What would be more viable a sword & shield or 2h sword for a tank/dps?

S&S for a tank, 2H/dw for dps.

But you can also tank with a two hander, and you can also dish decent dps with a shield.

hmm would you think a tank with a 2 hander would be more proficient than a sword and shield? I never got to try the tank classes out yet so I have no idea, nor have I tried those weapon types when I was playing the beta.

a tank always uses a shield/sword. a dps=2hand.

now if they're implementing where shield specs can also dps good, is another thing i don't know of.

Sword and shield will be better for tanking, however it's possible to tank with a 2 handed weapon.

The 1 hand and shield allows for greater blocking (reducing damage by a higher amount for less stamina). It wlll largely use puncture for it's taunt.

The 2 handed will have to use defensive skills to help mitigate the damage moreso than the shield, as it will be missing some blocking potential. It will Inner Fire for it's taunt.

In general though 1hand and shield will have greater defensive potential, whilst 2 handed will have greater damage potential.

are you a defensive offensive or a offensive defensive or Tank... offensive defensive is a magic person or two swords or bow.. defensive offensive is a agility person, (heavy armor, shield and sword.. A tank is a health person.. with heavy armor, shield, staff.. a tank has not good at offensive at all...

a tank would probably just spawn pets...

One-Handed and Shield has a threat/taunt skill (Puncture), Two-handed does not. Inner Fire is an Undaunted ability, not Two-handed. From looking at the skills, it seems pretty clear that One-handed and Shield is tank oriented and Two-handed is damage oriented.

• [Active] Puncture – Deals physical damage, reduces the target’s armor, and taunts the target for a moderate duration.
• [Active] Low Slash – Deals physical damage, snares target, and reduces the target’s weapon damage for a moderate duration.
• [Active] Defensive Posture – While slotted, increases block mitigation and reduces block cost. Activating the skill reflects the next spell projectile back at the attacker.
• [Active] Shield Charge – Charges to target and attacks, dealing physical damage and stunning the target for a short duration.
• [Active] Power Bash – Deals physical damage, disorienting the target for a moderate duration.
• [Passive] Sword and Board – While you have a one-handed weapon and shield equipped, all damage and armor are increased.
• [Passive] Deadly Bash – While you have a one-handed weapon and shield equipped, bash deals double damage and costs less stamina.
• [Passive] Fortress – While you have a one-handed weapon and shield equipped, the cost of blocking is reduced.
• [Passive] Deflect Bolts – While you have a one-handed weapon and shield equipped, block an additional percentage of damage from projectiles and ranged attacks.
• [Passive] Battlefield Mobility – While you have a one-handed weapon and shield equipped, movement speed while blocking is increased.

• [Active] Cleave – Deals physical damage to all enemies in front of you, inflicting a bleed dealing damage for a moderate duration.
• [Active] Critical Charge – Charge to target and attack, dealing guaranteed critical physical damage.
• [Active] Uppercut – After a short cast time, deals physical damage to an enemy, stunning them for a short duration and knocking them back a small distance.
• [Active] Reverse Slash – Deals physical damage which increases based on the target’s missing health.
• [Active] Momentum – Increases weapon damage by a flat percentage for a moderate duration, with the percentage amount increasing every few seconds.
• [Passive] Heavy Weapons – While a two-handed weapon is equipped, axes have a chance to inflict a bleed damage over time effect, maces ignore a flat amount of armor, and swords deal a flat percentage more damage.
• [Passive] Balance – Reduces the cost of two-handed weapon ability by a moderate percentage.
• [Passive] Forceful Impact – While a two-handed weapon is equipped, light and heavy attacks deal a moderate percentage of the damage as splash damage to an additional nearby enemy.
• [Passive] Arcane Fighter – While a two-handed weapon is equipped, the chance of proccing status effects is doubled.
• [Passive] Battle Rush – While a two-handed weapon is equipped, killing an enemy increases stamina regeneration by a significant amount for a moderate duration.

Neither is more proficient. It really depend on you and what you like.

I never said Inner Fire was a 2handed ability, I said if using a 2handed build to tank, that would be your taunt. There is nothing stopping you from acquiring and using the skill.

You can use actives from any line (taking all stamina abilities would really hamper that one resource). Also many classes have defensive abilities in their various skill lines which can be used to aid in tanking. It's not all about the weapon choice.

As I said as well 1hand and shield has more defensive potential (due to the passives and actives available in the weapon skill line).

Ah, gotcha...Seemed like you were from how you worded it. You said One-handed and Shield would use Puncture (which is from that skill line) for a taunt, then said Two-handed would use Inner Fire for it's taunt, but didn't mention it was from another skill line. In other words it looks like you were telling us the taunts available for each skill line.

"The 1 hand and shield allows for greater blocking (reducing damage by a higher amount for less stamina). It wlll largely use puncture for it's taunt.

The 2 handed will have to use defensive skills to help mitigate the damage moreso than the shield, as it will be missing some blocking potential. It will Inner Fire for it's taunt."

Inner fire, the go to tank ability for everyone not wanting to use 1hand and shield

Hehe yeah I could see how that could be read

To be fair though most of the skills in use for a tank likely won't be from the weapon tree, even a one handed and shield would likely only take one (Puncture) or 2 to help keep up stamina for blocking, bashing and evasion, whilst using magicka for damage, CC and defensive buffs

You can do both... at level 15 you get a weapon swap ability, with separate skill bars for the two weapons

But yeah, the approach in this game is to look at the skill lines for the weapons and decide for yourself which skills you want... and of course your class (and to a lesser extent, race and armor type) also provide skills, so they play a role too.

I have no idea about higher levels, at 10-15 I never actually used the shield when I had it. Everything died long before I was in danger of loosing. Even multiple-mob pulls. I ended up switching to 2H even for tanking.

Ha, yeah I'm by no means very knowledgeable. Just trying to figure it out somewhat before launch. I only got my Templar to level 10 during beta, so I really don't have a clue what to do or what's best, lol. Peace.