What should I respec to?

[Casimir]

18/21 build - 2h cav is useless

I'd disagree mate

[Kato]

But you don't reach the top of the scoreboard with it.

back to the REAL topic: I'm kinda confused with this shield question
And what kind of sword reccomendations. Danish&German are expensive and too mainstream. I'm considering Sword of War.

Highland Claymore will be best for your style. Its a beast.

[Lennu]

It's even slower than the two greatswords

[Rubicon]

I played a lot with 21/21 + longsword, fast / average damage / low upkeep, if you feel that your attacks are too weak, go for a sword of war or Great Sword.

[Vibe]

I'd disagree mate

Well this was actually talking out of my arse, to be honest. I never tried 2h cav, but seeing the amount of 2h cav players (zero?) one thinks that class is rather useless.

[RamsesXXIIX]

About the shield:

I disagree with Sgt Teeth. Yes, it is true you can dodge a lot of missiles as 2hander, but, esspecially against some factions, not having a shield means you will receive at least one arrow before you engage every singe time. And if you're at a rally point, waiting for reinforcements, having a shield is incredibly reassuring. Even having 2 in shield makes you much, MUCH more viable in my book. Without a shield you're gonna have to be crazy aggressive ALL THE TIME, and you can't do that in strat. As a commander, when i see twohanders in my groups, I can't help think

"What the fuck is this shit, get a shield unless you got an unsheatable weapon".

2 shield skill could be a plain board shield. Which is decent.

[FRANK_THE_TANK]

STF an alt to 3/36 12ath 11WP. Dump in 2h and use a practice sword. oh the fun.

[Glaurung]

You can get a 1h/2h sword, so you can still attack while holding your shield. Useful for killing archers.

[Lennu]

Well, the most problems with archers will be in strat, and right now I get half of my kills from headshots. Because I can, and it's easy. But if the archers get nerfed in strat, archers can't do that anymore. Long range shots at individual target will be based on luck and spam.

So basicly, it will be raining arrows towards the big groups where you have better chance on hitting an enemy. There will be a shieldwall in there, and this will give me like +3 to +5 shield skill bonus, but the problem is that is my shield good enough to take the damage.
Actually, now that I think of it. In strat I only need 1 point in shield skill to use old board shield, which covers my char completely, then I'll just enjoy the shield skill bonus and hope my shield can take the pain.
In Crpg avoiding arrows is quite easy. And when I get hit I probably couldn't much help it even with the shield.

And does the shields weight x3 penalty affect always when you have a shield on your back, or only when you have 2 shields? Because I'm kinda intresred in that 1h/2h thing.

[Teeth]

Only when you have both a shield in your hand and on youre back.

[Son Of Odin]

I had 2 shieldskill polearmer once... The shield barely covered me from the archers and when I got shot or poked with sharp object I lost a lot of my hp because I had no ironflesh. I would say that take more shieldskill if you want to survive long enough for it to have any real purpose... 2 shieldskill just makes you wish you had more IF, or shieldskill...

[Lennu]

Ironflesh is a nice thing to have indeed. But if I put 2 points from IF to shield, and I manage to use that shield to block at least 1 arrow, my shield has protected me from more than that 4 damage the IF would have allowed me to take 
Ofc, If I choose to take a few points in shield I will have to learn to use the shield too... And I've never used a shield, not even in Native singleplayer

I've observed a bit:Almost every Bashibazouk melee player is carrying a shield, and I have to say they are doing quite well with that. But then again, Byzantium 2handers/poleusers aren't using shields at all, and they are doing quite well too 

[Vibe]

I do just fine without shield too, doesn't mean I'll do fine in Strat though.

[Lennu]

Heh, I got my SoW, my armor and gauntlets. And I can't resist their call any longer. This build feels the best choise atm. Thank you for your opinions, at start I didn't even think taking shield skill would be a good idea 

Level 32 (17 784 806 xp)

    Strength: 21
    Agility: 21
    Hit points: 58

    Skills to attributes: 10

    Ironflesh: 1
    Power Strike: 7
    Shield: 2
    Athletics: 7
    Weapon Master: 6

    Two Handed: 157

[Son Of Odin]

Just respec to cav .