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Two-handed + block perks—is it actually worth the investment or just diluting my build?

RiftenWanderer

New Member
I'm on my second playthrough (level 22, playing on PS5) and I've been running a two-handed warrior, but I keep seeing people say block perks are a waste. Thing is, I actually like using a shield sometimes for tougher fights, and I don't want to respec if I don't have to. Are there specific block perks that actually pay off, or should I just commit fully to two-handed and dodge tank instead? Trying to figure out if I'm gimping myself early on.
 
Block perks are honestly not a waste if you actually use a shield, which it sounds like you do. The problem is most people commit to one or the other and then complain the unused tree sucks - but you're already hedging, so you're fine.

The perks worth grabbing: the one that reduces shield weight (makes them basically free to carry), the bash stagger perk, and the one that lets you bash without taking damage. That last one is actually broken good against melee enemies because you can stunlock them while two-handing. The reflect damage perk is whatever - sounds cool but enemies don't deal enough damage for it to matter.

Skip the perks that boost shield armor rating. Just doesn't scale. Your shield's defense comes from the base armor value and your block skill level, not perks.

Real talk though - at level 22 you haven't invested enough to "gimp" yourself. You've got plenty of levels left. Just grab the shield perks that actually do something mechanical (stagger, bash damage, weight reduction) and keep leveling two-handed. By endgame you'll have both trees partially filled and you'll be fine. Vanilla Skyrim doesn't scale hard enough to punish a hybrid build at your level.

If you were on PC modded I'd say grab Ordinator and respec anyway because those perk trees are way more interesting, but on PS5 vanilla you're overthinking it. Just play what feels good.
 
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