What is the best weapon for two-handed in terms of DPS?

[Danger Squirrel]

I know warhammers deal more damage per hit but are slower, swords are faster but weaker, and axes are like a balace between the two. But which has higher DPS? Please include uniques and perks in your consideration. I think the best would be the Longhammer with the two-handed hammer perk, but let me know if there's something better out there.

P.S. I'm only talking about the vanilla + DLC, no mods.

[Magic Spazm]

Anything is good when you enchant.

[mikk011]

I can't give a definitive answer; however, here is the the link for 2-hand speed and damage. Dragonbone Battleaxe may be the best compromise You can probably make a ballpark guess from these stats. Also, since speeds are fairly uniform but weights are not you may want to choose a lighter weapon to lessen encumbrance. see http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Weapons

Remember your 2-hand perks will affect output as well.

[FauxFurry]

If you are going for uniques rather than standard weapons with enchantments, then the Bloodskal Blade might take the cake as it does damage with the initial attack then again when it emits a beam during power attacks.

[fauxpas]

Originally posted by Magic Spazm:

Anything is good when you enchant.

Wooden sword of DOOOOOOM!

[MortVent]

Originally posted by fauxpas:

Originally posted by Magic Spazm:

Anything is good when you enchant.

Wooden sword of DOOOOOOM!

Done that once... absorb health and damage health enchants... enchant 100, dark soul gem..

[Zsrai]

Without doing the resto loop exploit it's probably a fully tempered and enchanted, with 100 in each skill, Longhammer.

Speed doesn't matter a whole lot otherwise, because the weapons are built to do the same DPS over the 3 types. Swords are fastest but deal the least damage, Maces slowest but deal the most, with Axes in the middle. Same DPS though. Maces have the worst perks (only Humanoids wear armor, everything else has flat DR so the perk does sweet ♥♥♥♥ all), but I can't remember (or be bothered to check) which is better between Swords and Axes; my gut says both are pretty damn minor when compared to Smithing and Enchanting bonuses though.

[alexander_dougherty]

Originally posted by fauxpas:

Originally posted by Magic Spazm:

Anything is good when you enchant.

Wooden sword of DOOOOOOM!

Into the wooden sword Amidamaru (Shaman King)

[Danger Squirrel]

Originally posted by Zsrai:

Without doing the resto loop exploit it's probably a fully tempered and enchanted, with 100 in each skill, Longhammer.

Speed doesn't matter a whole lot otherwise, because the weapons are built to do the same DPS over the 3 types. Swords are fastest but deal the least damage, Maces slowest but deal the most, with Axes in the middle. Same DPS though. Maces have the worst perks (only Humanoids wear armor, everything else has flat DR so the perk does sweet ♥♥♥♥ all), but I can't remember (or be bothered to check) which is better between Swords and Axes; my gut says both are pretty damn minor when compared to Smithing and Enchanting bonuses though.

So the mace/warhammer perk only works on armor, not damage resistance in general?

[Zsrai]

Originally posted by Danger Squirrel:

So the mace/warhammer perk only works on armor, not damage resistance in general?

Yeah, only on actual armor. It reduces armor rating, but things like Dragons have 0 AR and instead just have a flat Damage Resistance (instead of a DR from Armor Rating, like the PC or stuff like Bandits). Most of the time the armor reduction is near worthless too since base Light Armor (on a lot of Bandits, for example) doesn't have a whole lot of AR to reduce.

By the same token, the Sword/GS perks only give you extra crit damage based on the base weapon damage, not on any adjustments from Smithing, weapon skill, or Enchants/Alchemy effects. This also effects the Critical/Great Critical Charge perks.

The Axe/GS perks don't stack with each hit (unless DW'ing two different types of War Axe)and do some pretty minor damage even with Daedric (the highest point of the damage scale).

Skimming the wiki it seems like the Mace perks are the biggest increase... when relevant (so not often) while Sword perks are the best overall; I would use the word "best" loosely, since I'd honestly just skip the specialization perks and use them in something else most of the time. You'll probably get a bigger benefit (and maybe damage) out of dropping a few perks in Block so you can Power Bash honestly.

[aTomic_bomb]

i feel like a good option would be the ebony blade, it may not have the highest dps, but lifesteal enchantement makes you sort of invincible

[Pooptrain]

The best for dps is the Longhammer (unique orcish warhammer with super high swing speed), or Volendrung (daedric artifact with high damage and increased swing speed). However I don't think Volendrung benefits from smithing bonuses so late game crafted weapons will be better.

[bLaCkShAd0w]

I always use absorb stamina enchantments on my 2 handed orc, Unless you want to pack around tons of potions, Its the only way. You will run out and die quickly without some form or replenishing. With the right gear you can almost have enough regenerating to keep swinging endlessly, Which is far more powerful than any unique weapons IMO.

[Zsrai]

Originally posted by bLaCkShAd0w:

I always use absorb stamina enchantments on my 2 handed orc, Unless you want to pack around tons of potions, Its the only way. You will run out and die quickly without some form or replenishing. With the right gear you can almost have enough regenerating to keep swinging endlessly, Which is far more powerful than any unique weapons IMO.

Volendrung absorbs Stamina, btw. Self enchanting with a high enough skill is probably better though (I can't remember the max magnitude), especially with double enchants.

[Deadbubble]

Originally posted by Danger Squirrel:

Originally posted by Zsrai:

Without doing the resto loop exploit it's probably a fully tempered and enchanted, with 100 in each skill, Longhammer.

Speed doesn't matter a whole lot otherwise, because the weapons are built to do the same DPS over the 3 types. Swords are fastest but deal the least damage, Maces slowest but deal the most, with Axes in the middle. Same DPS though. Maces have the worst perks (only Humanoids wear armor, everything else has flat DR so the perk does sweet ♥♥♥♥ all), but I can't remember (or be bothered to check) which is better between Swords and Axes; my gut says both are pretty damn minor when compared to Smithing and Enchanting bonuses though.

So the mace/warhammer perk only works on armor, not damage resistance in general?

As I hear it, very few enemies in Skyrim have armor, and those that do have armor, have such low amounts that it makes like no difference.