I can't decide whether to become a Steel Shielder or Arbalest Sniper.

[Dravic]

Hi all!

I can't decide between Steel Shielder and Arbalest Sniper.

I will have 1 free loom point soon, now what to do with it?

I could go an AGI steel shielder route, or Sniper route.

Can i go a 15/27 sniper (sacrificing any IF and Power Strike) for more WM? or are the STR skills essential? I wanted to play a more mobile sniper, running to the hiding spots quickly and taking his positions on battlefield in order to shoot down some enemies and this build has 9 more WPF to add some accuracy with the loomed Xbows.

What to choose?

Possible Builds:

(click to show/hide)

Level 30 (4 420 577 xp)

Strength: 15
Agility: 24
Hit points: 54
Skills to attributes: 8
Ironflesh: 2
Power Strike: 5
Shield: 0
Athletics: 8
Riding: 0
Horse Archery: 0
Power Draw: 0
Power Throw: 0
Weapon Master: 8
One Handed: 1
Two Handed: 1
Polearm: 1
Archery: 1
Crossbow: 173
Throwing: 1

(click to show/hide)

Level 30 (4 420 577 xp)

Strength: 15
Agility: 27
Hit points: 50
Skills to attributes: 14
Ironflesh: 0
Power Strike: 0
Shield: 0
Athletics: 8
Riding: 0
Horse Archery: 0
Power Draw: 0
Power Throw: 0
Weapon Master: 9
One Handed: 1
Two Handed: 1
Polearm: 1
Archery: 1
Crossbow: 182
Throwing: 1

(click to show/hide)

Level 30 (4 420 577 xp)

Strength: 9
Agility: 27
Hit points: 44
Skills to attributes: 2
Ironflesh: 0
Power Strike: 3
Shield: 9
Athletics: 9
Riding: 0
Horse Archery: 0
Power Draw: 0
Power Throw: 0
Weapon Master: 8
One Handed: 173
Two Handed: 1
Polearm: 1
Archery: 1
Crossbow: 1
Throwing: 1

(click to show/hide)

Level 30 (4 420 577 xp)

Strength: 15
Agility: 21
Hit points: 56
Skills to attributes: 2
Ironflesh: 3
Power Strike: 5
Shield: 7
Athletics: 7
Riding: 0
Horse Archery: 0
Power Draw: 0
Power Throw: 0
Weapon Master: 7
One Handed: 165
Two Handed: 1
Polearm: 1
Archery: 1
Crossbow: 1
Throwing: 1

Obviously the fact that I will have 1 loom point has to be taken into account. Is it better for me to just loom Arbalest or Steel Shield, or maybe try and trade loom point for +1 Arbalest/Steel Shield and a bit of gold? Is fucking with the market worth those few thousands of gold?

[Digglez]

why on earth would you use a steel shield? its terrible; slow, heavy, poor coverage.
with 9 shield skill pretty much anything you use is going to take a god damn ogre to break...and if you are agi, even if that happens you can go loot some other dropped shield on the battlefield

[Dravic]

Well, that's my idea for life ;)

I like the look of Steel Shield, I was a dedicated Steel Shielder when i last played around year ago and it all worked well.

[Canderous]

I´m sorry but was the job of a shielder with 9 strenght?
U can wear only low armors, a bad onehand weapon and u make less damage against archer and no damage against heavy chars.

In my oppinion the 15/21 shielder is much better.

[Macropus]

15-24 is the only reliable build for a sniper. You really need some PS.

I don't have a clue about how steel shield should be used, so you better read that guide -
Lol, was about to link you your own guide rofl. 
Still to me it seems 15-21 is better, or maybe even 15-24 with less WM. If you use blunt/pierce weapon, your damage would be fine while your shield would be still nearly unbreakable.

[Moncho]

The steel shield will slow you down...  a lot, so even with very high athl you will still have a hardish time getting great speed bonuses, so I would suggest as another option 12/24 or 12/27 (intermediate ones to the ones you chose):

(click to show/hide)

Level 30 (4 420 577 xp)

Strength: 12
Agility: 24
Skills to attributes: 2
Ironflesh: 1
Power Strike: 4
Shield: 8
Athletics: 8
Weapon Master: 8
One Handed: 173

(click to show/hide)

Strength: 12
Agility: 27
Skills to attributes: 8
Power Strike: 4
Shield: 9
Athletics: 9
Weapon Master: 1
One Handed: 119

This allows you to go the kinngrimm/leoking way with steel pick, niuweidao, italian sword, elite scimitar, winged mace and some other very good weapons. I have used this build a few gens (with bucklers and heavy round shield, never used steel shield) and it is quite fun
And btw, 15/21 is in no way STR whore.

