The mace specialization perks don't work off your weapon's damage at all, they ignore a percentage of the enemy's armor (which would reduce your weapon's current damage by a percentage, so I guess they work off current damage in that sense). If the earlier poster is accurate in saying that most meaningful enemies have 0 armor, though, then the perks are completely worthless. (Really, though? Dwemer constructs have 0 armor? But that's the entire reason I took mace perks in the first place - it seemed like the most sensible way to get an effective attack against the steambots!)


As to the question in the topic, I strongly favor one-handed. I tried two-handed weapons for a bit, but they're just so slooooow. Take one swing, then go make a sandwich or something before you're ready to attack again. It also seemed very fiddly trying to switch between attacking and blocking with them. (Yes, you can block with no shield if you're only wielding one weapon.)

One-handed weapons are a good deal more responsive, plus they give lots of options - you can do the sword-and-board thing if you want to, but you can also put a spell or a second weapon in the other hand as the situation demands.

1 handed, no shield although I used Spellbreaker for a couple of days, usually some destruction spell or soultrap in the left hand.

I go one handed because I prefer to have a shield. Perhaps later on if I feel like defense is plentiful, then I'll go dual wield.

Well, I haven't tested it to a large extent but while I do know how the Mace perks are supposed to work, I'll elaborate on what I meant. Seeing as how the other perks work off of base damage, I think that it might be possible that only the base damage of a Mace gets to penetrate 75% of an enemies armor as opposed to the current damage of the weapon. I say it might be possible because I have no tested it thoroughly so I'm not sure.

In any case, not many foes are armored or heavily armored for that matter so it makes the perk somewhat useless in a lot of situations. That and a mace is the slowest of the one-handed weapons making it less desirable from a defensive finesse perspective (To me in any case and in my opinion).

I did some quick tests with the Mace perks and it appears to be working off of current damage, but like I said before, there are not many enemies that are heavily armored. However, simply because it works off of current damage (Or at least appears to), makes it the best out of the 3 weapon specialized perks. In any case, that's not saying much... :sadface:

PS. And if you do somehow manage to find a heavily armored foe, you can use the Marked For Death shout to make the enemies armor rating into a negative value completely negating the use of the Mace Perks (In theory).

I started with sword and board. Shield Charge is like Unrelenting Force without a cooldown. It also makes Master somewhat easier.

In the spirit of practicality? Unenchanted Daedric Maces in both hands. With a three word Elemental Fury, I can kill an Ancient Dragon in about three seconds and anything else in one.

I use one handed weapons pretty much exclusively in Skyrim.

I have two characters I play regularly, depending on my mood.

One favors 2H weapons (mostly greatswords).

The others favors 1H weapons (dual swords, or sword in one hand + spell in the other hand, or just a dagger for backstab).

I don't think I have ever used a 2handed weapon in any Elder Scrolls game I have ever played. I have "tested" them but never used them on a character.

1x 1h + shield gives much more defence and slightly less damage than a 2-h
2x 1-h give much more attack and a 2-h barely gives any blocking.

There is no real reason to not go for 1-h...

Two-hander all the way. I love the look and feel of a good solid greatsword or axe, and with proper use it's all win. Learning how to block is essential, and picking the bash perk has proved useful to me. Block, bash, attack. Or if you're feeling confident, the running jump-attack takes out most inferior opponents in one blow, making short work of a bandit or forsworn camp.

1h + shield is my go to setup, incredibly versatile, sometimes just 1h/shieldless. fighting dragons with a shield is the most believeable way to go abolut it too
2h is my secondary choice, it's fun to mix it up, plus the finishing moves are awesome, on my second playthrough switching between both these playstyles is great fun.

Tried dual weilding to some extent on my first character, before switching out the offhand for a shield, IMO dual weilding is basically useless, beyond just looking good.

1 hand + spells on other hand

2 one handed weapons.... mace of molag bal+daedric sword= over 120 damage.

has anyone here heard of elemental fury? srsly... elemental fury + 5/5 one handed initial perk + dual wielding attack buffs = unstoppable... downside is you gotta have CRAAAZY high endurance... my magicka and health are 200 at lvl 47... my motto is: if im gettng hit im doing something wrong... the spinning power attack happens in the timelapse of a regular swing animation... highest melee dps IN THE GAME.

Yeah, but you can't block. *pokes you in the face with my greatsword*

if i need to block im doing something wrong... high dps= staggering opponent... twohanded wielding npc's fall the fastest as thier long swing animation means they are a sitting duck. But every melee enemy dies with ease... the only trouble i ever get is from vampire masters and high level mages bombing my kajiit tail with a fireball from afar... but i dodge like any true khajiit so when i know where they are they too fall to my blades in short order...

i should post a dual wielding guide video or something... whoever was in charge of dual wielding and balancing it was definitely a fan of ddu

Depends on the character you want to create overall.

I've tried 2h , 1h dual wield & 1h + shield.The conclusion i came too, was that Dual Wield & 2h offerd strong attacks which were awsome, but incoming damage was a serious issue. However, Sword & Board was just awsome, with the added defence, Perks upto 50% magic resistance & 5 times bash damage, alone this owns. plus the battles last longer which is more enjoyable than one-two hit kills.

My current charatcer is using an orchish Mace + Shield, it's great fun, as my character is sneak + archery based, so mixing things up prevents it being boring.

the extra bash damage makes sense with your orc... i'd love to see a vid of him in action.

I like my two handed Ebony superior warhammer with fire enchantment.

One handed with sheild

A two-hand wielder will typically have high block = no staggering perk. Of course, that doesn't go for those poor bandits =)

I prefer the two handed style, I just wish the axes and hammers didn't stick out 3 feet over my head.

1 handed is what I prefer, and is better. From previous threads I realized that it's more popular.

Cheers

some of them have a hgh block... probably the ones that get hilt bashed to death... foresworn with a 2h is dangerous tho...if he scores a hit anyway