It's like the heavy armor vs light armor question. Both have the "no armor weight" perk though.

Greatsword. You get power, awesome looks, and block.

You dont need the perk, just use the steed stone.

My first char who is 47 used 2handers and am now playing a dual wielder, and i don't think i've come far enough to acually make dual wielding any good, the impression i have so far is very underwhelming and seems to rely on overwhelming offense where a 2hander is more versatile and dosen't rely on opening menues all the time.
Once you go up in levels you'll start 1 or 2 shotting enemies and if they aren't dead by the first charge attack, they're staggered, that's the nice part about 2handers is the amount you stagger enemies, it's almost garentied.
From my experience so far, i'm taking way,way more damage as a dual wielder than i ever did with my 2hander, you'll get usedto the speed of the weapons eventually but the key to 2handers are power attacks, thing is, you can't move and swing at the same time, so besides blocking you're best bet is to load up on stamina and keep enemies staggerd, if they aren't staggered, bash 'em! The only times it's better to use normal attacks is when you know you haveto block or move quickly, like Dragur Dethlords who refuse to be staggerd py power attacks, better to do a normal swing and then block and repeat, trying to conserve stamina to interupt his power attacks. And on that note, if you do go the 2hand rute, invest in blocking till you can get quick reflexes, makes interupting power attacks real easy.
TL;DR Don't underestimate the awsomeness of the bash, it's a life saver and great defensivly and offensivly, and you don't even haveto equipt a shield/de-equipt your offhand to do it.

Two handed is very satisfying, you crunch people and completely dominate them. But one handed offers flexibility - shield, two melee, melee and spell, etc etc.

If you use 2h, its all about finding the right swing. If you manage to do it right, your character will swing back and forth all the time, dealing some heavy damages.

This.

Steed Stone is more useful for heavy armor users though, since they need to invest 2 usless perk points to get what they want.
In other words, heavy armor need to pay 3 perk points where light armor pays 1.

Steed stone is great for heavy armor, where light armor should continue the left way for the stamina reg anyway.

As for this discussion. 2h all the way as again, dual wield damage I feel is a tad broken, its doing too much damage.

And if you have problem with dragon breaths. Well you cant block them with 2h either.
Just sprint to the side and use restoration to heal yourself.

Once the dragon land, he is dead in around 2-4 seconds. Tops, as dual wield.

I'm using a deadric and ebony longsword with 100 smithing (no enchants or exploits), I play on master and pretty much plow through everything I encounter. I played 2h on my 1st char and I lost my faith in it while doining the companions crypt quest on this char the quest went smooth as butter, once you target someone and press both mouse buttons you turn into a remorseless land mower od annihilation.

Once you are higher level you take far less damage then even 1h+shield since enemies wont touch you.
Also, the dual wield powerattack is an AOE attack, you will kill all enemies standing close to eachother with this attack.
Who needs the powerswing of 2h when Dual wield normal power attack have it inbuilt.

Again, 2h is the way to go as it requires more skills and timing.
Dual wield mid game onwards does redicilous amount of damage and with swords and +35% flurry, you will do 2 dual wield power attacks at the time it takes to do 1 2h power attack.
Now, with dual wield power attacks you swing 4 times, and each swing hits as much as anormal power attack. Add in +50% power attack damage from dual wield.
And you do around 5 times as much damage as 2h when you are dual wielding.
But, you do lack stagger and some tougher enemies can crack you open.
But since you are 1 shotting giants and 2, 3 shotting frost and elder dragons. There is little that will "crack" you open.

However, if you play dual wield with no enchanting and no smithing. Then its a different game, its still powerful but you need to apply more tactics.
I just feel 2h is more Skyrim and feels more "right" if you want to do damage.
I cant stand 1h+shield since it was how you was forced to play in Dark Souls or you would die, die die.
Its very powerful and a way to make melee encounters take time and be easy.

It's still an opportunity cost thing though. If you forgo those perks and get the Steed stone instead, you can't have either the Lord or Lady Stone.

