This is not only a thing with these two.
In top tier, if you look at Heavy Kite vs Heavy Kite:
Heavy Heater Shield weight: 8 body armor: 17 difficulty: 4 hit points: 460 speed rating: 87 shield height: 89 shield width: 23 4,532 | Heavy Kite Shield weight: 8 body armor: 16 difficulty: 4 hit points: 490 speed rating: 88 shield height: 92 shield width: 22 4,446 | Difference = +1 = -30 -1 -3 +1 +86
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or heavy kite vs any of the norman its similar.
Same for knightly heater and knightly kite
In general, shield width is payed much higher than any other stat, as it is a big bonus against ranged and melee due to the increase in shield coverage is quite high.
If you dont agree with this, I am sorry, but I find it very reasonable. It is very easy to move your camera up/down to cover your face/feet, but harder to turn, since it makes you move in that direction as well (or move slower by moving to the side).