I have a couple question about bashing...

Firstly, what is the difference between bashing and power bashing? - I never used shields til recently, so I was suprised to find you can bash with a shield right from the word go, so what is a power bash in contrast to a regular bash?

Secondly do the bashing perks apply when bashing without a shield - for example one handed solo, or two handed weapon bashes. Will they benefit from the power bash and deadly bash perks?

Finally does bow bashing count as bashing for the sake of perks and bashing rules? - I noticed bashing with my bow has been levelling my block skill; does deadly bash and power bash apply to bows? =o

Its pretty much like a normal attack vs. a power attack. When you power bash it uses more stamina and takes longer but hits for more damage and staggers more effectively.

Curious about this myself.

Power bashing causes significantly more staggering than bashing. All bashing perks work with shields, one handed weapons (if left hand is empty), two handed weapons, and bows. Bashing with anything increases the Block skill, which improves bashing damage.

Some of the perks specifically mention shields (ie running with, blocking elemental damage etc) otherwise all bonuses from perks are supposed to apply with just weapons. Just remember you can't block when dual wielding.

Can't block when using a bow either, but you can bash, which is why I'm curious is the bashing perks translate to the bow

Ok i just tested the crap out of it using the console:


Power bash: Cannot be executed using a bow, bashing with the perk does not appear to stagger foes any longer than without the perk when bashing with a bow either.

Deadly bash: DOES increase the damage dealt by bow-bashing

Bash damage: Is based on the item bashed with. A daedric shield deals much more damage than a hide shield. Intrestingly, two handed weapons bash for far more damage than a shield - a daedric warhammer's deadly power bash could one-shot the low level bandits I was testing on (35 hitpoints). Unknown if item improvement raises the damage yet further



I do have one last question though:
Can a power bash stagger or interuppt a dragon?