultimately wind up with the very same result only difference is you would saved a perk point. It's a preference perk but as I said, completely unnecessary.

[Ridhwan Hemsome]

Shield wall is broken and does nothing. You should only go 1/5 in it to unlock the other perks.

Quick reflexes is incredibly good/fun. The slowdown means that you can often block/interrupt power attacks that would've otherwise definitely hit you, due to you swinging your weapon or being staggered.

Shield charge is fun but ridiculously overpowered/broken. You can just do a spazzy 0.2 second sprint at any time (with the shield raised) and knockdown everything around you. It's crazy.

Elemental protection is partially broken in that raising your shield after a spell has already started to hit you has no effect (e.g. dragon breath).

Power bash doesn't make it a better interrupt. You can interrupt just the same way without it. It just makes your shield bash do some amount of damage, as far as I can tell. I don't know if the damage is high enough to be worth getting. I seriously doubt that it scales well/at all.


Apart from the various problems mentioned, sword+shield is probably the most technically interesting melee style (although that doesn't mean much), simply because you have a few extra options (bash, charge, block). I recommend it for that reason alone.

[Kevin S]

Spoiler

It's helpful to do Peryite's quest north of Markarth for the awesome shield.

Why do you have to include a spoiler without hiding it? I did it for you with my reply.. Ever heard of

Spoiler

sort it out.

[Phillip Hamilton]

Completely unnecessary. Power attacks are easily defended even without the slow time. There's no need for all that side-stepping when you can simply block, bash, swat, and power attack and ultimately wind up with the very same result only difference is you would saved a perk point. It's a preference perk but as I said, completely unnecessary.

Thats just like saying 'upgrading my weapon is unnecessary' and that may be true. You could still kill an enemy with your half broken iron sword, but it would be harder than if you had a Legendary Daedric Mace with double enchants.

[katsomaya Sanchez]

I've got a sword n' board Dunmer warrior. I don't really like how in all TES games your always holding your shield, I'd rather have mine strapped across my back and having my hands free. Usually when I'm travelling I have my shield unwielded.

[Jamie Moysey]

Elemental protection is partially broken in that raising your shield after a spell has already started to hit you has no effect (e.g. dragon breath).

I've had my suspicions about this. Thank you for helping to verify this.

Power bash doesn't make it a better interrupt. You can interrupt just the same way without it. It just makes your shield bash do some amount of damage, as far as I can tell. I don't know if the damage is high enough to be worth getting. I seriously doubt that it scales well/at all.

It doesn't, but in this style of play you use the shield bash so much even though it scales badly you just can't pass it up.

[Lovingly]

Completely unnecessary. Power attacks are easily defended even without the slow time. There's no need for all that side-stepping when you can simply block, bash, swat, and power attack and ultimately wind up with the very same result only difference is you would saved a perk point. It's a preference perk but as I said, completely unnecessary.

Agreed, the slowdown basically nerfs the Melee and makes it... Well, boring. I like my combat fast paced.

Steady Hand (in archery, which slows everything down when you zoom in using Eagle Eye, including your shot) is how it should have been done, gives you only a slight avantage, i.e. A few extra seconds to line up and lead your shot, and Eagle Eye, saps stamina so it comes at a price.