Which is the better way of handling weapons in Dragon Age Origins: sword and shield or two-handed?

I plan to focus on my strength more than any other attribute. I want to be able to do a good amount of damage, but be able to defend myself? I will probably equip my character with the best armor and massive armor. Which way of handling weapons should I choose?Which is the better way of handling weapons in Dragon Age Origins: sword and shield or two-handed?
Depends on what role you wish your character to have. Shields are best reserved for tanks, for soaking up damage and defending themselves. Alistair is the first party member you get after you finish your origin storyline, and he comes default with tanking gear and talents. So you don't need to make your grey warden the tank unless you plan on replacing Alistair in that role and building his talents as a different kind of warrior.



You'll find that most talents in the shield/1hander tree are focused on defending yourself and disabling enemies. (Stuns, knockdowns, etc.) Even with a ton of strength, that build is best suited for a tanking role. (And you'll deal way more damage with a 2 handed weapon if you have that much strength.) The constitution attribute is far more important with a shield than strength is. You only really need one tank, so having 2 warriors with shields and one handed weapons will definitely lessen the overall damage output of your party.



As for 2 handers, the 2 handed warrior talent tree is a very solid choice for damage dealing. With a handful of heavy hitting attacks as well as attack/defense debuffs, you'll fit the role of melee damage dealer quite nicely. Without a shield, there is only so much you can do to defend yourself, and (if you focus on strength more than constitution) you're quite squishy. The 2 most important stats for this build are Strength and Willpower. Willpower governs how much stamina you have, and you'll need plenty if you want to attack as hard and often as possible. Pouring your points into these 2 stats will leave your constitution stat pretty low, and you will not be able to withstand much damage.



A well geared and built tank can probably tank up to 10 enemies at once (As long as the enemies are sufficiently debuffed.) With a 2 handed weapon, there's no way you can withstand that much punishment. You can go toe to toe with one or two enemies at most. But remember that your role is that of dealing damage. Leave the aggro to the tank and focus on killing the things attacking your tank as fast as you can. As well as imposing attack/defense penalties on tougher enemies.



It wouldn't hurt to equip a shield and one handed weapon as your other weaponset to aid in tanking in case things get hairy. But later on in the game, higher tier shield talents such as shield wall and shield mastery/expertise become extremely vital and important to remain alive against the increasingly vicious enemies.