filthy strength shielders! man up and crutch on your speed and your shield instead, like a manly agi shielder does!
With mail shirt with fur (new kuyak) and light shield (up to 6 kg) 6 ath is just enough to be "fast", while 7-8 PS let u be effective in strat which is full of tincans. That's why for lvl 33-35 24-18 is my choice.
21-21 is nice build as well, maybe even better for pure shielder, but since I play mostly without shield 7 ath would be waste of points, 1h no shield doesnt need so much ath in my opinion.
Oh, and I think that anything more than 4-5 (depends which shields u want to use) shield skill is pretty useless
In battle (Eu1) if I dont meet shield breakers my +3 elite cav basically never breaks.