Shield skill tweak

[Phew]

I suggest we reduce the damage mitigation per shield skill from 8% to 6%, AND add a mechanic that reduces shield effective weight (for run speed calculations) by 1kg per shield skill (can't go below zero, obviously). This minor tweak would solve several problems:

-13 shield skill trolls would no longer have unbreakable shields (this mechanic is exploited in DTV, and is extremely annoying in other game modes)
-Shielders would actually have a chance against kick spammers (1h shielders are too easy to kick right now, due to encumbrance from shield weight coupled with short reach)
-Typical 5-7 shield skill builds would no longer require 25+ hits from non-axe weapons to break their shield, and axes would get even more effective

There are other shield issues (zonky nudge mechanics, crappy lateral coverage in melee, shielders being overly prone to block stun, jump throwers throwing over shield every time, etc), but I feel like this tweak would solve the most issues with the least amount of effort from the devs. I'm sure it requires WSE2 blah blah, but I bet cmp could do this over a lunch break.

[Utrakil]

I can't support your wish to let shields break faster. The durability is all a shield is about. if it breaks after a couple of hits I can leave it at home and learn manual blocking right away.

[Phew]

I can't support your wish to let shields break faster. The durability is all a shield is about. if it breaks after a couple of hits I can leave it at home and learn manual blocking right away.

If you have used a shield for any amount of time, you've probably observed that for every time your shield breaks, there are probably at least 5 times that someone has kicked you then gotten a free kill. Shielders are already slower since they have to put points into shield skill that would otherwise go into more agi/athletics, then double-penalized by the weight of the shield itself. The proposed change would trade a little durability for mobility. Shields would still take forever to break with anything but an axe.

[Utrakil]

If you have used a shield for any amount of time, you've probably observed that for every time your shield breaks, there are probably at least 5 times that someone has kicked you then gotten a free kill. Shielders are already slower since they have to put points into shield skill that would otherwise go into more agi/athletics, then double-penalized by the weight of the shield itself. The proposed change would trade a little durability for mobility. Shields would still take forever to break with anything but an axe.

But why do we put points into shieldskill? to make it last longer.
So when they get less bonus per point we have to put even more points into shieldskill to end up with the durability we need. and there we have to sacrifice athletics again... so you don't gain any mobility.
If you like to trade mobility for durability simply put less points in Shieldskill and more in athletic. or get a lighter and less durable shield.

[San]

I'd like this idea with a 10% base reduction added on to the 6% increase. That way, 5 shield skill would retain the same durability, <5 shield skill would be a little better, and higher shield skill after that would slightly sacrifice in durability for nicer movement increases. 13 shield skill would get 88% reduction, which is really nice, but would still only survive 7-10 axe swings.