I've found that if you go 2H instead of 1H+Shield, it's a good idea to bump Stamina to about 200-250 (no more than that, though) and add an Absorb enchantment to your weapon. You cannot block with a weapon as effectively as you can with a shield, so you'll be spending a lot more time bashing; between that and Power Attacks you'll drain Stamina fairly quickly, so want a somewhat bigger pool to start with.

You should probably be bashing anyway, as it's a good way to set up the Power Attacks that are the staple of 2H weapons; bash a couple of times then slam them while they recover, which auto-staggers and keeps the chain going. Especially useful against Draugr that use the Disarm shout, as it keeps them from getting one off, and against Dragons, as it keeps them from using the auto-kill bite attack.

In terms of stamina investment for 2H or Shield+1H, from my experiment, I still find stamina lacks demand in any investment.

You can bash with only one stamina and to regen that one stamina from zero, it's around 2 seconds. You can of course use Veg Soup which regen stamina every second should you wish to endlessly shield/ block them.

There are glitches allowing you to have extra enchanting slots which in turn lets you make:
43% fortify smithing/alchemy enchantments
87% fortify enchanting potions
350% fortify smithing potions
e.t.c

This allows for some pretty ridiculous equipment, including the ability to reduce the spell cost of every school of magic to 0.

Like countless others, I am so thankful to everyone who has contributed to these threads their time and effort. I have spent quite a long time researching builds etc, but only recently was able to purchase the game. As such, I had a lot of ideas, quite ambitious and probably impossible, of what I wanted to do, and they went along the lines of a Breton Spellsword/Paladin that could cap armor, cap Magic Resistance, deal effective spell and sword damage, effectively utilize a shield in combat, reduce Resto and Destruction (and another set for Resto and Illusion) enough to use Expert spells with 100-250 magicka about 15 times before depletion. I'm aware this is a lot to ask, but I'm not expecting it to be possible at anything but 81. That said, there are a lot of details/preferences/concerns I'm going to add here that will help (and likely annoy).
Remember, I'm not a fool who doesn't know how to max armor, I simply lack the equation knowledge to figure out if it can be done in a different way that might appease a different group of people I've come across quite frequently who don't like alchemy at all but still want characters that can play a variety of styles in one extremely high level character.

So I started playing the game last week, and I'm currently level 21... I can't post links, so I'm with the .com with a DOTcom here's my build so far (I have one unspent perk)

http://skyrimcalculatorDOTcom/#95943

Here's a build for what I'll call my Dream Build, that consists of the perks I already have and investments into certain things with possibly delusional and impossible goals, predicated on nothing scientific at all, and might in fact be overkill for certain intentions (you'll need to read below to note all of them):

http://skyrimcalculatorDOTcom/#96018

I've made a somewhat [barely] comprehensive list of my preferences and concerns. These deal mostly with perk expenditure, and an avoidance of Alchemy:

General:
1) I have pre-100 enchanting anxiety: I don't want to enchant [censored] until I can make equipment that I'll use in end-game. Additionally my Dream Build features Corpus and Storm Enchanter, and but I question both sides' usefulness, though obviously at least one is necessary, and the right side saves 3 perks if you consider 85 MR enough and don't mind somewhat weaker weapon enchants) Will my character be able to function on my way to godhood? Note, this question is predicated on everything below, and I'm willing to power-level enchanting right away if necessary.

2) This is probably my biggest concern: I have 0 desire to deal with potions at all, unless there is a guaranteed source to buy the potions required for effective enchanting at any time I want. In which case I'd like to know where. Mainly, I want to avoid leveling more than anything, and I REALLY don't want to resort to Oghma Infinium boosting of all the stealth skills. As I don't use any skills other than Light Armor, which I'd probably at least partially power level, this might not be that horrible an option, as I won't be using the boosted skills anyway.

3) This question will need more details (see Armor and Combat), but it is a general concern too, so I'm placing it here. Can I compensate for avoiding Alchemy by spending large amounts of perks in things like Armsman, Juggernaut and Agile Defender (note that the matching and all armor type are not included)? I'm willing to use Ancient Knowledge, as its a quest reward, so I don't feel it's that cheap. Again, see Armor for my ridiculous specifications. As for weapons, I'd like to be able to create weapons that, when dual-wielding, can thwack Alduin in 10-15 (the 10-15 being in a difficulty range between Adept and Master). See Combat for more details. In exchange for avoiding alchemy, I'm willing to exploit Ancient Knowledge and enchant my weapons to achieve this. Will maxing Juggernaut, Agile Defender, and Armsman provide this for me with 100 smithing, and gear enchanted with smithing/enchanting only?

