2-Hander shield questions

[Mallets]

Obviously this is a matter of opinion... but curious if I'm foolish for taking a point to shield with a 2-Hander.  Mind you, I'll be using the Heavy BS most of the time.  But all WPF will be in 2H.  The single point will be taken out of IF, and will allow me to use the Leather Covered Round Shield.

Shield won't be used for melee.  Just as cover against archers/xbows.  Seems like it'd really help on certain maps.  And the Leather Covered Round Shield just seems like it would be worth the 1 point (instead of using the Hide Covered).

The lose of only 2 hp just seems like a no brainer.  I'll still have plenty of HP.  I'm going 30/9 and will still have 6 IF (for 77 hp, instead of 79).

The only other downside is I'll be carrying around potentially un-needed weight (3 pounds).  This (the extra weight) has be debating yes or no.

Nonetheless, is the 1 point to shield absolutely pointless even for range protection?

[Alaire]

If you only have 1 point to shield, it is probably useless. Generally, 1 point in anything does not do much. Your shield will break with 1-2 hits of basically any melee over level 15's, and may break after 4-5 arrows(which will probably happen if you're chasing after archers with only 3 ath. You also won't really be able to pick up other people's shields in battle while only using 1 shielding.

If you're going to use a shield, I'd recommend at least 3 skill to dedicate to blocking arrows.

Otherwise, just try to hide behind your teammates. It's probably best to keep that extra IF to survive one extra hit.

[Rico]

The Leather Covered Round shield is quite amazing on +3, and you need only 1 shield skill to use it. Since the bonus from Ironflesh is almost nonexistent, the shield skill will probably help you more even if it's just 1 point.

[Macropus]

Basically as a non-1h you only need a shield when you're left against ranged at the end of the round so that you could camp the flag. A leather covered shield won't help you when an archer shoots 20 arrows at you. As for the middle of battle, it's easier to take cover or choose the right routes to move than carrying an extra 2-3 kg with you all the time.

[Joseph Porta]

Use morningstar with a fast shield, the new right swing animation makes it fairly viable. I advice you to have atleast 5-6 ath.

[HarunYahya]

Well I sometimes carry 0 req old round shield with me, It doesn't protect the body but if you aim high, It actually protects you against headshots.
It's good to close gap between good archers and force them to drop bows and go melee or run away but It is definetly not 2handers job to mess with archers. I do it if our team has no shielders or our shielders are retarded and going for melee instead of archers.

[Sandersson Jankins]

It's not useless to have one shield skill at all. Used to have a fella in our clan that played a 36-3 maul build before that playstyle was made mostly unviable, and he'd use an old board shield with 1 shield skill so his obese ass wouldn't get pin-cushioned.

It doesn't make you THAT much slower if its on your back; the weight of the very low-tier shields is pretty low. I wouldn't recommend using the leather shield, though. The coverage is absolute dookie-butter and you'll get shot all around it. Even with the old board shield, you'll get shot around it at times, and it won't do shit to help you from arbalests or heavy crossbows, but it'll provide you with more protection against ranged than a single IF would.

[Macropus]

I wouldn't recommend using the leather shield, though. The coverage is absolute dookie-butter and you'll get shot all around it. Even with the old board shield, you'll get shot around it at times, and it won't do shit to help you from arbalests or heavy crossbows, but it'll provide you with more protection against ranged than a single IF would.

I would not say old board shield is better than leather covered one.
1) Leather shield has 28 armour which helps against getting shot through the shield by xbows.
2) Board shield cover is garbage in some situations since if you don't hold it high enough it gets angled and opens your lower-body part on your right.