Blackguard = 2 weapon fighting or sword & shield?

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Blackguard 2 weapons or sword & shield? He can't use the Holy Avenger so no need to figure in that weapon. Foebane is a nice choice but should I go with a 2nd weapon (maybe the axe of Unyielding) or should I go with a shield?

Going with a half-orc if that matters??

 

2-handed is also an option.
There's "The Unholy Reaver" Ir'revrykal +5 (Immunity to Charm, 50% chance to dispel magic on hit, 1D10+5, +5 vs good. Blackguards Only) which is a twohanded sword. You can pick it up in the Watcher's Keep, on the floor with the Githyanki camp.

But, if i could only pick between sword&board or two-weapon style, i'd go with 2 weapon every time.
As you progress through SoA and especially in ToB, AC becomes less and less important. the +2 to AC from shields doesn't help versus the late-game melee fighters all that much, and the +4 AC vs missiles is also a minor bonus, since there's not really a lot of archers in the game that pose a serious threat.

Two weapon style has the benefit of granting an extra offhand attack (with only -2 penalty with 3 pips in the style) and more importantly, an additional item you can have equipped that either has a passive effect, or grants you a special ability/spell.
For example, Belm and the Scarlet Ninja-To are both excellent offhand weapons, since they grant you an extra attack to your main weapon.
Crom Faeyr is also a pretty standard offhand choice, since it sets your strength to 25. (usually combined with the flail of ages in the main hand for a ton of damage.)

 

I was thinking Angurvadal for a 2nd weapon but now that you remind me Crom Faeyr is better for me. I don't need the immunity to level drain because I'm a Blackguard. Don't need the 22 strength because Crom is 25. And I don't need the fire damage because Crom kills trolls + on hit 1st hit.

I'll have to go after that sword after a few levels. I always have trouble with that tower. Every level is a bitch for me. But I guess it's supposed to be right?

I have never beaten that shadow dragon holding the Crom Faeyr scroll. Any tips? Anyone?

In order to open the "door" to the mindflayer area (in the sewers) that holds the hammer of thunderbolts you need the key from someone in Firkraag's lair right? The gauntlets are in the planar sphere? And the belt is on one of the death knights in the Kuo-Toa lair in the Underdark?

 

Yeah, the watcher's keep is pretty tough, especially if you're not running with an optimized party it's probably not something you'll want to do right out of the gate.

As for assembling Crom Faeyr :
the Hammer of Thunderbolts is in the mind flayer area of the sewers, the key is on tazok at the end of the dungeon leading to firkraag.
The Gauntlets of Ogre Power are in Lavok's sphere in the slums, on one of the halflings you encounter not too far into the first level of it.
The Girdle of Frost Giant Strength is on one of the death-knights in the underdark, and the Crom Faeyr scroll on the shadow dragon.

One way of cheesing the dragon is by having an invisible thief set a bunch of traps underneath him before he sees and speaks with you - as soon as he goes hostile the traps will do their damage either killing him outright or at least damaging him very badly.
If you want to do it legitimately, you'll want to go in with a bunch of summons to tank his attacks, buff up vs fear effects as well as the usual buff spells.
Make sure you carry a few castings of lower magic resistance if you want to do any kind of magic damage to him.
Spells like Greater Malison are useful as well to reduce his saves.
Also, be sure not to summon everything you can all at once, since there is a chance he will get rid of them in which case you'll want to be able to summon in a few new ones.

And for the love of god, spread your party out. you want your casters far away on ranged weapons whenever they are not casting, and your fighters should not stand in the same direction as the summons that are tanking, but instead be flanking from the sides.
If the dragon uses his wing buffet/breath weapon, you want to be as spread out as possible to make sure it doesn't wipe your entire party in one go.

 

I usually try the traps and surround the dragon with my melee people. Spread out around him so, like you said, he doesn't get everyone all at once. That wing buffet/breath doesn't help any though. Lol.
For some reason he likes to pick on Mazzy if I bring her along. She's usually the 1st to go even though I have her standing back with her bow since she prefers it over melee. That does however give me a round of free attacks while he gets to her. I try to run her around and keep him occupied but that doesn't work very well since he always catches her and kills her
Doesn't his breath drain levels? Or is that just pnp?
Does he regenerate at all? If so how fast?
That lower resistance is probably my problem. I've never used it before and never remember to use it on him so my mages casting spells he probably laughs at. Definitely need to try that spell. Thanks!
The biggest problem I find I have is when he does chase Mazzy all of my melee people chase the dragon and end up cluttered together so when he breaths they all get caught.

But yes, I always use the traps and spread out like you mention. Helps with the initial go with him. Usually gets him about half way. Or close to it.

 

On his first go he causes blindness and drains 4 levels, which goes through magic resistance and there's no save. Every time after that will drain an additional 2 levels but you can resist if you succeed a save vs. Breath Weapon. The blindness lasts 6 seconds (1 round) and the level drains last 60 seconds (10 rounds / 1 turn).
The wing buffet ability also goes through your spell resistance, and has no save to negate. If you have resistance to crushing damage, that should still reduce the total damage you take from it though.
Keep in mind to summon your first wave of creatures before you buff - that way you can buff your party and the summons as well, allowing them to last a little longer.

And yeah, lowering his saves/magic resistance is a big part of the battle, same as with all the dragons.
First, hit him with a few castings of lower resistance - each one will reduce his magic resistance by 10+your caster level. 3-4 castings should suffice to get rid of his MR.
Then, you want to lower his saves. Hit him with a doom spell (divine spell, lowers saves by -2, but can be blocked by magic resistance which is why you want to use lower resistance first) as well as a Greater Malison (arcane spell, additional -4 to all saves.)
You only need to land one of each, since multiple castings of Doom/Greater Malison do not stack with each other.
Finally, you'll want to throw a Breach at him to dispel any other buffs he has up.

Have your buffed and hasted melee toons rush in after the dragon has focused on the summons, while your mages spam as many Magic Missiles and Melf's Minute Meteors as they can. (you'll want to memorize as much of these 2 spells as possible before confronting the dragon.)
Keep an eye on the combat log - if lower resistance/doom/greater malison runs out and your magic missiles/melfs meteors start to be resisted, just go through another cycle of the de-buffing spells.