Do you swing a one handed weapon faster without a shield equipped?

[callahan9119]

Topic.

[San]

Nope, they're the exact same. You may notice delay when blocking due to low shield speed, though. The shield also weighs you down, so it may take a bit of effort to get the right footwork to hit as early as possible in your animation.

[callahan9119]

Ok, I went shieldless to improve my manual blocking, and was doing very well by my standards. I had a big moment of clarity where I realized I have been doing everything wrong with shielding...it should only be used to quickly block, not hide behind, which I was doing.

I put my shield back on today and I'm not doing as well as I was last night and was wondering if I was just swinging faster last night. I suspect I'm just having a mental block when using it. I'll just duel more and practice not turtling.

thanks san.

[Zanze]

I had a big moment of clarity where I realized I have been doing everything wrong with shielding...it should only be used to quickly block, not hide behind, which I was doing.

Now if every shielder experienced this revelation...

[San]

Yeah, having an attack at least in ready position as much as possible puts much more pressure on the opponent than staying in the shield. Feinting is also a little different. 1h without shield has better swing feints, where you interrupt the swing in the middle. Shield has good direction switch feints, where you change your swing direction (even into the same direction) before even swinging.

[Elindor]

Ok, I went shieldless to improve my manual blocking, and was doing very well by my standards. I had a big moment of clarity where I realized I have been doing everything wrong with shielding...it should only be used to quickly block, not hide behind, which I was doing.

^ This.

Now you are on your way to becoming a good shielder.
+1

[Bjord]

Indeed, an astute observation.

Also, you'd arrive at the same conclusion after a while if you were a shieldless class. Manual blocking skills are essential even if you have a shield, it helps with timing strikes and knowing when to strike twice or even cancelling a double strike attempt.

Also, as you mentioned, duel server is the best way to improve.