What is better, to use a shield to stop the enemy from dealing deadly blows while bashing to create openings, or relying on sheer speed and doubled melee damage to take the enemy down as quickly as possible?

it depends if you are looking for any defense or not obviously with dual wielding their is no defense and you are vulnerable to all kind of attacks but its much effective and an kill opponents much faster so if you are good at dodging you can use dual wield to good effect thats what i did for my assassin always when the enemies were tying to attack me i was moving away from them and then hit them when they were still in attacking animation

I'd like to hear the consensus on this as well. I'm using a 2H atm and well....it hasn't been a very fun experience honestly. I have been leveling "Health" for the past 30 levels, use heavy armor & half the time I engage Bandit Chiefs/Marauders or any other high level enemy in close combat they use decapitate cinematic in like 1 second, even if I am in full swing about to connect with them. Just instagibbed. What the h*ll is that all about?

I haven't tried a sword & board character before, have always done archery/magic & it was much much easier.

1h obviously gives you the advantage of better blocking, but when you are using 2h you rarely find yourself actually needing blocking.

2h also has the Sweep perk, which is the very definition of USEFUL when fighting multiple enemies.

When using 2h, I always start it out with a sprint attack, then immediately do a sweep left, then to right (depending on where the enemies are). By then most enemies tend to be dead so it's just picking up the trash from then on. When using 1h you are strictly restricted to fighting one opponent at a time so fighting larger groups becomes substantially trickier.

A lot of people seem to level up health primarily on 2 handers, I think they're doing it wrong. Stealth is what you want for 2 handers, in fact I level nothing else, at all.

I have fairly good stealth honestly. I think it is 91? I have put all my attribute points into health/stamina.

Have 5-6 pts into stealth skill tree, maxed out persuasion (Wanted to make a diplomatic character), maxed out 2H, 8-9 pts into Archery, Smithing up to Daedric.

Basically here is how encounters generally go. Either I am higher level than enemies & I outright 1 shot them -or- I fight a on level enemy & the moment I attempt to use a power attack they use decapitation animation on me while I am at full health. Believe my health is like 300-400? Wearing all heavy armor + Lord stone. Is this normal? I've had to resort to using a ton of paralysis potions to knock these enemies on the ground & keep them on the ground so I don't get instantly killed.

OP i think is talking about dual wield (one-handed weapons in both hands ) not 2-handed weapons

Oh no, I was under the impression they were referring to sword & board vs 2H's. Sorry for derailing the thread.

Different strokes for different folks. It all depends on what melee method you prefer and how skilled you are at using it. Both require timing, one is *safer* than the other with regard to defense. One is more brutal than the other with regard to offense.

Does blocking with a twohanded weapon instead of a shield level up your block skill?

Yes, it does. Several Block perks affect weapon blocking as well.

which ones?

Perks with single crosses next to their names http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Block apply to weapons as well as to shields. (Double crosses are shield only).

wow awesome

one more question: is blocking with a torch effective at all? i like using it to set enemies on fire but question its efficacy

Damn, totally missed that part.

Well, my point stands. 2h is better than anything 1h can bring to the table.

Dual Wielding is just fun and very effective, especially when combined with Elemental Fury, even if most of My Dual Wielders use Bound Swords.

There is no other attack style that can match the potential Damage Per Second of Dual Wielding powerful Enchanted Weapons.

Seeing a Draugr in a Killcam decapitate Your character because of the pile of Foes caused Your character to slide back just an inch too far is the downside It happened and I was not amused.

Getting close to Mages and Archers is not fun for a Dual Wielder, but as long as Your character has the Stamina to keep up an attack not even Dragons last long.

Why not combine both ? use shield for tougher enemies and dual wield for weaker ones or finishing off an opponent once they're health bar is low.

Sword and shield is a waste at higher levels 40+ because if you built your character correctly, dual wield and 2 handers do insane amounts of damage that you can kill ancient dragons in 3-5 power attacks. This is assuming the person is playing on Adept.

