I suggest we reduce the damage mitigation per shield skill from 8% to 6%, AND add a mechanic that reduces shield effective weight (for run speed calculations) by 1kg per shield skill (can't go below zero, obviously). This minor tweak would solve several problems:
-13 shield skill trolls would no longer have unbreakable shields (this mechanic is exploited in DTV, and is extremely annoying in other game modes)
-Shielders would actually have a chance against kick spammers (1h shielders are too easy to kick right now, due to encumbrance from shield weight coupled with short reach)
-Typical 5-7 shield skill builds would no longer require 25+ hits from non-axe weapons to break their shield, and axes would get even more effective
There are other shield issues (zonky nudge mechanics, crappy lateral coverage in melee, shielders being overly prone to block stun, jump throwers throwing over shield every time, etc), but I feel like this tweak would solve the most issues with the least amount of effort from the devs. I'm sure it requires WSE2 blah blah, but I bet cmp could do this over a lunch break.