The only way that dual wielding seem to be of any use is when doing a power attack.

when you pull press (not a power attack) both triggers at the same time, you freeze in place, then swing, then get stuck for a secound, then you can move again....

Am i doing something wrong?

I honestly have not dual wielded that much to tell you whether you are doing something good or wrong. I mostly go with a one-handed weapon and a spell (restoration/destruction) but the few times I have tried dual-wielding, it has felt rather clunky and pointless.

Nope, that's pretty much the keystone of dual wielding.

Though I found that it wasn't limited to dual power attacks, but just dual attacks in general.
Which is the really big kicker about it, if you don't use dual attacks, there's no point in dual wielding in the first place since swinging one weapon then the other is no faster than just swinging one of the same weapon. (I've noticed no change with the "dual flurry" perk or whatever it's called.)

Try using it as a sneak thief.

- Get 2 daggers, get the "daggers do 15x damage" perk
- Get dark brotherhood gloves (do double backstab damage)

Sneak up on someone. Sneak attacking them in the back with 1 dagger will get you 30x damage. Doing it while pressing both triggers (attacking with both daggers) will give you 60x damage (if done on the back)

If you're a warrior, it's more useful to just go 1h and shield rather than dual wielding. Dual wielding is better for thieves IMO

EDIT: When you do the backstab with 2 daggers at the same time, it will still say you're doing 30x damage, but you're actually doing 60x damage

do you still get backstab animations when you do that?

Blocking would have made it less redundant. As it stands, it's only for damagers apparently and even then the dps isn't high enough to negate the lack of defence...

You have to get up in their face to make that power attack effective. However, my dual-wielding tactic are daggers because they attack really quick but the downside is that the dual power attack is slow no matter what. I have a paralysis dagger on left to paralyze and I have mehrunes razor on my right to execute them. So paralyze them first, then finish up with the razor and dual-wield power attacks. So coming up with a good combo of weapons to use can make for an effective use of dual-wielding. Lastly, you should definitely get the dual-wielding perk that makes your attacks faster. Remember that dual-wielding doubles ALL potential melee damage with one-handed but you can't block so basically you have to kill your enemy fast before he has time to do anything.

Also, having a dagger in one hand will also greatly increase your power attack speed.

Hope that helps and good luck with your dual-wielding character.

i read that the dual perk that lets you swing faster while dual wielding doesnt apply to dagger though. does dual wielded power attacks really happen faster with daggers?

also does attacking after you've been detected with dagger worth it? or should i swap to a sword? ......or not get detected =p

I don't believe I've ever seen the backstab animation EVER on my level 30 thief. So I guess not.

BUT WHO CARES?! 60x DAMAGE!

Yup thats true with dagger power attacks. Which is why I suggest using one dagger in one-hand and sword/axe/mace in other for maximum speed and damage. I use daggers because they swing "normal attacks" faster than any other combo and go well with my dual-wielding combo. I only mentioned this because using enchanted weapons that paired well together can greatly increase your dual-wielding effectiveness.

And using a dagger for sneak attacks is 30x as much damage. Thats more than enough to kill pretty much anything in the game. One sneak attack=30 power attacks. Sword=12 power attacks. If they somehow dont die from that or if you get detected before you land the blow then yes use a sword for more damage or use an invisibilty potion, hide, and try again.

After I get dual flurry perks, I find it very pleasant to dual wield and use just main hand to attack. It makes swinging sword as fast as a dagger. You lose the shield, but it's 35% quicker, and it makes a sword swing as fast as a dagger, and a mace swing faster than a sword. 35% quicker can mean 35% more damage, or it can mean easier dodging, or mix of both. Sometimes when you face a strong and sluggish opponent like a draugr deathlords, I find that quick slash and dodge method to be more effective than slash and block in early game, when you don't have good armor and blocking skills yet.

I find the regular dual attack to be very awkward in normal combat. I use it only when I'm backstabbing someone, to get double damage and double sneak experience.

thanks for the help =p. i really wish they would just update it to where, when you're dual wielding and you press the trigger it does like a *swing - swing*. and when you're just going crazy on just the right trigger you just interchange between swords at a greater speed than single wielding.

WRONG
That's just a standard power attack, which does 2x damage...on top of your 30x

but you get the same damage...

Who needs defence when a successful, fully perked power flurry makes any fight a foregone conclusion?

And who needs to block when you can run rings around all but the fastest/most awkward foes?

But seriously, that power flurry is ridiculous. Utterly insane!

Au contraire mon frere, dual wielding Orcs are among the dealiest warriors you can make. Redguards are good too for their stamina restoring power which lets them perform power attacks more often. Also you can combine the effects of sword/axe/mace weapons, so for example you can combine an axe and a mace when fighting NPCs to get both armor ignore effect and cause bleeding damage, or fight dragons with double axes for double bleeding bonus or axe + sword for bleeding + critical hits etc etc. It's only as effective as you make it.