Regarding what class of both, just play with both for a while and decide which one you prefer. I for one cannot play crossbowman, but it is up to preference. Can you play being hidden most of the time and going out, shooting and then back into cover? Or do you prefer to be in the front line of the battle, tanking hits for your teammates, protecting them from ranged and smacking their faces afterwards?

For siege, steel shield comes in handy to stop those pesky maulers, while with an arbalest you choose your safe area and enjoy seeing people dying to your headshots.

[Dravic]

I don't have a clue about how steel shield should be used, so you better read that guide -
Lol, was about to link you your own guide rofl. 

I didn't play this game for a year or so. Except for a few tries (i did try to play this game few times meanwhile but each time i had to stop after few days)...

So I decided my guide is a bit outdated ;)

But still, LMAO!

[Belatu]

Steel Sniper

[Boerenlater]

Use Plate Covered Round Shield, with 6 shieldskill it's awesome and that way you can have enough STR and PS to do any damage.
24/18 or something like that.

[WITCHCRAFT]

I've done 15/30 pure arbalest for one gen. With only Athletics/Weapon Master you get almost 200 crossbow WPF. You can outrun anyone on foot and can dodge cav/ranged if you are aware of them. It is viable but runs into some trouble on open plains maps with no cover. In melee I used a blunt or pierce 1H. Cut weapons will glance even against peasant armor. Even the 22 pierce on a spiked club is deadly if you can hit people in the head. Usually you just want to block until you can sprint off and reload somewhere else. Most players will stop chasing when they realize they are not going to catch you, ever.

As far as steel shield, I did a 24/18 steel shielder infantry as well. It is amazing on siege servers but just okay in battle servers. Use a short 1H sword and you can block off hallways all by yourself.

Don't go 9 strength, that is too low to do anything useful in melee.

[Phew]

IMHO, the one and only role of the steel shield is to troll maulers. The high weight will really reduce crushthrough chance, although strength maulers with a +3 Great Maul will probably still crush often.

Like Diggles said, any shield (especially loomed), will last a really long time with 9 shield skill. Heck, I am 6 shield skill (7 soon), and with a +3 Heavy Round or +3 Elite Cav my shield usually outlives me unless I'm stupid and go after poleaxe/morningstar users. Even if it breaks, the battlefield is always littered with shields to pick up.

There is nothing wrong with the agility shielder concept at all, it's just the steel shield nullifies most of their advantages (mobility, strength in duel situations, efficacy with picks/maces).

[Dravic]

I've done 15/30 pure arbalest for one gen. With only Athletics/Weapon Master you get almost 200 crossbow WPF. You can outrun anyone on foot and can dodge cav/ranged if you are aware of them. It is viable but runs into some trouble on open plains maps with no cover. In melee I used a blunt or pierce 1H. Cut weapons will glance even against peasant armor. Even the 22 pierce on a spiked club is deadly if you can hit people in the head. Usually you just want to block until you can sprint off and reload somewhere else. Most players will stop chasing when they realize they are not going to catch you, ever.

As far as steel shield, I did a 24/18 steel shielder infantry as well. It is amazing on siege servers but just okay in battle servers. Use a short 1H sword and you can block off hallways all by yourself.

Don't go 9 strength, that is too low to do anything useful in melee.

Thanks for input but 15/30 isnt possible.

Or maybe it is with no athletics and only WM, you're right.

[WITCHCRAFT]

Sorry, I should have been more specific. It's not possible at 30/31. At level 33 you can be 15/30 with 10 ath and 10 WM. Even 15/27 is fast enough that no one but dagger assassin builds can catch you.

[Dravic]

Sorry, I should have been more specific. It's not possible at 30/31. At level 33 you can be 15/30 with 10 ath and 10 WM. Even 15/27 is fast enough that no one but dagger assassin builds can catch you.

Yeah, now just give me a year of boring gameplay with only one build/character all the time to get to that level

[WITCHCRAFT]

I got to 32 with that build in about 2 weeks. Mostly due to some really good castle defense battles on strategus (having gen 16 xp bonus helps too ). That's the only type of strategus battle where a pure crossbower really shines. I retired before hitting 33 because it does get boring after a while.