Two handed weapon+Sweep

Melee Characters will have to use quite a bit of planning and thought. That's what I love about them. Back into a hallway and you don't need to worry about it. In open plains, try to make use of trees and terrain to separate the enemies. But, if all else fails, use your Fus Ro Dah, Ethereal Form, or your racial ability if you're an Orc or Nord.

I always thought melee was mainly a mindless type of gameplay. I no longer think that.

I don't have any shouts because I don't feel like I'm ready for dragons yet.

Thanks for reminding me about the Orc racial ability. I haven't been using it.

I still prefer Heavy. The final perk is better than the final LIght Armor perk. I also like the half damage when jumping down perk. Makes getting off high spots much less worrisome. 50% less stagger is also great when fighting powerful foes. To me Light Armor is more about the short term and Heavy is a much better long term option. Light doesn't even have as many perks and the Stamina regen is only helpful out of combat and late in the game I had so much stamina and so many stamina potions that the stamina perk would have been obsolete anyway. Again Light is good early on but once you spend those perks you're stuck with them and late game the Heavy Armor perks become much more beneficial.

Yeah, that's what I thought too. But if you play on Adept or higher without strong weaponry, you need a bit of strategy. Mine is just sneaking and distractions but a full melee character needs to use the terrain, especially on Master.

Shouts, don't worry about it. Terrain > Shouts. If only because there's no cooldown. As for Orc racial ability...don't get too cocky. You're strong but not invincible.

Grab a 2H weapon and sweep the leg!

sounds like the quote from a hockey coach! well said!

This might not be the answer you're looking for, but to deal with crowds of enemies:

(1) Crush your enemies
(2) See them driven before you
(3) Hear the lamentation of their women

Or, to put it another way, simply kill the bastards. Heavy armor, shield and one-handed along with smithing are a melee character's best choices, although light armor will let you save some weight for more loot - but don't go that route if you aren't using a shield. My character got to a point where he could handle pretty much four or five Thalmor without too much worry. The battle was still work, but the outcome really wasn't in question.

Another tactic is to try and fight in confined spaces so they can't surround you.

As it's been said, bashing is nice. If you're any good with the Block skill (even if you're using two handed weapons), you can deal good damage and even disarm your opponents, and there's little better crowd control than outright disarming folks.

For two handed weapons, invest in Sweep. It's an awesome skill that can stagger a load of enemies in a decent range if it doesn't outright kill most of them; it really turns the tables for you.

If you're dual wielding and can't block (and sometimes even if you can), learn to dodge. Dodging is useful even if you're not dual wielding. As an enemy attacks or recovers from an attack, sprint past them. Since most enemies are right handed, it's most effective to sprint to the right of them (their left). Go right past them and come back around. This can be especially useful for shepherding enemies into a smaller area (which Sweep can take advantage of). This battle tactic is especially useful for skirmishers and rogues, who usually find themselves lightly armed and armored (with, say, a pair of daggers or axes), but can be useful even for heavyset sword-and-board type guys. After practice, you'll get very good at predicting attacks from NPCs depending on their weapon style and even the likes of trolls and giants.

If you're dual wielding, dodging and shepherding is key, as you really don't have much to defend with. Successfully executed, you'll have your enemies in a tight bewildered circle or will at least have them from behind or another advantageous angle. The dual power attack can hit three or four enemies if you aim correctly. Sometimes dual wielding can be a bit fast (especially with two ranks of Dual Flurry), so heavier weapons may be preferred just so you can be more accurate in aiming your power attacks as you input them. Remember that the weapon in your left hand dictates the speed of this (and only this) attack, so an axe in the right and sword in the left or mace in the right and axe in the left are both good weapon combos.

Regardless of your melee style, axes are simply the best choice for crowd control. Damage over time from the bleeding perks means you can swing at an enemy and then pay attention to the next one. Also, the bleeding damage stacks, so two or three swings can send even a bigger enemy reeling. Dual axes with this perk can be devastating to crowds, as can the Sweep perk with a battleaxe (one of my favorite things to do). Often times, enemies will bleed to death while you're killing their comrades. Even if they don't, you've still dealt more damage to them without even having to hit them.

Finally, if you're the sneaky type, remember not just to invest in, but how to use, Shadow Warrior. Bash an enemy or dodge an attack, crouch, and tap (don't power attack!) as quickly as possible. If you don't manage a successful sneak attack this way or if you do and it still doesn't kill them, roll out of the way immediately! You'll have Silent Roll before you get Shadow Warrior, so don't worry. A successful sneak attack in the middle of open combat can outright kill an enemy, lowering the number of foes and therefore being efficient crowd control. It can even reposition you if you get a kill cam

For the record, I've had the most success--by far--by using Shadow Warrior on the side of an enemy rather than right in front. Even with 100 Sneak, an enemy may still see you if you're right in front of their face in the middle of combat. That, and it's much easier to dodge roll out of the way as soon as you're done attacking. Finally, remember that even if your sneak attack is unsuccessful, that dodge roll can still be useful, and you're already in a position to use it.


That's not melee xD

You can use 2 mundane weapons and elemental fury. 2 power attacks can kill a dragon, so if you're fighting multiple bandits or falmer, they drop like flies.

Crowd control gets really easy as you gain perks. Early on, use a shield.

I play almost exclusively as warriors. Anytime I don't it's a battlemage. Warrior is always my characters' primary function though. Except for once when I wanted to get some theiving achievements.

The Paralyze from it only lasts 1 second. Definately not worth the perk point.

Shields are pretty damn good for controlling your opponents as a Warrior, with the bash staggers and such. The "Shield Charge" ability is absolutely awesome for clearing a hallway worth of enemies out of your way. Downright hilarious to watch too. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSVW0xZ7tbk&feature=fvst

This here is my Nord Warrior's build: http://skyrimcalculator.com/#133474. I put 2/3 of his levels into Health, and 1/3 into Stamina, none into Magicka. He absolutely wrecks pretty much everything that get's in his way in vanilla Skyrim. He wields Mace of Molag Bal (Legendary)+Spell Breaker (Legendary), or Volendrung (Legendary). He wears a set of Dragonbone Armor (Legendary) with the Otar Mask (Legendary).