Running around won't help you much in avoiding damage, it's not like enemies can't turn fast enough to hit you. And people have this weird misconception that characters' effectiveness is counted with maxed out perks and skills. That's horribly wrong, getting there and obtaining those perks is half the fun.

Elemental Fury with either two daggers or two swords means that nothing can really every touch you again.

I'll still only dual-wield when I can see both weapons on my character's hip when holstered.

Okay time for some real advice from a dual-wielding vet.
I've been dual-wielding on my past three characters, logging over 100 and probably close to something like 200+ hours of Skyrim and that's how long I've been playing the game. In other words, I've never played Skyrim where I wasn't playing a dual-wielding character. ...And it still causes me to scratch my head.

Some of the posters here have already touched on it. The key to dual-wielding is indeed to use dual power attacks. As far as I can tell that's the only way dual-wielding does more damage than...single-wielding? Essentially you're launching three power attacks in rapid succession, that's more damage output faster than any SINGLE weapon can do own its own (60x sneak attacks not included for obvious reasons).
You also have to understand how the mechanic works. Ever noticed how when swinging around a one-handed weapon if you press right trigger, release it, and quickly press and hold you'll do a normal attack and then quickly launch a power attack? Works with dual-wielding too, but only in one hand or the other. Someone already commented on how swinging right, left, right, left isn't any faster than swinging a single one-handed weapon. In order to achieve the same normal then quick-power attack you need to press both, release, and then quickly hold both. You'll do a dual attack and then quickly do a dual power attack (I call it flurry since you're launching into a flurry of strikes).
Dual-wielding is a pure damage playstyle, which should be obvious from the fact you're using two weapons to fight with no shield and no way to defend yourself except to attack--the best defense, right? What I've found to be the best way to dual-wield effectively--and feel free to call me out on this cuz it feels like cheesing--it just to spam dual power attacks. That's right.
Get the perk to reduce power attacks by 25%, dual flurry if you wish, as much stamina as you can stand, back your enemy up against a wall and then just spam dual power attacks. You should stagger whatever you're hitting every time and you can just keep spamming it until the enemy is dead or you run out of stamina. If the latter happens just quaff a few stamina potions and continue hacking the enemy to pieces.

Like I said, it IS spammy, and it honestly feels like cheesing, but I honestly think this is how dual-wielding is meant to be played. Abandon all defense and make your offense unrelenting. It puts a serious tax on stamina, but aren't dual-wielders supposed to be speedy little dervishes who attack so rapidly the enemy has no chance to counter? Not to mention you run outta steam pretty quickly fighting so recklessly, which is why the stamina pots (which I otherwise would not ever use) come into the picture.

I don't know anything about using a dagger in one hand, but I do know that the double daggers dual power attack has a pretty long animation and I can't say for certain if it truly is faster than a sword/mace/axe dual power attack since there's that delay while your character reverses his/her grip on the one dagger.
Additionally, to answer another one of your questions, you should carry a dagger for sneak attack purposes (30x damage is NIIIIIIICE), but feel free to switch to a weapon with higher damage as soon as combat starts. After all the only reason you use that dagger is for the 30x sneak attack bonus and you don't get that bonus if you're not sneaking, right? I even carry separate armor for sneaking (DB) and combat (whatever fully upgraded light armor set I'm currently on).

A mod just came out and it does exactly that! http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=17746

In fact, this mod also does it, I think and it came out earlier. http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=9614

I know that. He seemed to think two power attacks were necessary and that's not the case. If it were two power attacks both hitting for 60x your total damage would actually be 120x
60x is only one power attack on top of the 30x sneak attack.

Also, the reason the game shows you 30x regardless of whether that sneak attack was a normal attack or a power attack is because the sneak attack bonus is 30x and that applies to whatever attack you're using. Power attacks happen to do 2x base damage, but the game doesn't have to tell you that. In other words it would be redundant for the game to display 60x when the player already knows he did a power attack and power attacks deal double damage.

I don't like playing on the PC. While it offers a universally superior experience, mods, and the nature of PCs themselves change my priorities. Instead of playing the game, I become all about improving the game for the optimal experience. Since that's a moving target, I wind up spending tenfold more time modding, modhunting and tweaking for performance. I prefer the lack of freedom on Consoles, it makes me accept what I cannot change, and enjoy the game itself, on its own merits.

I actually find dual wielding quite entertaining. It is much more satisfying to me when I use duel wielding rather than just one sword or axe. I think the dual wielding is fine and works well, but I still think they should let you move while doing the thing when you press both triggers.

that's the thing. you can't. i found, using the slow time shout or elemental fury shouts and all the dual wielding perks, to be the most effective way of using it. The weakness to the power attack is it leaves you open for a few seconds. i got rid of the weakness to a point. i really wish there was more incentive to actually dual wield. By this i mean, alternating between swords should be more effective (increasing the speed and damage when you alternate between both weapons) than spamming the right one.

Also, alternate answer to the thread title:
You use spells. That's the dumb way to dual-wield effectively since all you have to do is hold down both triggers constantly.
My spam method isn't much smarter though--press and hold, press and hold, press and hold, etc. Lol