4) I like vampires, but I like werewolves too, possibly more because I like playing in the sun. At some point, I want my character to be a werewolf so I can at least do the companions questline (I ran away from Silver Hand initiation and, because of resting bonuses and potential crafting bonuses of vampirism, am waiting to be more leveled before I proceed). I've kept a couple of perks for Vampirism in my Dream Build such as Necromage and Corpus Enchanter (which I suppose can help make up for the regen issues, but am willing to sacrifice). Also, I don't like having followers or horses, as in my experience, I tend to kill them by accident, and I enjoy ethereal mountain jumping quite a bit, so I really like the idea of the Lone Wolf, transforming into werewolf for long distance running with ring of hircine and occaisionally murdering evil citizens immune from the law without getting a bounty.

5) I like the idea of being able to scare away or calm certain enemies that I don't want to fight. Mostly the animals (I like animals more than people, hence why I play Skyrim instead of going out with my friends more lol). Seeing as how I plan on using Aspect of Terror to strengthen my fire destruction output, I thought I might as well spend perks in Animage and Kindred Mage, although I would consider not doing this for flexibility elsewhere. Also, I've never even used illusion, and have gotten by fine. Unfortunately however, I've already spent one perk in Illusion, so now I'm debating between committing to Illusion or cutting my losses. Basically I'd like to know what I need to calm and frighten people and animals at max levels. Do wild animals have set levels that I don't need to worry about past a certain character level? If they don't, what do I need to calm them? Can I spend one perk in dual casting and save myself one perk from Kindred and Animage? Will I need Necromage/Vampirism at 81?

Combat:
1) I like one handed, as it allows me 3 combat options: Dual Wielding (fun, badass, and high-offence melee), Spellsword (fun, and jack of all trades, good for exploring with Candlelight etc), Dual Spells (mostly only for long range Dragon killing, sometimes dual destruction spells), and I'm flirting with sword and board (mostly because it adds an element of defense, combat mechanics, and "realism" to fighting monsters.

2) That's quite a variety, and I realize it requires a massive amount of perks to be effective. That said, I require two things, dual wielding (because I like it and the idea of requiring two swords to have the damage output for big fights), and spells for long range, healing, utility (Candlelight and Clairvoyance mostly so far), and general use (where I usually have a sword in primary). I want to keep my destruction magic feasible on higher levels and difficulties, but I'm worried about the long range spells maxing with perks at 90 damage (100 for flames with Aspect of Terror, 198 dual-cast, 220 dual cast fire). I'm willing for my spells to require dual casting to be seriously effective in endgame, as a cost for the innumerable other personal benefits I'll have.

3) If Deflect Arrows does indeed provide maximum blocking, that would make it more feasible, otherwise, I might just avoid it altogether. I haven't spent any perks in there yet, haven't used it, and I've still enjoyed the game greatly, so no harm done. While I value the diversity my Dream Build can provide me, and I don't want to exclude a style by not being able to spend the right perks in it, I am willing to drop the 6 perks I've placed in Block to my develop more fully my primary skills or into...oh boy, alchemy

4) Pertaining to Alduin slaying, I feel that it is only fair to have to use 10-15 dual wield power attacks. Right now I've been playing on Adept, but I'm moving up to Expert very soon to accommodate my increasing godhood. I probably won't venture into Master, but I like the idea of 15 thwacks on Expert, 10 on Adept. The weapons I'd like to be able to do this with are Skyforge Steel and Blades Swords. The reason for this is my investment in the left branch of smithing, my avoidance of Daedric, and my aesthetic preference for those weapons. Is it possible to get to this with my Dream build? I'm willing to enchant them with dual Fire/Shock enchantments if necessary (and then fortify Destruction), but I'm not sure if I want or need to spend 3 perks in enchanting to make these effective, though I will have spent 2 perks in augmentation of these fields within Destruction anyway.

5) All this considered, do I need to continue to level Armsman past 3/5? Keep in mind my hesitence to enchant before I've levelled enchanting to 100, and that in my Dream Build I haven't spent perks in Destruction cost reduction past apprentice (though I do have some generic gear providing 30% reduction).

