Hey all, just re rolled a two handed, heavy armor melee type, and looking for a magic school to add. I first thought of destruction, but that just seems a bit boring, and I deal plenty of damage, just looking to make it more interesting, thoughts?

See my signature, the Summoner class, it's a heavily armored 2h warrior specializing in conjuration with a bit of restoration, also proficient with a bow. It's loads of fun.

Conjuration or Illusion. Only use Destruction if you plan on that as your primary source of damage. Conjuration is probably your best bet. You can have a small army roaming around with you tearing things to pieces.

I would also say... zombies...

You know, if you have the aptitude, you should join the Mage's College in Winterhold.

Agreeing on conjuration. I find trying to play a 2-hander and using "active" spellcasting (destruction, etc.) to be a bit clumsy since you can't swing and cast at the same time. Conjuration you can use as a Set It And Forget It spellcasting ability at the beginning/end of combat.

That is pretty much the whole problem with Magicka in Skyrim and why it does not synergize very well is the fact you cannot use it in conjunction with weapons. The game would be a lot better if you did not have to switch out weapons and magic in order to cast or swing...

I'd say alteration so you have a little extra armor to make up for the lack of a shield. That's what I do with my dual-wielding Khajiit alchemist.

I'm going to have to try that out, I started a character sort of like that a while back, but went back to my sword-master idea. (1h/2h/heavy armor/alchemy)

You don't need the armor, you can pick up Blocking perks without the shield and Bash with your 2H. Combine that Conjures, and a Companion and you will never so much as get touched.

Another benefit of conjuration is when you meet one of those pesky deathlords with a disarm shout; a bound battleaxe can't be disarmed.

Restoration, if you're gonna roll out without a shield. That and possibly enchanting, to make up for the lack with some good healing enchantments on your armor.

well, you don't have to switch if you use a 1 handed weapon. That is part of the advantage a spellsword has- quickness.

On topic- since you cannot use spells without putting your big weapon away, conjuration is my vote. Nothing else is going to mesh very well

If you did restoration- then you have to stop attacking and go no offense to heal, so youll have to run away alot- I would rely on potions for healing in this case.

Destruction- you can't use it with your sword, so its a choice between destruction or 2 hander- 2 hander.

Illusion- It could work, if you frenzy or calm things before you begin, but if you have to pick 1 shool I would still go with conjuration.

Alteration- you really do not want to have an active defense (requiring repeated casting) for armor as a 2 hander, youll want armor. Course there are great magic defense perks in this tree, but they are pretty for up and require alot of investment.

Restoration? Can't go wrong with healing. Especially with Respite.

In theory yes, but Spellswords in Skyrim are pretty crappy. You would be better off going pure Warrior or pure Mage. Being a Spellsword offers no unique advantages a Hybrid normally has.

I beg to differ- I love my spellsword.

blade in right hand
left hand has 1-8 hotkey
1 blade
2 bow
3 paralyze
4 ebonyflesh
5 detect life/death
6 invisibility
7 fire rune
8 bound sword

Being a vampire makes this even stronger.
And I can switch up the boatload of spells I have to match the situation. Main blade does 160-180 damage right now with only arcane smith. This character is quick and easily adaptable so it is quite fun. Crappy? I haven't had a problem on master.

Unique advantages? good at killing warriors or mages at the turn of a hat. No stalls for equipment or spell loadouts. - you are the fastest.

Like I said, it is inferior to a Pure Warrior or Pure Mage build. You can just as easily weapon swap to cast any of those spells in dual-cast form for superior results. Using Destruction as an off-hand is INCREDIBLY inefficient and lackluster also.

Oh nobody is talking about using destruction in the offhand- I don't know where you got that impression from my post, unless you did not read carefully.

Inferior? are we forgetting it is a single player game? I am sure after a time all of us made a 1 shot kill uber character. At this point for me I want a challenge, and I want fun.

Well, I was thinking about Restoration for healing, but one of you had a good point. In combat you'd have to switch from your weapon to cast. I was thinking out of combat, but frankly healing out of combat is pointless except to level the skill; you heal pretty quickly after combat is over anyway. So I might have to change my vote to summoning.

Just be sure whatever you pick fits with your character concept.

Yeah, I am playing a spellsword of sorts right now, and it is a heck of a lot of fun but I am getting my butt kicked on adept more than other characters on expert. The problem with a spell sword as I see it is that you are using so many skills at once you level up (and face higher level monsters) before you are really good at anything. I use primarily illusion, conjuration, restoration, sneak, heavy armor with steed stone (just because heavy armor looks better than light armor on my dunmer), archery, one handed, smithing, enchanting, and alchemy. The casting system (where you need a free hand to cast spells) also makes it tougher to play a spellsword in Skyrim than in prior games.

i'd personally go, with only 1 choice: restoration. paladin. pick your alignment.

Re: the OP, I'd suggest conjuration or illusion. Al lot of folks are recommending conjuration, and that is a valid choice. Depends on whether you are the kind of player who wants to charge in and announce your presence or the kind of player who prefers to sneak in and wreak havoc before anyone knows you are there.

With illusion you get invisibility/muffle/quiet casting as well as the frenzy spells. You could sneak in invisible and under muffle, quietly cast a frenzy to clear out the room and clean up what is left with your 2H sword. 2H sneakers are rare and don't get the same sneak damage bonus as one handed, but it still could be fun.

Lol, I always ran paladins, think I'll do a swoed and board for tha next, I like the summoning idea though, send in the troops, then start hacking away.

I had no problem at all keeping my armor up without a shield. Heavy armor perks + smithing more than do the job. I ended up maxing out armor at level 35, and and am still running around in orc armor. Only reason I learned to smith ebony was so I could make a legendary ebony suit for my follower(s), and to pimp some 50% fire resist ebony boots I found.

The logical magic choice for a two handed fighter is enchanting. Guess that's not technically a school of magic, but its well worth study...

Of the actual schools, I'd say conjuring makes the most sense, as you do it outside of combat. Or any school that has a perk you really want (eg, Regneration from the Restoration school.)

summoning, if i had one choice only, is seriously fun stuff. my daughter thinks likewise, lol.