If you're using a two hander, there is no reason to block. Sitting their and waiting for the guy to attack you is a waste considering you're going to recoil no matter what. It's like you're asking to get hit and then hit again. The best thing to do is to wear heavy armor early on, and learn to bait attacks by moving forward and then backing up. Most enemies will do [censored] proof power attacks leaving them completely open when you dodge it. At low levels it is crucial that you never block with a two hander. You're literally asking for yourself to be decapitated. Sabre cats and cave bears will make your life miserable if you just sit there and block their attacks. You have to learn how to dodge hits and if you take and hit, turn and run, hotkey fast healing and heal. If you're going to build a two handed character or dual wield, you need restoration unless you want to rely on healing potions. Your defense is going to be Restoration.

I would also like to add that at low levels for both dual wield and Two handed is that against much more powerful enemies, you need to play very aggressively. If you come across a Troll or a Snow Bear at level ten, you need to either haul ass or run at that mother [censored] and power attack hoping for a stagger. You can't just sit around all day and try and dodge everything or else you're going to die. Dual Wield especially is very unforgiving at low levels because it has less range than two handers. It would literally be suicide if you built your dual wield guy in light armor and didn't stealth.

At higher levels you can literally just smash through things. You may also use light armor as its much better than heavy armor when you have high smithing and enchanting. Heavy Armor is literally only good at low levels when you can barely scratch the armor cap. Otherwise Light Armor when it hits the armor cap is better because you get 50% energy regeneration.

It doesn't matter which stats you have at higher levels. At low levels I would recommend health because you will get hit. I would at least get around 180-200 health before even starting to raise Energy. People overate how good energy is but you can enchant your way around it at mid levels. You basically want high health because it enables you to play more aggressively.

Archers aren't a problem for any Dual wield two hander build if they have heavy armor or have the armor cap. Mages are tough because they're fast until you do the Mara questine and get 15% passive magic reduction and there's a stone that increases your hit points as well as your passive magic resistance. Using "Fus" shout will temporally stagger the mage leaving him/her open for an attack that will usually decapitate them or almost kill them.

Which Mara questline?

I would say that, if you plan to use 1h/shield go with Light Armor, and if you plan on using dual wielding, use Heavy Armor. This is to compensate for the armor rating. Personally, I prefer 1h/shield with my Ranger build because I have been taking block perks. Taking advantage!

Well in my opinion:

One Handed w/ Shield - Best overall. Balance of offense and defense. Especially against Archers, Mages, and Dragons (arrow deflect and elemental resist perks are nice). You block till you close the distance then bash and slash or thrash (blade or a blunt resctively hehehe). With Warriors, just bash them whenever they try to power attack and take them down easily. When facing multiple opponents, just shield charge to knock them all up and have a chance to get free hits off, rinse and repeat.

One Handed Dual Wielding - Not the worst, but not the best. There is literally no point to dual wielding other than to use power attacks. You cannot attack any faster normally and now don't even anything to block or stagger enemies. Your power attacks basically make you slice and dice three times but at only 1.5x damage per hit. That is basically 4.5x damage total instead of just 2x damage in a single power hit.

Two Handed - Worst and pretty useless after a certain point. It is heavy, slow, doesn't benefit from sneak attack perks or the Dark Brotherhood glove enchantment, and actually outclassed at higher tiers where the base damage doesn't make up for the speed. Can't be used with a shield or magic either.

Go to Riften. There is a Temple of Mara near the hold. Talk to the priestess and do her quest. The 15% magic resist for free basically is worth it.

ok, cheers bud

I have had similar fights - from full health to dead in one hit (and with 500ish AC). And these aren't against a boss, just bandit marauders and the like. So, I've learned to feint - move in close to hit and then draw back to avoid their counter blow. I used to just stand close and try to pummel them down but that really doesn't work. You have to be nimble. I've tried both dual wielding and two-handed configurations. I think two-handed is now my preference as you still have the option to block. Also, the Skull Crusher perks for war hammers are just brutal. By the time you get all three, you ignore 75% of your opponent's AC so ... yeah, they're going down. Regardless of whether you go dual wield or two-handed, try maneuvering and see if that doesn't even things up.