Armor:
1) I don't like wearing a helmet. All of the main characters have faces, while all the lackeys wear helmets. Is it possible to achieve damage cap with boots, armor, and gauntlets? I would be willing to wear a circlet that would carry over an enchantment from a necklace, thereby freeing up a space for a fortify armor enchant. As this is a preference even I find a little too much, I'm willing to have to sacrifice this, although this will possibly mean I will have to add the matching armor perks into my dream build, and thus remove some others.

2) Without alchemy and even potions, using Ancient Knowledge, 5/5 armor defense perks, max enchanting, smithing, and armor skill only, can I make my four gear preferences (see #4) reach the armor cap without a helmet? If I need a helmet anyway, should I take out one of my armor perks and put it into matching set? Is any of this even possible without any potions?

3) While I'd rather not go through the trouble at all, I would be willing to use store-bought potions with a very modest alchemy skill to craft crafting equipment one time, and from then on only augment crafting with that gear (no potions). For this one time, I would consider Resto-looping even as a NecroVamp (it's been my assumption I'll have to do this to meet all of my ridiculous preferences anyway).

4) I like being able to switch up my armors, and my favourite armors aesthetically are Steel Plate, Glass, and probably both Dragon. I don't like Daedric. I've gone up the left side in smithing so I could get these armors. If those are the only armors I could ever use to all my standards, I'd be satisfied, though I would like the option for the other armors too.

5) I'm willing if necessary to free up the perks in the right hand of smithing (Dwarven, Orcish, and Ebony). Between giving this and Blocking up, my character could more fully develop other skills.

I understand I've written quite a bit, but I'm basically trying to figure out if its possible to design a new type of god as is the intention of these Design Freedom threads. That said, I haven't put any numbers into this, don't know how, and may have already squandered precious perks. I don't expect answers to every question, as they may have been redundant (and very likely poorly written with key information missing), but I would hugely appreciate that. If not, some general advice about the no alchemy and a new Dream Build that includes all the perks I've spent thus far in the first link I posted plus your advised spending would also be greatly appreciated. Thank you everyone in advance!

P.S. Have I won longest question? lol

-Monark

@Monark
You could always try using the Oghma glitch to level yourself to 81 quickly (thought you must be at least level 15 to start the associated quest). You'd have all the perks and attribute points available to spend and you could test the viability of multiple builds on different difficulties to see which one is ideal for you.

If you're playing on PC you can use the console to level yourself up.

Monark - In thread 9 I believe they were discussing a 21 perk build created by Domilasa that essentially capped most of your damage resist/magic resist etc. It leaves you with 60 perks to put where you want... let me see if I can find it.

Edit: Found it. http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1333470-complete-character-design-freedom-damage-resist-caps-and-ridiculous-damage-thread-9/page__view__findpost__p__20200225

Ya, I just thought it would be a lot easier for someone to just crunch the numbers or go on a pc to test this by giving themselves all the equipment they need and not needing to reload constantly to fill it out. I guess it's a little presumptuous for me to ask that of anyone when I could do it myself albeit with more more difficulty. If no one has by the end of the week (I won't be playing until then), I might just do it myself and post some results.


I actually used this as a guideline before I actually started playing and realized how much I didn't want to use alchemy lol. If I just toughed it out and worked up Alchemy, I'd save a lot of perks, but like I said, I'd also like a design that doesn't require people to spend so much time leveling craft skills and instead "naturally" level their main skills like weapons spells and armor by playing and investing fully into the 5/5 slots that we avoid when using alchemy. One of my main inspirations for this build was my pre-100 enchant anxiety, which I know a bunch of people have, so I wanted players to be able to play the game naturally, level their characters through combat and a bit of artificial power-leveling of smithing and enchanting (skills much easier to power-level than The Skill That Must Not Be Named)

There are actually 0 points into alchemy, all the potions to upgrade gear were bought from the merchants, or so I understand.

Perhaps you were looking at an older version of this build? The only crafting skills you need to touch would be enchanting and smithing. I usually save those for close to last anyway as I collect all the ore I can, smith iron daggers and then enchant them with the highest profit enchant I have found.

Anywho, if that's still not what you're after someone else will be along to help you out I'm sure.

Good luck!

