Well, I'm not sure about you guys but this skill kind of bugs me. It looks to me that Block purely applies to shields only, judging from the known perks. Now, what about us, myself included, that just want to use the one longsword approach? Can we no longer block effectively, if at all, with one single handed sword? In addition, I've heard rumors that if you use one singled handed sword alone, you'll use it with two hands instead of one. Thoughts guys?

I agree with you but I have absolutely no valuable input.

The left branch looks like it applies to weapons, actually. "Deflect Arrows" wouldn't be too useful for a shield.

Exactly, I was going to mention that we've only seen the right branch of the perk tree. The left, as you stated, will likely have perks for those of us who block and parry with our weapons. :tops:

So your telling me that deflecting arrows with a sword makes more sense than deflecting arrows with a shield, I was not aware being dragonborn meant your a Jedi.

"Dovahkiin, I am your father" - Alduin.

He's telling you that any idiot holding a shield will deflect arrows if he blocks with it . The perk probably only applies to weapons

Shields protect you from arrows by virtue of being a damn shield. There's no special skill required, you just hold it up. Riposte is equally useless with a shield.

Especially since a riposte is a strike made right after parrying an incoming attack. I'd say that is all the proof needed to confirm the left branch applies to weapons. :tops:

(Mostly my logic comes from riposte being a fencing term. In fencing you must parry an opponent's incoming strikes with your rapier, foil, etc. and be able to quickly retaliate or riposte)

Deflect arrows and counter attack you say sounds delightful!!! One handed sword for the win!

The impression I got from the perk however is that arrows, instead of piercing and sticking into your shield thus hurting you a tad, merely bounce off instead.

Not exactly.. the left side of the tree is defensive use of the shield the right offensive use of same shield. We know they are adding more perks as they go but I wouldnmt be surprised if all the block perks are for shields.

Exactly. Which concerns me, for some reason. I just hope one handed sword combat can actually be effective in this one.

Well, what sense would there be in alienating a large amount of people who aren't going to use shields? Logically it makes no sense, and I certainly hope Bethesda doesn't do something that idiotic.

Doesn't the description of the block skill say "blocking with weapons or a shield." or something along those lines?

How does one riposte with a shield?

Same way you do with a weapon.. block then WHACK!

They don't use shields in fencing, just as one doesn't http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riposte with a shield. :tops:

(Plus, the redundancy of giving Shield users a Shield Bash as well as a Riposte, where's the logic in it?)

but Theres already a shield bash... why be redundant and have 'auto shield bash' too? seems fishy to me..

I'm under the impression there will be perks for blocking with two handed weapons, but I dont know if a one handed weapon will get any love by itself... what would make the most sense would be to allow the player to use two handed block perks, like he would with a two handed weapon, if all he has equipped is a single one handed weapon. everyone is happy then except battlemages lol. oh, and possibly dual wielders too... sorry guys lol