Make shield difficulty Strength based

[Tomas]

OK - I'm tired of all the "archery is OP" whines and the "I can't use a shield because i can't spare the skill points" excuses.  So a simple solution that i'm sure has been asked for before.

Make shield difficulty (not skill) Strength based

Archery gets a slight nerf due to more people having shields but is still capable of actually killing people.  Meanwhile 2H and Polearm users get their main excuse for not using a shield removed.  It even ticks the realism box.

EDIT: Added a poll so people can vote

[BlackMilk]

nvm

[POOPHAMMER]

I'm really looking forward to 36/3 shielders that have 12 ps and 12 shield skill lol

I'm looking forward to doing this if this happens lmao

[Penguin]

A better compromise would be to have shield be strength based like weapons and able to be used with no shield skill with negative effects if you have under the required skill (movement speed, weapon speed all impaired)

[Turboflex]

I'm really looking forward to 36/3 shielders that have 12 ps and 12 shield skill lol

Seriously, do we need another huge chunk of players switching to strength stacking builds?

If you dislike get shot up by bows, give up some points for protection, like lots of happy people do. Otherwise, deal with it.

[ArchonAlarion]

I'm really looking forward to 36/3 shielders that have 12 ps and 12 shield skill lol

That wouldn't be possible smartie.

He is suggesting shield difficulty, NOT shield skill.

You'd have a 36/3 shielder with exactly 1 shield skill. Even a steel shield with 1 shield skill would break quickly in melee. And because they have exactly 1 athletics, their shield will be hit so many freaking times because they cannot disengage as agility shielders can.

[Tomas]

I'm really looking forward to 36/3 shielders that have 12 ps and 12 shield skill lol

I'm talking about Shield DIFFICULTY not shield skill.

Skill will still be agility based but anybody with the required strength will be able to pick up and use a shield.

Perhaps a nerf to shield stats and a buff to shield skill will have to go with this change, but that will need balancing afterwards

[Slamz]

Maybe the best way to accomplish what you want is something like:

Anyone can pick up any shield (how much strength do you really need just to hold it in front of you?)
The shield's requirement minus your shield skill represents a penalty:

* -5% movement speed per point
* -10% shield speed per point
* -10% melee speed per point
* +10% damage taken by shield per point

So anyone can pick up a Huscarl shield but if you have 0 skill in it, then you get all of the above penalties, multiplied by 5 (while you are using it -- no penalty if it's just on your back).

So you'll run 25% slower, the shield will be speed 40 (instead of 80), your weapon will swing 50% slower and the shield will effectively have 50% fewer hit points.  Basically you can carry a piece of wood in front of you while you close in on a target but you'll be slower and you'd better put it away before the fight breaks out.

Someone with skill 4 can use the skill 5 huscarl shield, but with x1 of all of the above penalties.

[ArchonAlarion]

That would be cool slamz, but it would make more sense if all items worked like that, not just shields.

The idea with shields having strength difficulty is that they should work like melee weapons, with shield skill being the proxy wpf category. It's never made sense to me why you need to be fast/agile/dexterous to simply hold a huscarl shield in front of you.

[POOPHAMMER]

That would be cool slamz, but it would make more sense if all items worked like that, not just shields.

The idea with shields having strength difficulty is that they should work like melee weapons, with shield skill being the proxy wpf category. It's never made sense to me why you need to be fast/agile/dexterous to simply hold a huscarl shield in front of you.

Can you not simply open your eyes and see it is a point of balance? Are you saying you want full STR builds (which are already OP), to have fucking SHIELDS?

Maybe we should have the devs let you have some practice duels with a full str build with 12 shield and 12 powerstrike

[Vodner]

Can you not simply open your eyes and see it is a point of balance? Are you saying you want full STR builds (which are already OP), to have fucking SHIELDS?

Maybe we should have the devs let you have some practice duels with a full str build with 12 shield and 12 powerstrike

They would have 12 powerstrike and 1 (or 0) shield skill, but would be able to use any shield (presumably with some severe penalties).

[POOPHAMMER]

So then whats the point lol

Sounds like it would make more sense to carry a few arena shields tbh

[Tzar]

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[Vodner]

So then whats the point lol

Sounds like it would make more sense to carry a few arena shields tbh

The biggest advantage would be being able to loot a shield off the ground when you find yourself in a position where you absolutely need one. It would also be nice for everybody to be able to take a shield when the autobalance decides to stack all of the ranged on one team.

Carrying a second shield adds (if I recall correctly) 4 times the weight of the second shield to your character, which is a nontrivial amount of weight even for light shields.

[Jarlek]

(click to show/hide)

I'm really looking forward to 36/3 shielders that have 12 ps and 12 shield skill lol

Seriously, do we need another huge chunk of players switching to strength stacking builds?

If you dislike get shot up by bows, give up some points for protection, like lots of happy people do. Otherwise, deal with it.

Can you not simply open your eyes and see it is a point of balance? Are you saying you want full STR builds (which are already OP), to have fucking SHIELDS?

Maybe we should have the devs let you have some practice duels with a full str build with 12 shield and 12 powerstrike

I CAN'T READ, LOL!

So then whats the point lol

Sounds like it would make more sense to carry a few arena shields tbh

Having a good shield with low shieldskill is actually still pretty bad. It's not the shield that is important for the shield to work properly, but the shieldskill. My 8 shieldskill shielder have a better protection and forcefield with a Knightly Heater (fuck, even the buckler!), than my 3 shieldskill have with the Board Shield.

Just being able to pick up one of those heavy fuckers when there is archers around, would really help out on the battlefield. I got 5 shieldskill on my main and I would love to have this added. I don't think there really ought to be any penalty for it anyway.