I usually role-play so I like to max out the perk tree to show my character is a master of that skill so I probably will get the perks for role-play but I'd rather get them later so that I don't feel like I've gimped my character because I'm playing on Master and need helpful perks first.

I just wanted to know what perks in the One-handed and Block tree aren't as great, either useless or bugged. If there are any other perks in other skill trees that have problems you can mention those too as I will likely make other characters. Thanks.

Bladesman is weak because it is based on the base damage of the weapon. It is a very small damage increase considering you can spend three perks on it. If you are short on perks there are definately better places to spend them. Your mileage may vary with Bonebreaker or Hack and Slash, but if you are looking for an underpowered perk in I'd say Bladesman is it.

Shield charge has a bug where it stops working after a while. If you are on PC, I think there is a way to get it working again. If you are on console it might be best to avoid this perk until they get it fixed. That is the only bugged block perk I know about and all of the block perks are pretty good, although even unperked block is useful because of the stagger you get with a bash.

Deflect arrows had a bug that made it overpowered but I the latest patch is supposed to fix this.

Other perk bugs include Tower of Strength in heavy armor that does nothing.

Elemental Potency makes summoning staves stop working.

Atronach (from either perk or stone) will absorb your summoning spells.

There may be other bugged perks that I cannot remember off the top of my head. Safest thing to do if you are undecided about a perk is to check the UESP site before taking the perk.

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Skillsp

It's usually best to specialize in one form of one-handed weapons (Swords, axes, or maces)

Thanks for this. Does that mean that I won't be able to cast summoning spells at all if I have the Atronach (perk or stone)?

And is it also worth getting perks like Armsman, Shield Wall and Agile Defender? The perks that increase the skill by a percentage.

doesn't the base damage go up if you get the the initial perk in that tree? or does "base damage" of a weapon mean the actual base of the weapon before and enchants, perks, raised levels.

If you have the stone, 50% of your summoning spells will be absorbed, so nothing happens. If you have the perk, then 30% are absorbed. If you have the perk and the stone, then 80% of them are absorbed. When a spell is absorbed, your magicka goes back into the pool and you can keep recasting until the spell works. However this may be difficult in the middle of battle.

Yes before all that. Daedric greatsword has the highest base damage I think of all swords at 24 base damage. Meaning with 3 PERKS in bladesman, you will have a 20% chance to do a WHOPPING extra 12 damage. If you improve your sword to 150 damage, you will still have a 20% chance to do an extra 12 damage.

According to the UESP it "Only affects base damage of weapon--smithing, skill, perks, etc. do not affect the critical damage."

I never thought about using a 2H weapon and the Bladesman perk, but the description says "attacks with swords" not "one handed swords" so I guess that makes sense. Funny that a one handed perk actually does more for a 2H attack than a one handed attack.

Cool, thanks for the feedback. I guess I'm going to leave it 1/3 swordsman perk.

Well obviously you have to decide which type of 1h weapon you want to use. That alone can save you a lot of perk points. If you plan to use all 3 that's going to cost you a lot if you feel compelled to fill in all the skills. Even if you want to use all the weapons Hack and Slash is worthless from what I've read other people say because the bleed effect is minimal and you'll be killing things so fast it won't matter anyway. Bladesman is questionable but if you plan on using only swords I would go with it just because when it does kick in (20% chance maxxed out) it is substantial. If you have the points to spend do it otherwise don't bother. I personally don't take paralyzing strike because a backwards power strike isn't exactly the easiest thing to pull off and I can't remember when the last time was that I backed up on my warrior. I'm always going headlong into the fight. By the time you get to 100 on 1h with a warrior they are so powerful there is no reason whatsoever you would need to paralyze anything. If you really want to buy some paralysis poisons. They are effective on most enemies and work far better than the backing away like a wimp attempting a desperation power strike. Not my style.

On blocking I didn't go up the Deflect Arrows side of things because it's totally overpowered. I don't need to move fast with my shield up. When I pull up my shield it's either to block an incoming blow or to shield bash. They're already in my face by that point so I don't need to move fast. My Warrior is a Breton and I use the Lord Stone so I didn't need any more elemental protection. Mages barely put a dent in me as it is. i love it that way. I hate mages. Quick Reflexes is a waste. The Bash side is up to you. I went up to Power Bash and stopped. I don't use my shield to do damage, that's what my mace is for. I just wanted it to stagger and interrupt as a shield should. But your playstyle may dictate that you use it for damage in which case you may want to go up that side. I have to admit that Shield Charge sounds like fun but I honestly have no need for it. I sprint up to enemies and shield bash them and then 1 or two shot them with my mace 99% of the time so I really have no need to knock them down with my shield.

