The War Room.

[charlescrowe]

Gentlemen, (and Ladies) welcome to the War Room. Within it's confines dwell the greatest warriors, tacticians, and skalds. It's purpose is to provide a place to discuss and share your favorite techniques, learn new ones, and share the tales of your valor. Keep in mind; this is not a place to compare weapon sizes, we have the mess hall for that.

"The best techniques are passed down by the survivors." -Gaiden Shinji

As much as I love the stylish moves of Two Weapon Fighting, one of my Favorite techniques is sword and shield. well ballanced defense and offense, and takes advantage of perks like elemental protection. Turning those pesky cryomancers into sniveling whelps.

The technique can also be varied to allow for casting while maintaining a physical offense, or defense. It screams "survival of the fittest' in it's modular, adaptable employ.

[ResolveThatChord]

I'm personally a fan of the shield and staff combination, especially if it's a staff of chain lightning. The staff of chain lightning staggers muiltiple enimies without having to dual cast, allowing you to manuever yourself to a better vantage, while keeping everyone pinned down. Staves can also charge their attacks while the shield is raised, which really helps when trying to cope against archers and melee fighters simultaneously. In other words, its great for an individual taking on multiple enimies, which is how the game works most of the time. Its main disavantage is collateral damage; if you're not careful you can lose a companion, or incur bounties.

[charlescrowe]

I'm personally a fan of the shield and staff combination, especially if it's a staff of chain lightning. The staff of chain lightning staggers muiltiple enimies without having to dual cast, allowing you to manuever yourself to a better vantage, while keeping everyone pinned down. Staves can also charge their attacks while the shield is raised, which really helps when trying to cope against archers and melee fighters simultaneously. In other words, its great for an individual taking on multiple enimies, which is how the game works most of the time. Its main disavantage is collateral damage; if you're not careful you can lose a companion, or incur bounties.

ah, a fine tactic indeed. will have to try the next time i find myself in possession of a magick stick.

I'm quickly becoming a fan of the combat shouts. I cannot count the times a strategic Fire Breath has laid to rest a brace or more of Draugr or Bandits. Particularly useful when dealing with spiders or trolls, and sets enemies up for increased damage from flame-enchanted weaponry.

[ub3rman123]

A dagger and a sword, dagger in the right hand, enchanted with flames. Sword has absorb health on it. Use the dagger to start the fight by slitting as many throats as possible, and then keep your health up with the sword. Since you can't block, step back whenever an enemy is obviously taking a swing at you.

[Rowan]

I focus on dealing as much damage as possible as quickly as possible. This means sneak attacks with daggers at first and duel wielding two swords when the enemy has spotted me. No need for shields if you can defeat you opponent before they can even swing at you. The slow time shout helps to avoid damage. Stamina then becomes your most valuable strength and I favor increasing that over health or magicka.

[Si-Shen]

I use the sword and shielf tech myself, like charles, I find it vercitile in combat since not every fight can be won with stealth or quickly. I tend to focus on shouts like Unrelenting Force or the Elemental shout that speeds up your weapon, using Unrelenting Force to push hordes back and keeping them from swarming. For most fights, those, plus the ability to switch to a quick healing spell is of great use, the only time I need to concider other tactics is against mages, where I try and disable/kill (if they are near a cliff) with Unrelenting Force or Whirlwind to close the distance before they can cause too much damage. I have also taken to launching my attacks with a stealth kill then using the above mentioned tactics. One benifit that a sheid wielder has is the perk that allows you to slow time during an enemies power attack, I have grown fond of this, as I can interupt their attack before it connects with me with a quick shield bash.

One I don't get to use a lot is traps against enemies, if I see a trap, I frequently try and draw an enemy to me before activating and backing away. Bows are excellent for this, and add the benifit that you can sometimes kill them before they even reach you (this is not a primary skill for me, therefore no perks are taken here).

[charlescrowe]

Another fun tactic is placing a rune spell along a retreat path, then initiating combat. Pop a few arrows to draw them in, then duck back behind your rune, preferably behind a corner, then draw your melee weapons when you hear it go off. Particularly useful against the more powerful enemies like frost trolls.