11 réponses à ce sujet

[JnEricsonx]

Just wondering people's thoughts, or if you can make up for it with defensive bonuses from say Defender, etc, etc.

[Running_Blind]

I used it now and then. If an enemy was doing enough to knockback my warrior (looking at you Rockwraith) it was enough to keep me un-knock-back-able.

Then when I had the points spare to upgrade TtB for the +20 Fortitude I used that instead. The problem with shield defense is not only does it reduce your damage by 25%, but you attack in a narrower arc, attack slower and have a sustain cost.

Sure when it's upgraded you have +50% DR for attack from the rear (Just the rear), but I always found it easier to just adjust my position so I wasn't getting attacked in the back.

[Gegliosch]

TtB can't replace shield defense. Damage reduction is just so much better than defense rating.

[Running_Blind]

It was never about the defense rating, it was about the fortitude. As a Reaver I wanted my warrior to get hit and then be able to hit back, not get chain stunned.

[Feranel]

I must admit, the whole of the defender tree looks like one giant talent sink, but the 20 fortitude on turn the blade is quite attractive. Elemental Aegis is kinda nice too...

[Elhanan]

No real data thus far, but did encounter an interesting event yesterday.

I had respec Avaline near 19th during Aci 2, and dropped all the Vanguard (green & yellow?) talents I wasn't using to gain all the shield talents; plus she has a single Elemental Aegis pick, a few picks in the upgraded Rally area for stamina renewal, etc. I run her with Shield Defense at all times, plus perm EA and temp Immovable from her private stock.

During the next major quest plus a few other lesser challenges, Avaline was surviving as well as ever, but seemed somewhat lackluster in her overall performance; no consumables required. Then it hit me: I had taken off all her removable gear for the Respec to avoid bugs, and she had been out there without any accessories, potions, or weapons including selected sword and shield; just the unremovables (eg; upgraded personal armor).

Passed my own private Survival exam with flying colors, and a big grin for me.

Modifié par Elhanan, 04 avril 2011 - 02:35 .

[SuicidalBaby]

you are missing out on exceptional dps and mobility if you run shield defence 24/7

it is situational at best, after taunting near a rogue that just stealthed or while fighting dragons to negate wing buffet.

I suggest tactic of,
self: hp < 75% activate Shield Defence

manual deactivation

Modifié par SuicidialBaby, 04 avril 2011 - 04:48 .

[ezrafetch]

Resounding "nay" from me.  Aveline has beast DPS with the Vanguard tree, no need to severely put a cramp onto it by running Shield Defense.  If she's getting into a pickle just cast Heal onto her (I sometimes accidentally kill her off, but Revival takes care of that ).  And if you're cramping yourself with Shield Defense, that's an even worse travesty because human-controlled SnS (specced in a similar manner) will sorely out-DPS AI/Aveline SnS DPS just due to the nature of the companion AI. There's no real need to concern yourself with survivability since you'll have so much survivability already with the additional armor bonus from the shield to begin with.  A required but wasted point, at least to me.

Modifié par ezrafetch, 04 avril 2011 - 05:18 .

[Running_Blind]

Feranel wrote...

I must admit, the whole of the defender tree looks like one giant talent sink, but the 20 fortitude on turn the blade is quite attractive. Elemental Aegis is kinda nice too...

I think it has it's uses, Stonewall+Bulwark is worth it just for Assassins, Elemental Aegis + a couple of warding rune made my warrior immune to Anders' Firestom and Walking Bomb.

I suppose it really depends on the rest of your party, if you don't have the spike damage to take out Assassins, or have a nuker mage then the talents become a lot more important.

[Jubez187]

shield defense is god against boss where there is only 1 enemy. Made Orsino and Meredeth a piece of cake. It greatly lowers your DPS, especially if there are multiple enemies (because you get no attack arc) but you're pretty much unkillable in any 1on1 situation. Just have all your ranged flank while they attack the shield defense warrior. The skills isn't AMAZING, a threat generation bonus would be nice (but a threat generation bonus would have been nice ANYWHERE in the sword and shield tree) but it definitely has its uses.

As for the defender tree, I'm not a big stonewall guy because I had upgraded Barrier on my Anders and never really needed stonewall. Elemental Aegis though is god.

[Atmosfear3]

There are very few instances where Shield Defense is useful but it really shines during those situations. The High Dragon fight is made much more easier when Aveline is barely taking any damage. Also very useful during the Arishok fight if you happen to refuse the duel and fight the whole room. There are a few other situations but they aren't coming to me right now.

[Roxlimn]

NPCs are not the same as PCs, particularly at higher difficulty settings. They deal minuscule damage (relative to the PC party) and have mountains of HPs (compared to the PC party). The point of something like Shield Bash is to move the damage taken down at the cost of moving damage dealt down. This is useful in particular situations. For instance, when you're getting knocked down, it's useful to turn it on for the attack that knocks back, then turn it off again (hopefully using no stamina in the process).

Likewise, if you're expecting a huge damage attack coming down, it's useful to take out 25% of that single blast attack in exchange for 25% down on the few attacks from the character it takes while being attacked.

It's useful to think of Shield Defense as an ability you toggle on and off rather than an ability that you sustain all the time.