Clearly I don't use my shield enough as I had no idea you could actually got stunned with your shield, outside of crushthrough. I have always thought, for anyone who has manual blocking skills, it's better to fight without your shield when fighting a single opponent. Question is, what advantages does the shield actually provide over blocking with your weapon?
Yeah, a lot of non-shield users always talk about how awesome they are, but have no real experience with them.
PROS:
- Good at blocking multiple opponents. (Only if they are all in front of you.)
- Don't have to worry about directional blocking.
- Blocks ranged. (Only from your front arc.)
- Makes you practically invulnerable from the front arc.
- Keeps you from being weapon stunned. (Can still be shield stunned.)
CONS:
- The majority of shields block slower than manual blocks. (If Mori isn't wearing armor, my shield isn't fast enough to block his hilt-slashes. I have to switch to manual.)
- Slows you down. (Just carrying it makes you slower, but blocking makes you INCREDIBLY slow.)
- Breaks. (Any shield will go down with a few hits from an axe.)
- Shield stun. (I used a Knightly Heater for a time, but got annoyed at how frequently I got shield stunned. With my Heavy Round, only a str build using a bar mace stuns me.)
- False sense of security. (Due to the fact that blocking isn't tied to the animation, it's impossible to tell when you're actually blocking. You just have to get a feel for it, especially with the slower shields. Also, your front may block attacks, but your sides are completely open. The only shield with pretty good side coverage is the Huscarl.)
- Telegraphing of attacks. (Due to having a giant piece of wood come up in front of you, it's pretty easy to tell when you're feinting and when you're attacking. It's much harder to follow 1h attacks when not using a shield.)
- Point investment. (You really need to invest 6 shield skill to make it worth it in my opinion. Anything less than that seems to break way too fast. Still, you could take those 6 points and put them in ride, making you much more effective.)
- Cost. (Shields aren't cheap. A top-tier 1-hander and a good shield costs as much as a great sword.)
- Kicking. (Can't block during kicks while using a shield.)
If you go 1-h no shield and can block decently, you can be incredibly effective. It's much harder to block your attacks as they are harder to see. You also move much faster. Weapon stun isn't a big issue if you know what to look out for and if you're fighting a stunner, you just have to block twice and you're good. If I was dueling often, not taking a shield would be the way to go. In battle though, it's such a great utility item to have around.
That being said, shield is fun and it works for me and my build. With my build, your average 2-hander will kill me in 2 hits. So, it's very important for me to not get hit at all.