You get a lot of crits or kill animations with 2h, as someone mentioned above. And nothing is quite as satisfying as hoisting a bothersome mage up on your greatsword (or bashing him into the ground with your hammer) when he still has half health.

Maybe I'm just dumb but every time I've tried to use the dual-wield power attack the enemy I'm trying to hit gracefully circle strafes me and avoids all of the hits, or conveniently steps backwards out of my range as I flail around uselessly.

Sword and shield or two-handed weapons all the way.

I'm gonna be trying a playstyle out and figured I'd run it up the flagpole here to see if anyone has had any success with it. I'm wanting to do a two hander that staggers with a power bash then swings wild with a elemental fury enhanced greatsword, avoiding stamina draining power attacks, saving the energy for my bashes.

Also, does anyone know what, if any, block perks augment two handed blocking?

I think Shield Wall applies to 2H weapons as well, Deadly Bash increases the damage of all bashing attacks (not just shields), and I think that's about it.

Nord Warrior, two handed axe user. I just wreck face daily. Two shot all mobs, easily one shot most non boss (master vampires etc, two shot them) and I can take down an elder dragon with four running crit swings. It's boss.

My Daedric Battleaxe (Legendary) has 170 base damage before crits.

From a Level 44 combat all-rounder excluding magic, 70+ of both one-handed and two-handed, i can say one-handed is probably better as they can be used with shields or duel wield, and later on seem to deal damage quicker (obviously! but its important) whilst two-handed weapons are devastating they are slow and there can be consequences if you miss swings whilst your enemy digs at you with faster attacks often.

Are swords faster than maces and axes in the two handed tree as in one handed?

the warhammer is slow where as the greatsword swings faster,
my Ork uses the greatsword and with the perks that give crit and extra damage with chance to decapitate and extra damage when standing still and to be able to use power attacks when running,
all that makes 2 Handers so devastating.
And yes 2 Handers are supposed to be slower than dual but they hit harder, in the end it's all about personal preference.

I've been using 2-handed for a while, it's very destructive and it can stagger the enemy too.
A few hits from a high-damage great sword then your enemies down.(also because I'd tend to enchant my weapons as well, making it even more destructive)
But I've never tried one-handed though, so there might be advantage to this somehow.

I'm taken back by this! I just rolled a dual wield redguard ranger and now I am worried I will be op!!!! Should I be rolling 2 hander ranger then? I was only planning on going alchemy for my crafting skill (it goes with a ranger...come on!).

Build is redguard with archery, dual wield, light armor, sneak, and alchemy. But after this im considering archery, 2 handed, block, light armor, sneak, and alchemy.


Would dual wield be too op with this setup? Or should I be rolling two hander for block and sweep?

I find 2h more demanding, in terms of positioning and timing than dual-wield, and besides, it has more variations due to ability to block and bash, hence more fun and rewarding . Just me though.

I use both 2h and 1h.
2h overhead power smashes are great for staggering foes and massive damage, but you can be more vulnerable wielding the 2 handers due to the slower speed. Also stamina seems to go down very fast with this style of attack. It`s also much easier to miss swinging the two handers.
Forsworn Briarhearts, for instance, can be a pain using 2 handed weapons due to their fast attack speed. They can get a good few hits in, for each of your smashes.
1h with shield is great for multiple opponents, mix in some power shield bashes and the elemental protection from shield blocking, and it`s very handy for mages/dragons etc. so it`s well worth it. I think 1h+shield is probably the best but 2 handers just look cooler

Sword and Shield is a great combo. Nice balance between keeping your enemies off balance, blocking their attacks, and striking the openings.

I have a sneaking suspicion greatsword+elemental fury is going to feel very, very right.

I have every skill in the game to 100 and I find 2H to be far superior to one-handers. A power attack with a 2H is pretty much a guaranteed stagger on your opponent even if they're blocking not to mention it's massive damage. IMO if you're using sneak attacks go 1H, if you're charging in and fighting use 2H all the way.

edit: Note, I did spec into greatswords. Maybe axes and hammers are slower. I don't use them.