Get a shield they said

[Nyu]

Case solved, buff shieldskill

[San]

I think the defensive buff is actually pretty good, but it's not too useful since you can just pick up another shield. It doesn't really make you any better at fighting by increasing it. Don't really think bolts should penetrate shields, because it just makes the bad shields even worse. The good shields already rarely/never get penetrated.

[Phew]

I think the defensive buff is actually pretty good, but it's not too useful since you can just pick up another shield. It doesn't really make you any better at fighting by increasing it. Don't really think bolts should penetrate shields, because it just makes the bad shields even worse. The good shields already rarely/never get penetrated.

Honestly, the best aspect of shields now is the shove mechanic, which is absolutely devastating on walls in siege. I shoved Mazrim to his death twice in about 45 seconds on siege last night, and Mazrim is someone I can't normally beat in a "fair fight" i.e. duel situation. But a 30/18 2h player can shove MORE effectively with a practice shield than I can with 7 shield skill and a +3 shield, because shove distance is based solely on strength.

I would like to see shield skill be changed to allow some kind of advantage in a fight, i.e. lateral coverage against swings, reduced weight penalty from the shield, increased resistance to crushthrough/penetration, etc. It's pretty dumb that shield skill doesn't actually allow you to use your shield more effectively in a fight, it just lets you go a little bit longer between picking up shields from the ground.

[Gurnisson]

A friend said I took over a quarter of his health with a shield bash when I had 3 strength and 11 shield skill. It was a teammate as well, which is 50 % reduction

I was nudging him to say hello and I chopped off a lot of his health. Might not have an effect on the distance you push them, but seems the damage is increased with increased shield skill. can't see any other reason why it would do that much damage.

[Jona]

With 6 or 7 shield skill, I've had the following experiences against +3 arbalests with +3 steel bolts (100 pierce dmg):
19 shield armor (+3 Heavy Round Shield)-Frequently penetrated
21 shield armor (+3 Hand Pavise Shield)-Occasionally penetrated
25 shield armor (+3 Elite Cavalry Shield)-Rarely penetrated (once or twice with max speed bonus at pointe blank range)
35-37 shield armor (+3 Knightly kite/heater)-never penetrated (except by ballista)

So assume speed bonus could get the damage up to 125 pierce, that would make the minimum required shield armor to avoid penetration ~32, which jives with my observations, and the original equation in the game mechanic thread (which doesn't include the shield skill).

I wish shield skill affected penetration, because that would open up a bunch of shields for consideration. But right now if you want a shield larger than a buckler with 100+ speed that won't get penetrated by bolts, you have two choices. Pretty boring. It's a shame that some skills (shield, riding, weapon master) are such poor investments above the item requirements. I really wish they would buff these skills, because right now you have lvl 34 guys running around with specs like 30/18 and all their points in power strike/athletics (because other skills are so weak in comparison), and they are unstoppable juggernaughts.

^ Do not read if your mind is forever in the gutter like mine.

[Grumpy_Nic]

I dont recall ever being hit by a bolt through my shield. I only notice the reduced coverage when having only 4 shield skill, any less is a waste anyway I think.

With +3 heavy xbow and +3 steel bolts I cant remember to having penetrated any real shield although I keep trying.
If you take one of those paper shields its just logical that its crap, take a steppe horse (4 riding) thats also pretty fragile.

Also I dont know how an ability (shield skill) would influence the resistance of the material a shield is made of. That would only make sense with heirlooms.

[Paul]

A way for shield skill to decrease penetration chance irl would be to change the impact angle of the incoming projectile with tilting the shield a bit. That way the effective armour thickness would increase. Nevertheless I think bolt penetration is fine in cRPG. Never had a problem with it as a shielder.

[Grumbs]

I get it quite a bit with unloomed Elite Cavalry shield with 4 skill (21 shield armour). I think I could reproduce it reliably with certain players, when I see some guys I just know beforehand they will crush through. 1 of those going through into the head wrecks my hp bar.

I will use a better shield now though and see, but the more weight I get with thes the more my main role gets weakened so its often not even a good idea to take the shield

[MrDeucer]

It rarely happens to me but when it does i actually doesn't hurt too much.

[Grumbs]

Nevertheless I think bolt penetration is fine in cRPG. Never had a problem with it as a shielder.

Why have it for people with less shield skill though? People would always go on about "get a shield", but the lower skill ones suck and are heavy. Its not really a viable counter argument to ranged as I've found out. If you put too many points into shield you get to the point where you might as well just play as a primary shield class.

[Jarlek]

Why have it for people with less shield skill though? People would always go on about "get a shield", but the lower skill ones suck and are heavy. Its not really a viable counter argument to ranged as I've found out. If you put too many points into shield you get to the point where you might as well just play as a primary shield class.

This.

"Low" lvl weapons are still really useful, why shouldn't shields?

And as I said earlier:

You get shieldskill and a shield to not get shot.

There's a mechanic that makes you still take damage even if you have a shield and are facing the guy shooting you.

There's something seriously wrong with this...

[Osiris]

all depends on the shield My +3 Heavy round shield with 7 Shield skill gets shot through virtually every time (which makes me rage hard as it deals tons of damage still) huscarl hardly at all, Now i cant really close down an xbower head on because i just know he will fire though my shield and take half my hp. but heavy round does look badass

[Moncho]

all depends on the shield My +3 Heavy round shield with 7 Shield skill gets shot through virtually every time (which makes me rage hard as it deals tons of damage still) huscarl hardly at all, Now i cant really close down an xbower head on because i just know he will fire though my shield and take half my hp. but heavy round does look badass

wow really? Not my experience at all.
I have been using a +3 heavy round shield (19 armour) with 4 or 5 shield skill for ages and hardly found myself in that situation, and even when it happens, it takes about 10-25% health, with 51 body armour.
Something I do is, whenever I charge into a crossbowman head on, I move my mouse slightly around in every direction fast so that the bad spot does not stay in one place long. A bit like those spasmic shieldless infantry dodging but with smaller movements so that my shield is always in between me and the crossbowman.

Personally, I do not think it is a problem.

[Life]

Grumpy when cav is dehorsed he still has put like 6 points into riding which detracts from his infantry ability. Xbows have to dedicate nothing of worth. 1 handers are not underpowered before you say that

Have you used a +3 arbalest with 1 WPF? you cant hit anything. i use 150wpf.

[Phew]

A way for shield skill to decrease penetration chance irl would be to change the impact angle of the incoming projectile with tilting the shield a bit. That way the effective armour thickness would increase. Nevertheless I think bolt penetration is fine in cRPG. Never had a problem with it as a shielder.

This is another case where a balance issue is skewed to favor battle mode. The only mode I play is siege-NA2. A VERY common occurrence on siege is to scale a ladder, and meet an arbalester at the top of the ladder. Arbalester aims at the head, penetrates shield, and still hits for a crap ton of damage. This isn't some bizarre occurance; it's a multiple times per round thing.

On battle, the xbowmen aren't generally shooting at shielders pointe blank like on siege, they are busy shooting/dodging enemy cav/ranged. But on siege, they are going to shoot the first guy up the ladder whether he has a shield or not. If you want your shield to actually stop bolts on siege, 89% of the shields in the shop are of no use to you. That's a shame.