Attempting to make a Shashka Shielder.

[Tears of Destiny]

So here goes, any thoughts?

I was thinking initially an 18/18 build but after contemplating how hard it can be to hurt tin cans I was thinking the following:

Level 30 (4 420 577 xp)

Strength: 21
Agility: 15
Hit points: 70

Skills to attributes: 2

Ironflesh: 7
Power Strike: 7
Shield: 5
Athletics: 5
Weapon Master: 5

One Handed: 148

Shashka and Elite Cavalry Shield (or Knightly Kite Shield, still undecided) are what this build will focus on using(Might be swapped out for a Huscarl if the mood strikes me and I have a high multiplier)
___________

As this is merely an alt for when boredom sets in, once I reach level 30 I am not intending to retire in all likelihood.

Thoughts?

[MountedRhader]

I used a shashka for a while there, and overheads tear anything without armor apart. The sword itself just bounces off armor though.. As do many cutting weapons. This is coming from a 15 str - rest agility character.

[Socrates]

18/18 worked fine for me. 21/15 is perfect for the Shashka though. Will allow it to dish damage out will taking some with your 7 IF.

[Spawny]

I did a 24/12 build. Works great. Cutting weapons don't bounce unless you hit very early in the swing.

Just mind your footwork and situational awareness to stay out of trouble. You're not a great runner with 4 athletics, but if you combine 8 IF with heavier or heirloomed armour you can take quite a beating.
Most of your hits will be killshots, sometimes you have to hit them twice

[Shablagoo]

Slightly off topic, but what's the difference between the elite cavalry shield with 21 armour/250 hps and the plate covered round shield at 51 armour/178 hps?  Which one is better against what? 

[Kafein]

The elite cavalry shield will do better against melee weapons and axes. The plate covered round shield will technically stand longer against projectiles, but it's coverage is so small I doubt it's useful.

[Kryser]

Tears you probably see me running around with my nuiweidao and red tassel in my red plate spartan look on the NA servers.

I've been a 21/15 build for 2 gens now, and I can tell you that this gen im happily going 18/18 for that 1 point of athletics. If you want to be a successful 1her, you need to keep up with the 2hers with only 1 weapon. Most 2hers are 18/18 or higher str with more skills burned for more attributes.

Meaning these spammers will usually have 5-7 athletics themselves, being quicker without the shield to slow them down. Take my advice and I know you will enjoy your character more than I did playing my 21/15 build.

I went 21 str for 7 powerthrow before the patch for lances. But now that much str is not needed.

P.S. you need to catch my old friendchers too, so athletics helps.

[Phazey]

I've been advocating 18/18 builds for quite a while now and prefer those builds myself on both my cav and my polearm guy. I've always felt that athletics 6 is worth it, because other people tend to go for athletics 5 or less.

Don't tell anyone or else everybody will be going for 18/18. Wait, why am i posting this?

[Tears of Destiny]

Fascinating, thank you all for the responses. +1 for all.

[Shablagoo]

The elite cavalry shield will do better against melee weapons and axes. The plate covered round shield will technically stand longer against projectiles, but it's coverage is so small I doubt it's useful.

I tested it and the plate shield seemed to last about the same against axes but almost 3 times as long against swords.  As far as I can tell the plate seems better in every way except coverage and the "speed" rating which no one seems to be sure of whether that has any effect at all. 

[Renegade]

I tested it and the plate shield seemed to last about the same against axes but almost 3 times as long against swords.  As far as I can tell the plate seems better in every way except coverage and the "speed" rating which no one seems to be sure of whether that has any effect at all.

I'm very sure it affects the time from block to swing. It should be easy for you to test this...

[Kafein]

I tested it and the plate shield seemed to last about the same against axes but almost 3 times as long against swords.  As far as I can tell the plate seems better in every way except coverage and the "speed" rating which no one seems to be sure of whether that has any effect at all.

The speed rating effect and the weight effect are very noticeable with a little experience. Shield recovery time was increased lately (you can't block as fast as before after an attack). You can suffer the same problem if you are used to a fast shield when trying to adapt to slower ones.

Also, coverage is very important, as now every shield had their coverage ruined by the "huscarl force field" nerf. Every non-huscarl shielder will tell you that all shields got nerfed because only one was imba. Now the huscarl shield still has his magical force field, and you can barely blocks arrows with most other shields. Just being slightly not in the axis of the incoming arrow will likely make the shield hit miss.

[Shinimas]

I understand this was not the point of the thread, but I really don't see the point of going Shashka over, say, NCS. Other than that, it's good, 5 ATH should be enough with such a long weapon. Elite Cavalry Shield explodes against anything strong though, even if it's not an axe/mstar.

And you are aware of "skip the fun", right? The way you said "once I reach level 30" made me think you're going to painstakingly level him up all the way.

[Tears of Destiny]

I understand this was not the point of the thread, but I really don't see the point of going Shashka over, say, NCS. Other than that, it's good, 5 ATH should be enough with such a long weapon. Elite Cavalry Shield explodes against anything strong though, even if it's not an axe/mstar.

And you are aware of "skip the fun", right? The way you said "once I reach level 30" made me think you're going to painstakingly level him up all the way.

I am going Shashka because I want to make a themed character, and it has a nice respectable damage output speed rating and reach (103) for the gold cost, allowing me to do a few interesting things. Mainly for a theme character. I have decided to use a Knightly Kite Shield instead of the Elite Cavalry shield, both for looks and for stats. Ignoring looks, just take it as "The Shashka is a very good weapon if you want to save money."

As for skip the fun, I hope you are aware that it requires you to delete all alts and other such rude things, right? At least that is my understanding. I for one would like to play not only all of my alts (some are multi-gen) but also keep playing my wonderful main character.

[Shinimas]

True, forgot about that.