Shield handling a PITA?

[GSV3MiaC]

I find dealing with a shield is a PITA .. you have to manually unhand it to cast spells (overweight), to wield a bow, or to carry a torch. Can't this be a bit automated - i.e. put away the shield when you light a torch, put it back when the torch is out, ditto for bows, and for spells, automatically unhand whatever is required to cast?

Ok, maybe set as a user option, or have a warning message ('you put your shield away to carry the torch'), but the current 'make the user do N mouse clicks' is just a recipe for RSI.

[BasiliskWrangler]

I voted yes.

[Asharak]

I voted yes.

Hooray.

I'd like to see all the automation GSV3MiaC suggested, with the possible exception of not auto-removing a weapon/shield when I'm in the middle of a fight.

- Ash

[BasiliskWrangler]

I defense of the game, I imagine that adventuring for real with a shield would be a serious pain in the ass, right? I mean, think what it would be like going through a heavy forest or narrow dungeon with an oversized, clunky shield! I figured in Eschalon, a shield would just remain in your inventory and brought out only for "big" fights when maximum protection was needed, so I never considered convenience as a factor.

In patch 1.02 I have removed the weight limitation for casting as long as no creatures/NPCs are nearby. That helps some, and I'll see what else I can do to improve it, but for now I am just going to keep working on bug fixes until the Mac version is out. Any big additions/changes to the game will have to come a bit later.

[GSV3MiaC]

I figured in Eschalon, a shield would just remain in your inventory and brought out only for "big" fights when maximum protection was needed

Yeah, but you need to understand that right now one 'hive drone' IS a big fight!! 8>.

Actually I sort of gave up using a shield .. I'll reconsider if I find an enchanted one. +1 on armor class wasn't making a big difference anyway.

[screeg]

What if the weapon swap included your off hand as well?

[Jaesun]

Would it be possible to auto un-equip a shield if you select a torch? It's just a mild annoyance to have to stop and manually un-equip a shield and then select a torch. Just would be nice.

Just a suggestion. Don't know if others would find this useful?

[Sakar]

I figured in Eschalon, a shield would just remain in your inventory and brought out only for "big" fights when maximum protection was needed

Yeah, but you need to understand that right now one 'hive drone' IS a big fight!! 8>.

Actually I sort of gave up using a shield .. I'll reconsider if I find an enchanted one. +1 on armor class wasn't making a big difference anyway.

Is that the only benefit of a shield? Yeesh...

[Asharak]

Well, if you find a better shield... I have a Tower Shield that provides +4 Armor Rating right now.

I defense of the game, I imagine that adventuring for real with a shield would be a serious pain in the ass, right? I mean, think what it would be like going through a heavy forest or narrow dungeon with an oversized, clunky shield!

True, and you could fix the issue in that direction if you wanted by doing things like making the equipping/unequipping of items count as an action. That would make the decision to use a shield in the first place more meaningful. But as long as there's no cost (aside from UI frustration) to using a shield people are likely to keep using them whenever possible in the name of having the most powerful character they can.

- Ash

[Jaesun]

True, and you could fix the issue in that direction if you wanted by doing things like making the equipping/unequipping of items count as an action. That would make the decision to use a shield in the first place more meaningful.

I like that idea.