Well, I'm officially the laziest [censored] on the planet. Infinite shame on me lol. You're absolutely correct, I mistook this for a previous Domalisa build from an earlier thread and didn't even bother opening it up. So sorry lol. Yep this definitely alleviates a lot of my concerns, though I can't imagine how this wasn't noticed before/why it is said we need alchemy throughout Loth's summary (no offence). Do you know if there is a step by step for her process anywhere? I'd be interested in what potions and magnitudes were required at what points in the process, and where these were aacquired. Thank you again, and sorry for my ignorance lol.

Edit: Using her new build I was able to put in a ton of perks that will add to the game and leave even more doors open. I'd still like to know about Illusion magic requirements and whether it is necessary at all to invest in Kindred Mage, Animage, and Dual casting (though even when I do, I still have spare perks, so it's not a major concern anymore).

Yeah, you can do power builds without Alchemy; what you're basically doing by taking it is swapping perks you would otherwise need elsewhere (due to lower values) for perks into Alchemy, with the side benefit of gaining extreme burst damage when you really need it thanks to overinflated Fortify or Fortify Destruction potions. Since this is for Master difficulty, that burst damage can be what prevents an Ancient Dragon from having you for lunch (even at the armor cap, those things hit like a freaking truck if they get in a bite attack).

As to why it wasn't noticed? I'm not sure, but I suspect part of it was the assumption that the higher enchantment and potion values were inherently better, since they directly translate to higher output and, by extension, shorter fights. Domilasa's build, on the other hand, shows that you really don't lose as much as one might think by skipping it; partly due to the extreme capping on Fortify Enchantment potions, and partly due to the fact that extreme burst damage is overkill for the vast majority of opponents.

It's also an interesting take on 2H fighting; my current character is 2H+Heavy, and fights by application of overwhelming force through Power Attacks while tanking the incoming. Since his attack rate is low (he uses an Orcish Greatsword) he uses the high burst damage to break through defenses and kill in just a couple of hits, but can't chain them very well so ends up blocking a goodly number of the (often much) faster attacks from his opposition. On the other hand, Domilasa is built to spam PAs and keep the opposition staggered; this renders investing in Block pointless, since they don't get in enough attacks to warrant bothering.

I think Loth keeps it in the main section of the guide for those who wish to do the crafting loop and all that jazz. It's really not my cup of tea so I was glad to see a solid skeleton build which didn't require this.

Aside from actually going through all the previous threads (and the 7 pages with each of them) I'm not sure there is a way to find if she listed a step-by-step. My guess would be to grab the necessary survival perks first armsman or barbarian (depending on 1h or 2h) the first two ranks of the light armor perk (assuming that's the way you want to go) and then 4 levels of shield wall unless you plan on using an iron shield in which you'll need all 5 levels if I remember correctly.

The potions were bought directly from the apothecary/ingredient merchants in game I'm assuming as they seem the most logical places to have such potions. As to when the right potions show up and what magnitude they have to be I'm not entirely sure. I've come across potions in loot that improve the skill by 50% for 'x' seconds but that wasn't until later on in levels.

Like Loth suggested I just put on oakflesh before a fight and refresh as needed during the fight. I found that alteration levels up quite naturally (and fairly quickly) by doing this. I know you had stated you don't want to hassle with potions but I've found them to be pretty invaluable for this as I'm actually using them rather than stockpiling. Stamina/Restore Magic/Restore health are the only ones I keep around unless a come across a +50% to a skill I use frequently.

As far as illusion magic is concerned I really have no clue about what perks are needed as I really haven't messed around with the illusion tree at all. I've heard good things about it but it's never been enough to interest me in checking it out fully.

The ones on the right side (the +magnitude ones) are rather important, as is Dual Casting, since without them you'll be capped at affecting level 25 targets and will not be able to affect Dwemer machines or Undead at all, thus rendering the skill largely pointless at higher levels.

I dont use Illusion much myself, since it's stupidly overpowered, but if you're playing a squishy mage it's also a literal life-saver as it keeps that big, bad 2H-wielder from splitting you open from head to navel.

I am finding the perk effective for sneak.

I have done some testing on the perk trying to find out it's effectiveness on sneaking, tested on using the Ancient Brotherhood set at level 63, sneaking from the front of a party of Bandit Marauders, aim to go behind them.

The tests were done on Master difficulty around 5PM where the weather was grey in an open plain in front of a ruin.


