i am making a warrior char and was wondering what is most effective...two handed weapons or duel welding.

i was thinking duel welding cause you couldnt do it before in morrowind or oblivion..something different.

dual wielding is more powerful, but with the inability to block, you have to focus VERY HEAVY on health.

I would go for two handed. Dual wielding's only advantage is the insanely high damage for dual power attacks. Whereas two-handed gain the ability to block, plus the Elemental fury shout is lethal when used by a two hander. But if you're just going for something different, try both out during first few levels, and see what you like best.

both, the only differences I can think of are:

-with two handed weapons you can block, while you can't when dual
-thanks to the perks I think the double power attack with dual weapons is more powerful than the two handed power attack
-two handed slow, dual welding can be really really fast

Another negative aout dual wielding is you HAVE TO STAND IN ONE SPOT when doing the dual wielding attacks....lame.

Depends on your style. Dual-wielding can do a lot of damage in a very short time, especially if you take the perks.
Downside: you can't block, so you'll need to be able to actively dodge in combat- especially if you end up with multiple foes.
Two-handers can do a lot of damage as well, plus your power attacks tend to stagger opponents. In addition, you can CUT HEADS OFF with the right perks.
And blocking.

I've played both and prefer 2 handed personally, if only because I have trouble moving around a lot in combat.

Umm, do you mean "dual wielding"? You can block with two-handed, not with dual wielding.

OOPS, lol, note to self, terribl at multi tasking, hahahahaha

In vanilla (basic unmodded game), two handed has a lot of damage per strike, and you can block/block-bash, while dual-wield gives you plenty of offensive output but no defensive ability.

If you are a pc'er, there are a couple of mods that provide a block ability for dual wielders (I haven't tried them).

I guess it pretty much depends on how you see your character, or how you roleplay them. I've newly started a character, and I'm pretty much going down the path of pure blade warrior, and intend to focus on the three primary melee skills, one and two handed and block.

Yeah, that is kind of annoying. My dual wielder ends up doing a lot of single attacks alternating between hands because of this. With a sword in each hand, you can swing one, then the other a lot faster than you can swing a single sword. The choice between two handed and dual wielding is mostly a playstyle preference since you can be quite the uber melee fighter with either option.

EDIT: Of course sword and board is also a solid build. They really made using a shield a lot more fun in Skyrim than it was in Oblivion with the shield bashes to the face.

I've tried both. While dual wielding is cool because you could never do it before, i find it's a one trick pony. You give up a lot of utility just for some extra damage later in the game. With two hander, You do more damage then sword and board, but less then dual wielding for the extra utility of block and bash.

The only real advantage of dual wield over 2hander that i can think of at the moment, other then extra damage, is one extra enchantment you can put in your offhand. But again, this is at the cost of block and bash. I can't go without those personally.
edit: and mobility as others have posted.

I make a hybrid.

The best combo imo is switching between dual wielding and using a shield. Pull out the shield vs high melee damage oponents and switch to dual wield vs softer targets. Via hotkeys it's fast to switch between a shield/second weapon/spell in your offhand during a fight.

also if you focus on enchantments dual wielding provides 2 weapon slots, minor point but still something too consider

can u use any of the blocking perks with just a two handed weapon for blocking?

Long answer: Having tried all three (sword and board, dual wield, and two handed) I really prefer sword and board the most as it offers the most tactically and feels the most realistic when fighting. Because of my preferences for varied combat I found dual wielding extremely boring after the first 15 levels or so. With dual wielding it is a matter of you doing more damage than your enemy and who is the last one standing (not a lot of tactics involved) where with a two hander you really need to use block against some of the tougher opponets (bandit chiefs and briarhearts at higher levels) with bash to create openings to strike which, in my opinion, is MUCH more fun.

Short answer: Try them out and see for yourself

EDIT: all blocking perks work with a two hander unless the perk specifically states: "with a shield"

Yep. You can use any of them that don't specifically say you need a "shield." Check out the UESP Skyrim Block page. http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Block Although I am not sure how useful the power bashing perks are for a two-hander. Seems like your stamina would be better spend doing a power attack with a big hammer than bashing someone with it, and you don't need a perk to get the puch-back/stagger out of your bashes.

"Powerful" is not a good word in this context. Two-handed weapons and their animation look more powerful, but I think that dual-wielding two one-handed weapons results in more DPS (Damage Per Second). If it is for the looks then choose two-handed weapons. If you want DPS then it is likely dual-wielding of two enchanted weapons with double enchantments and a high attack speed.

I cannot be bothered with blocking. If something attacks me do I kill it with speed just so I can continue exploring Skyrim.

Yes you can use them all. The only ones that don't work with a 2h are Deflect Arrows and Elemental Protection. Keep in mind 2h weapons are slow and blocking with a 2h weapon is slow and can become hard to use in the thick of combat.

The key to dual wielding for me was to use normal strikes and power attacks alternating between left and right hand weapons AND to keep moving so I didn't get hit. I would dual power attack at an opportune time. For example, when an enemy is about to die or has just completed a power attack. When you start perking dual wielding it becomes so fast that having to stand still during your dual power attack is a non issue. You could also pick up enchanting and get +25 absorb health on each weapon then paralyze 1sec and absorb stamina.

You know, I never really got into shields in Oblivion or Morrowind, and when I started Skyrim I immediately went for a dual wielder, then after playing that to level 40 or so, I went to a two-hander. Just recently I started using a shield as a part time thing for my nightblade that I just started. Well, I am a new shield convert. They are really fun to use in Skyrim because you can do stuff with them. Sure, in Oblivion you could bash, but it was just some randomn event. Now it is something you decide to do. I agree shields are now fun and useful.

2H > DW

Not being able to block or power bash leaves DW defenseless.

With 2H you can use and I recommend the following perks from the Block perk tree:

• Shield Wall
  
• Quick Reflexes
  
• Power Bash
  
• Deadly Bash

You can also pick the Disarm Bash perk, but I don't find it that useful.

It is true that DW trades defense for offense. I would just pick whatever looks better. Pretty much sums up Skyrim for me.

its up to you.

I can't stand Duel Weliding because of the sprint animations but if i play in first person i'd usually use it because its cool to duel wield in a TES game lol

I personally am all 3, Sword and Board, 2h and DW.

I used to only do 2h and DW but after getting 100 block... dat shield charge lol

It is not quite true. Dual-wielding has got a higher attack rate. You do not necessarily need to be able to block when your attacks come faster than your opponent's and their's get interrupted.

With two-handed do you need to block, wait for your opponent to stagger and then hit them. In the same time can you do dual-wielding power attacks and simply break through them. It is not tactical at all, but it kills.

I kill ancient dragons on Master with a daedric sword and a daedric axe, both enchanted, by 2-3 power attacks. I need one power attack for most other opponents. There is no room for anyone to block anything, really.