I was finding expert to be way too easy with my two hand warrior (not trying to sound like a [censored], I just honestly was) so I made a sword and board Orc and WOW, I am getting slaughtered on master. I am level 37 and I still have no help in hell of taking out a dragon without a ton of help and luck, and even then it is rare. Now elder dragons have shown up and they seem invincible.

Most higher level mages can roast me in a matter of seconds. I can handle most melee enemies one on one, but as soon as backup arrives I have to bolt. I am loving it. I can't even go most places in the game because of the difficulty.

Anyway, I am specializing in 1H, heavy armor, block, archery, and smithing. I need help choosing my archery perks. What ones are worth it? What ones should I avoid?

Also, I noticed that a Daedric War Axe has the same base value as an ebony war axe. Is it the same after smithing? Is a daedric sword the way to go? I already invested one perk into bleed damage because I need all the help I can get - however small. Should I stick with war axes or go to swords?

I have legendary Orc armor, and my orcish shield has 17% magic resistance (I found it). I need more magic resistance, but I need the matching set perk 25% bonus so dragon priest masks are out of the question. Unless dragon masks match with a set of armor. Do they match with daedric or dragon plate?

I appreciate any help you can give to help Worg survive this incredibly dangerous and fun master playthrough.

That's good. It is giving you the challenge you was looking for. I had a Vamp Conjurer that was level 26ish and had an Elder Drag near Riverwood. It lasted 2 days. I had 2 dead Thrall Bandits and no real damage to speak of. Sneak was ok, but daggers were not high enough damage. Every time I got the HPS down a little he would kill my thralls, loose site of me and fly off. Only to return at full health.

I literally had NOTHING to kill this damn thing with. I finally got the DTs separated enough to where I could raise one, and sneak over to the other by the time the first one went down. Playing Dead Thrall ping-pong for 1 in-game hr FINALLY worked.

Stay in there and don't change a thing. Let your strategic mind wonder and get creative. It is pleasant to read a challenging situation, in stead of sifting through a balance complaint.

That battle sounds worthy of song in Sovngarde.

From what I understand, dragon priest masks match deadric armor, but check to be sure (nice that you have an Orc in orcish, though ).

As for Archery, I'd recommend only the first perk and with all five ranks; you'll maximize your damage that way. Since you're an SnS type character, I imagine you rely on Archery for your ranged damage and don't really use it when you have an alternative. That said, all other perks in Archery are tactical; nothing helps with the damage output directly (except the critical chance perk, but that's not very useful IMO). This is unlike One Handed, where you can get several perks that increase damage. If you want, get Eagle Eye as well for longer ranged shots.

I'd recommend sneak attacking anything that you're shooting at with a bow for free double damage.