Ryzom

i use a q50 equipment consisting of a medium suit,+heavy helmet+shield+lance.

Works ok in the sense that it enables me to solo SINGLE mobs that give up to 2500 XP - but honestly no idea if I'd be bettter of with a 2H pike

I see the main tanks in groups using them a bit for the extra damage absorption (kinda like an extra piece of armour that covers the whole body).

I think they look cool to, but the downside is that you have quite a hefty malus in a 1h + large shield combo and you do less damage than a 2h weapon or duel wielder, so mobs are slower to kill, and so stamina drain can be an issue.

I'd definently go 1h + shield if I played a serious tank.

Actually the big problem with using the dagger in the offhand, is the amount of hate you generate. Yes if you are fighting things where the tanks taunt level works 100% of the time its all fine and dandy. Get to fight higher level things where taunt fails 9 times out of 10 and its an issue.

And there is an ability called 'shielding' which allows someone to take some incoming damage from the target. Downright spiffy if you ask me. With good regen, that extra damage the tank (or healer/etc) would have taken is now easily regened over time, and the healer isn't gonna have to spam heal, garnering further aggro.

Works wonders with the 'target my target's target' option when making a macro for it.

And if you aren't the main tank (or off tank for bigger raids) in a group, you shouldn't be wearing HA anyways. Thereby reducing the impact of the malus from that shield. And this way you can save that HA from decaying so fast. *gasp* Novel concept...having non tanks use light/medium armor! Save on those precious 129mat sets of HA. All of a sudden a 25k set of q50 vendor purchased LA is looking alot more appealing to lose.

Shields have their uses. Great on a main tank. Good for support melee during bigger events. (yea, getting smacked for 2100 really friggin hurts, which some people coulda shielded me then a lil).

Thanks for the input, I appreciate it.

I've been messing around with a shield on the newb island and found that I do parry more often when the shield is equipped. I didn't notice myself taking any less damage though. The action penalty of +30 made my sap and stamina costs much higher than normal, so if I got attacked by multiple targets a shield seemed to hurt me more than it helped. I noticed it also took a little bit longer for me to kill things (don't know why) so I went ahead and unequipped the shield. Since my aap and stamina costs are less without it I had much less downtime after each battle and never worried about the usage drain from fighting mutliple enemies.

i'm a matis shield crafter here...can make up to q50 modi along with q50 modi medium armor and q50 modi 1h swords

it does give a higher chance to dodge on top of dodge armor, and i believe the shield's stats are applied to every hit you take, anywhere.

I throw on my Armlet of Atys every now and then when I feel like lookin' pimp =P

daleknd wrote:I use a shield and like it just fine. It significantly reduces how much damage I take. The action penalty for the shiled also reduces my swing rate and indirectly how much damage I dish our over time. Therefor if I am hunting in a group and not getting aggro, I unequip the shield.

Dalwin

This sounds like the right way to do it. If you're the damage absorbing tank, use a shield to help reduce damage to you. If you're just dps, ditch the shield for a 2hander or dual wield combo.

According to Descoladores fighters guide on my website, this appears to be the biggest bonuses concerning shields:

- Shielding. Provides extra damage absorption for 15 seconds based on what kind of shield you're holding. No shield: 25%. Buckler: 50%. Full shield: 75%. Max protect increases with the power's level. Must target yourself (or an ally) to initiate the power. 2 minute recharge.

I hope this helps, I am a mage now and play with a lance and shield for missions and such but not enough skill to buy "shielding" to verify this info from FBT is still valid.

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