Shields in EB III

[Calathon]

Hello everyone,

when finally finding out that there is a parry-mode in EB II and that this mode works quite fine without the use of any shield (which, by the way, annoyed me to a certain extent as I invested quite some skillpoints) I thought about the following: would it not be possible to make shields in EB III actually useful or necessary in order to deflect arrows and/or thrown weapons in general?
What I would like to suggest is to keep all the disadvantages, but to implement real advantages as well. I think it is not very realistic, nor logic, to deflect an arrow with a sword, axe or dagger (or even barehanded). To do so, a shield should be a must-have. Additionally, wearing a shield should grant the character the possibility to parry an extra attack as well as (in case of a tower shield) significantly being harder to hit since he literally is behind a wall of steel.
In my opinion, shields in EB I and II are not worth the money nor the skillpoints as they do weigh quite a lot, they do not allow you to use a torch when worn, they often prevent you from doing magics because of their weight (as mentioned above) and they do not protect you very well. So I do not feel to have any real advantages from using shields, in fact I think it is a disadvantage to do so.

What do you think about this issue, fellow board members?

And, addressed to the developers: would it be possible to make any changes in the usage of shields at this late stage of programming?

Cheers,
Calathon

[Painted Lady]

Of all the possible skill sets in both Books I and II, Shields is the one I have never felt the need to activate. You stated the reasons they why aren't worth the points quite well. I know Kreador has done builds where he takes one skill and maxes it out to see what it will do. Maybe he has tried Shields and can add some more nuanced insight.

I wouldn't think BW is very interested in completely reprogramming the weapons balancing at the point, nor do I think we want him to......

[Randomizer]

Major point against shields is you spend lots of time in the dark and you can't use a torch with the shield. You can use spells instead of a torch, but I always found as an effective tactic to turn off the torch to give the enemy a major to hit minus when it doesn't hurt you as much as it does him.

[Kreador Freeaxe]

In fact I have a post around here somewhere talking about my shield-and-spear character. When raised sufficiently, Shield skill actually makes you nearly un-hittable by ranged opponents, and because of the way range is determined on the square grid, virtually un-hittable from the corner-on squares. But it takes a LOT of points to make that work. I found the character a lot of fun to play, though. Walking into Fathamurk, it was fun to just ignore the spear-throwing Taurex as their strikes were deflected 98% of the time.

[Painted Lady]

Kreador, I don't quite know how you pulled that Spear/Shields build off. What did you used for your melee weapon? And, how did you deal with all of the weight issues? I mean, spears are heavy and shields are heavy.

[Kreador Freeaxe]

Walking into Fathamurk, it was fun to just ignore the spear-throwing Taurex as their strikes were deflected 98% of the time.

Fathamurk?

Um. Brain fart. Talushorn, yeah.

And, Painted Lady, by "Spear and shield" I mean piercing weapon type spears, not throwing spears. Classic Zulu combat technique. Assagai and shield.

[Painted Lady]

by "Spear and shield" I mean piercing weapon type spears, not throwing spears.

Ah, that makes sense. Actually, that sounds like a fun play-through combination.........

[Morgan Terror]

I've tried that. Never finished the character, but i could see the potential. Spears sinergise with defensive stats quite well.