Without the perk, they would see me from about one and a half forward roll away from aside of him, with the perk, they would not see me and I was able to go behind them.

I also believe the perk helps on your escape when you have made a noticeable sound, such as killing someone quite close to their friends, I found that you would become undetected in shorter distance, overall I think the perk is highly valuable for sneakers.

Ya, I prefer a more organic play too. I just like the idea of maxing myself out and then setting the difficulty to match my limits. Right now I still have to use guerrilla tactics on giants on adept because my damage output is about 100 and my armor rating is at about 200. I like having to struggle to fight, but I want my character to be able to struggle on expert while leaving some wiggle room in Master for if I OP myself.

Doesn't the Deflect Arrows Perk max out blocking? Has that been patched or was it never proven etc?

Ya, I'll definitely play around with some different store-boughts and processes and maybe make a step by step or something. That said, I won't be able to do this for a while, so if someone with a pc or the math-skills can test it out with various armors and perks etc, that'd probably be a lot better and more informative.

Ya I'm not a big fan of relying on duration-based armor because of the constant switching of left hand it requires (even worse somewhere where you need candlelight etc). Still, I might play around with it for the sole purpose of leveling alteration to get my MR perks. Thanks Shep.


Ya, using Domalisa's skeleton I can definitely afford to put the points there, but I really don't use illusion unless I'm feeling merciful to someone/something, so I probably wouldn't bother with machines deadra and undead. But I do kind of like the idea of calming and then slashing people until they die, but I don't think I could have the heart to do that, except maybe if I decide NOT to destroy the brotherhood lol.

I still don't think my desire to achieve capped armor without the use of helmet is possible. I'll try it out though, but I feel that just from a basic math standpoint, limiting the number of equipment (especially one that offers the second highest AR) essentially removes a huge portion of improvements. Then again, if Domalisa did it without Ancient Knowledge and NecroVamping (things I don't personally consider too cheap), maybe I can pull it off. If I can't, I'll just accept there's a price to my vanity, and that I need a helmet for more serious fights. There's definitely some merit to that feeling of authenticity, so maybe I won't even bother trying lol.

Anyway, thanks guize!

-Monark

If you're just going no helmet simply for the aesthetic of it I'm sure there is some mod out there that let's you remove the helmet visually while still having it on. I forget if you had mentioned what platform you were playing on so if you're on console obviously that's out of the question.

If you use Heavy Armor, you can cap with 3 pieces provided you take up Alchemy and make high-power Fortify Smithing potions. My current character, for example, has an armor rating of 714 in Orcish Boots, Gauntlets, and Cuirass, which is well over the cap. He does have all five ranks of Juggernaut, as I wasn't sure if three or four would be sufficient; as it turns out, three would have been enough.

Ya, I'm on ps3. Tbh I like the challenge of not being able to mod the game (with the exception of fixing glitches I guess). Also, if I had it on pc, I'd have already tested out all my whacky theories with console commands etc lol.


Ugh, I really don't want to resort to alchemy. Did you do this with Ancient Knowledge or NecroVamping? Think that'd make up for it?

-Monark

That 714 was without either Ancient Knowledge or Necromage, so I don't know if it would be possible with those or not. I would guess that with a high-tier material it could be done, since Ancient Knowledge is still applying to more than just Dwarven. You may need all 5 ranks of Juggernaut, though; while that number is with five ranks I would have capped with three, but that's with a custom crafting outfit adding +116% Fortify Smithing to the mix.

For reference: I got Ancient Knowledge earlier tonight, and my armor rating went from 714 to 840. That's wearing 3 pieces of Orcish, so Ebony or Daedric may be able to pull it off (haven't tried, myself) without the massive Smithing boost.

Hmm, this is all very promising. Like I said before, I'd probably be satisfied if I could get the three to somewhere near capped with at least the two dragon armors (and ideally steel plate and glass, but w/e). I wish I knew the mechanics of the armor perks (at what point do they apply to smithing/AR etc). Still, this is the first real supporting evidence for my theory. This will probably sound dumb, and has probably been asked before, but why can't you loop enchanting gear? Like could I potentially craft stronger enchanting gear with my enchanting gear, then craft a new set with that etc. I feel like that would only yield comparatively minor boosts though. Anyway, 2 more perk points in my armor, ancient knowledge, necrovamping, and the plus 40% smithing potion I realized I found in loot might just do the trick. I'll try it out sometime this week. Thanks for the info though.

