Two-Handed | Skills TES V: Skyrim Guide
Last update: 05 December 2019
This TES V: Skyrim World Atlas page describes Block and two-handed Weapons skills. These skills are largely related to the warrior archetype. Our tutorial in addition to describing the skills will tell you how to develop them, and what related best features are worth unlocking.
How to increase skill: This skill can be increased by performing successful attacks with a two-handed weapon. The growth of the skill depends on how much damage the hero has dealt with each hit.
Main purpose of developing this skill: Increasing the damage value of two-handed weapons.
Available perks: 19.
Best perks: Barbarian, Champion's Stance, Great Critical Charge.
Comments:
- One of the most important decisions you'll have to make is whether you want to use all types of weapons or focus only on certain types (for example, only on warhammers). My recommendation is to find a favorite category of weapons and stick with it, especially because there are certain perks that improve their damage. Besides thanks to smithing and enchanting you may transform even less powerful weapons into something much better.
- Blocking using a two-handed weapon is possible, although it's not as effective as blocking with a shield. The same goes for performing counterattacks, however in this case having a shield is not so important. Make sure to modify your tactics so they're best suited for using a two-handed weapon. You should move around a lot on the battlefield if you want to avoid frequent changes to one-handed weapon - shield combo.
- BARBARIAN
- LIMBSPLITTER
- DEEP WOUNDS
- SKULL CRUSHER
- CHAMPION'S STANCE
- GREAT CRITICAL CHARGE
- DEVASTATING BLOW
- SWEEP
- WARMASTER
BARBARIAN
This perk has five ranks and each time you unlock a new rank it gets better.
Requirements (rank 1): None.
Requirements (rank 2): Two-handed skill increased to at least 20 points.
Requirements (rank 3): Two-handed skill increased to at least 40 points.
Requirements (rank 4): Two-handed skill increased to at least 60 points.
Requirements (rank 5): Two-handed skill increased to at least 80 points.
Description (rank 1): 20% more damage dealt with two-handed weapons.
Description (rank 2): 40% more damage dealt in total with two-handed weapons.
Description (rank 3): 60% more damage dealt in total with two-handed weapons.
Description (rank 4): 80% more damage dealt in total with two-handed weapons.
Description (rank 5): 100% more damage dealt in total with two-handed weapons.
Comments: It's a good idea to regularly unlock new perks from this group, especially since a two-handed warrior should be focusing on dealing as much damage in a single hit as possible (instead choosing a large number of weak attacks).
LIMBSPLITTER
This perk has three ranks and each time you unlock a new rank it gets better.
Requirements (rank 1): Two-handed skill increased to at least 30 points. Unlocked Barbarian perk (rank 1).
Requirements (rank 2): Two-handed skill increased to at least 60 points.
Requirements (rank 3): Two-handed skill increased to at least 90 points.
Description (rank 1): Possibility of causing additional bleeding damage while using two-handed battle axes.
Description (rank 2): Possibility of causing additional bleeding damage while using two-handed battle axes.
Description (rank 3): Possibility of causing additional bleeding damage while using two-handed battle axes.
Comments: Unlock perks from this group only if you're planning on using battle axes on a daily basis. The bleeding damage doesn't make a huge difference, but it's always good to have a free and passive damage bonus.
DEEP WOUNDS
This perk has three ranks and each time you unlock a new rank it gets better.
Requirements (rank 1): Two-handed skill increased to at least 30 points. Unlocked Barbarian perk (rank 1).
Requirements (rank 2): Two-handed skill increased to at least 60 points.
Requirements (rank 3): Two-handed skill increased to at least 90 points.
Description (rank 1): 10% chance of inflicting critical damage while using two-handed greatswords.
Description (rank 2): 15% chance of inflicting critical damage while using two-handed greatswords.
Description (rank 3): 20% chance of inflicting critical damage while using two-handed greatswords.
Comments: Unlock perks from this group only if you're planning on using greatswords on a daily basis. 20% after unlocking rank 3 is not a lot, but it's also not a minimal chance, so sooner or later you should purchase all three perks.
SKULL CRUSHER
This perk has three ranks and each time you unlock a new rank it gets better.
Requirements (rank 1): Two-handed skill increased to at least 30 points. Unlocked Barbarian perk (rank 1).
Requirements (rank 2): Two-handed skill increased to at least 60 points.
Requirements (rank 3): Two-handed skill increased to at least 90 points.
Description (rank 1): Possibility of ignoring 25% of enemy's armor while using two-handed warhammers.
Description (rank 2): Possibility of ignoring a total of 50% of enemy's armor while using two-handed warhammers.
Description (rank 3): Possibility of ignoring a total of 75% of enemy's armor while using two-handed warhammers.
Comments: Unlock perks from this group only if you're planning on using warhammers on a daily basis. In my opinion these perks are the most useful ones out of all perks connected to certain types of weaponry. You'll be going against a lot of enemies in armors during the game and having even the lowest 25% bonus will make a big difference.
CHAMPION'S STANCE
Requirements: Two-handed skill increased to at least 20 points. Unlocked Barbarian perk (rank 1).
Description: 25% less stamina needed to perform two-handed power attacks.
Comments: It's absolutely critical that you unlock this perk as soon as possible, because you should be using two-handed attacks all the time and it's easy to quickly drain all stamina that way.
GREAT CRITICAL CHARGE
Requirements: Two-handed skill increased to at least 50 points. Unlocked Champion's Stance perk.
Description: Possibility of performing two-handed power attacks when running, which can inflict double critical damage.
Comments: This is DEFINITELY something you should take under consideration, especially since as a warrior you must approach your targets either way to start attacking them. It's worth mentioning that not every charge ends with double critical damage, but thankfully it happens often enough to fully justify purchasing this perk.
DEVASTATING BLOW
Requirements: Two-handed skill increased to at least 50 points. Unlocked Champion's Stance perk.
Description: 25% more damage dealt with two-handed power attacks if the main character is standing in one place.
Comments: This is something entirely different from the Great Critical Charge, because you must be standing in one spot instead of running. It all depends on your preferences, but I'll always choose sprinting over standing. The game informs you that a successful attack may end in a decapitation, but it's nothing special, because this occurs ONLY if the target was supposed to die after that hit (and the hit itself doesn't cause extra damage).
SWEEP
Requirements: Two-handed skill increased to at least 70 points. Unlocked Great Critical Charge perk or Devastating Blow perk.
Description: Causing that sideways power attacks with two-handed weapons hit everyone in front of the main character.
Comments: This perk is not that great and the only occasion when you might find it useful is when fighting enemies in small areas. I'd recommend unlocking more useful perks before taking interest in this one.
WARMASTER
Requirements: Two-handed skill increased to 100 points. Unlocked Sweep perk.
Description: 25% chance of paralyzing targets with backwards two-handed power attacks.
Comments: You should consider unlocking this perk only if you've already purchased the previous one. Otherwise you'd better take interest in something else.