I realize I didn't take a lot but it left me free to top off enchanting, put some points into Smithing, and to fill in most of the heavy armor tree. I didn't plan on going much higher than level 50 so I had to make some hard choices on what I really needed over what I wanted.

I have heard otherwise. Since Bladesman is based on the base weapon damage and is unaffected by skill level, smithing, enchanting or anything else, it does not add much damage when it kicks in. That is what the UESP says anyway. http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:One-handed

I really like the block skill because it is very useful unperked and the perks just add to it. I have several characters who use block regularly without putting perks into it, just by bashing as you describe. It was a good move to introduce the bash as it really made melee more intersting from prior games.

Yes I love the bash ability. It really adds a great feel to 1h combat. The whole blocking component is implimented extremely well and ended up being a lot more fun than I thought it would be.

Well it seemed like it did more than that for me but I hardly ever use swords now. I'm loving the maces the most. I only had 2 points into Bladesman but if all of that is true then it is a waste. Good to know if I ever do another warrior.

I started a new dual wielder last weekend and decided he would not perk enchanting because I like to find enchanted stuff in loot and at merchants, makes treasure hunting more fun. Anyway, right out of the gate, he gets an iron shield with 15% magic resistance and my dual wielder is stoked because there is one type of opponent that he likes to use sword and board instead of dual wielding. You guessed it. Mages. So he carries the magic resistance shield on his back and pulls it out when he is fighting mages. It is very satisfying to break their spells with a bash, before running them through with a sword. A hide shield would have been better since it is lighter and my dual wielder wears light armor, but iron is not too heavy and he's not using it for the AR. Only for the magic resistance and bashing.

OHHHH Crap. Ignore what I said. I was thinking of "Deep Wounds" the 2 handed version. Sorry about that. But the functionality is the same. A Daedric sword has 14 base damage, so only 7 more damage 20% of the time with 3 ranks of bladesman.

The only perks that are worth getting for One Handed and Block are the 20% for blade (Get that one 5 times) and for Block I usually choose the 1st and I also choose the Deflect Arrows perk. You could make a case for the Resistance one but I'd rather equip stuff that gives me that resistance and that perk is only useful against Dragons. Other magic users you won't want to be blocking, you'll want to be killing them before they kill you.

I'd argue that magic users are easiest to kill when you are blocking them because you can interrupt any of their spells with a good shield bash, which makes them easy to kill.

EDIT: Oh, I get it now, you were talking about blocking for the Elemental Resistance perk, not necessarily the tactic of bashing a mage in the face with your shield.

block= depends on if the deflect arrows is still bugged. however, remember that all the power bash ones are xtra and not needed. they add variety to combat, but, when compared to your 1-h attack they don't come close. i'd rather swing again with my high damage 1-h attack then stagger and slightly damage an enemy with a bash. as well, you can get your total armor class up to the max without block being maxed, which, makes taking more than 1 in shield wall a waste. a lot depends on your style, but, style perks can be added later. again, a lot depends on if deflect arrow is still bugged.

1-h= base x5, fight stance and savage strike. any of the others are unnecessary: a bit of extra weapon specific damage is worthless. paralyze can be done with potions or not needed at all. why? if you plan to take your character to 60+ levels then you will be killing enemies in a few hits anyways and paralyzing them isn't needed. imo, all charge attacks are unnecessary.

so, depending on whether deflect is bugged the total perks = 7 for 1-h and block being as little as 2or3 and adding as your play style determines.

This sounds similar to the perks I have at the moment. I have Armsman (5/5), Fighting Stance, and Savage Strike. For Block I have Shield Wall (1/5) and Deflect Arrows (I didn't know it was bugged nor do I notice anything). I also have Quick Reflexes just for variety.

I have been putting perks into Light Armour as well. I think I'm at 2/5 Agile Defender as I don't know if it's worth getting. And I've got Custom Fit.
I'm only a low level at the moment so I haven't got everything.

the right side of the blocking tree is useless. powerbash doesn't do really much and is not worth the way too high stamina cost. nothing better than spamming normal bashes.

i can't agree with ignoring the left side, because elemental protection is needed to survive mages. at least if you are like me and hate to become overpowered through enchanting. i only enchant hp

yea, it looks like after consoles get the 1.5 deflect arrow won't be bugged and so elemental will be valuable.

Quick Reflexes can bug out time to time. A lot of people like Quick Reflexes. But it was bugging out too often for me and going into slow time mode for the entire battle. It made the game unplayable for me. Other people say that they do not get problem like I did.

Slow time while blocking essentially makes the combat bullet time with swords.