-Monark

Monark, sorry I have not been fully following your story, but I had a quick look at your dream build, you are having perks in block as well as dual wielding; also perks in both light and heavy armor too. These paths contrasts with each other, may I ask why would you do this?

Not to mention you have perks to reduce magicka cost, and as you know you could cast spell without magicka cost via items, do you have roleplaying reasons to take these perks and trying to make your character as effective as possible?

RE: Enchanting Loop

They clamped it to avoid infinite recursion, which was a problem in previous titles and could break the game even at low levels of skill. It can still be done in Skyrim, but not via standard methods; even the method that allows it only works because a programming oversight allows Fortify Restoration potions to affect things they shouldn't.

Before I tweaked my perk overhaul mod I got a taste of what happens without the 'cap', as the values of my enchantments and potions were increasing exponentially thanks to the effects of the magnitude increases I'd added to the Restoration mastery perks. For example (with crafting outfit): 36% Fortify Enchanting potion ---> 112% potion ---> 220% potion, and so on, which resulted in insane enchantments which resulted in even more insane potions, with the only cap being the inability of the engine to handle extremely large enchantment values.

Lol ya, I'm fully aware that there are a lot of contrasting issues. Basically I was trying to come up with a character that allowed for full use of both mage and warrior classes, giving players a chance to switch up their play styles on the go with the same character (albeit this would only be fully functional at 81), and for all this to be done without alchemy, and provide natural leveling (why there are the cost reduction perks). One of the main reasons for this is that enchanting etc is less effective at lower levels, and I wanted a play style that could function without maxed trade skills (at least until level 15 where people can just Oghma Infinium). But ya that said, that build has it's flaws, as I'm pretty sure for the purposes of a diverse character, you could probably level alchemy and then take away points from the 5/5 combat roles and put them into sneak and archery to give a complete character.

-Monark

Ah okay, I thought there must be some reasons behind your perks.

Consider your criirieas, I would make the following comments on your build: http://skyrimcalculator.com/#96018

Heavy Armour - Juggernaut: You don't need 5/5, as you will hit the armour cap even without Alchemy.

Block - Deadly Bash, Power Bash: Though the bashing perks allow you a greater opportunity to stun lock your target to death, but wouldn't you kill faster if you; "stun, chop, stun, chop" instead? As you know faster kill meaning your time expose to danger shorter.

One Hand - Critical Charge: Due to your targets are often moving especially on mages and archers, and that you need to be rushing forward with a delay for your character to execute the move, generally speaking it is rare to benefit from the 50% extra power attack damage. On the other hand you have got Block Runner from the Block tree, rush in, bash stun your target and kill away might be better off? Unless you are of course, so good at timing your charged power attack.

Smiting: You've got every perk except for Deadric. If you are going for Dragon armour at the end, you wouldn't need Elven or Glass. First off, you are still able to improve your found armours via Smiting without the perks, in game, you will be able to find Elven amour from loot in mid 20's, while glass at mid 30's (safely speaking), you wouldn't need to smith your own Elven or Glass. Additionally maxing your smiting skill to 100 which enable you to smith Dragon armour is rather comfortable to archive, in average it takes 15000 of investment on making iron daggers.

Go from the left or right tree depends on the looks of the weapons you like, as damage wise they makes little difference between them (average of 20 dmg difference).

Light amour: You don't need 5/5 for your first perk.
Wind Walker - You should never need to worry about stamina even if you don't use the Veg Soup method, but I am guessing you are going for Deft Movement and using this perk as a stepping stone.
Deft Movement - 10% sounds good on paper, but in practice you don't really feel it.

I am going to stop here because the mage trees are quite messy.

The problem I have with going up the left side of the block tree is that you have to take deflect arrows, which is a bugged perk as far as I understand, if this doesn't bother you than by all means, but personally if I'm looking to build a solid 'jack-of-all-trades' type char I try and avoid the buggy perks.

Yes it is bugged but not to the extent one would expect by the commotion about it. Going by the description and by what we know about block, you'd expect it to give 100% reduction to arrows and about 50% reduction to damage. Instead it gives 85% reduction to everything. So yes it's bugged but it's actually worse for arrows and, on average, only a little better than it should be; not at all gamebreaking IMHO.