What to do with the Other Hand

[tenbsmith]

I'm near the end of Krellin Deeps and here is what my group is holding.
Vraes: 2-Handed Sword
Kyera: Club & Shield
Tamilin: Light Bow & Infantry Dagger
Karjtan: Walking Staff & Nothing

Shields seem pretty lame to me at this point, +2 Parry just doesn't seem that impressive. Kyera, however, uses a shield because she needs all the defense she can get as my secondary tank.

Any suggestions for what Karjtan should have in his other hand. I'm considering a shield, but that does seem very Wizardly.

[bobsoup]

*giggle*


/sorry




I don't think he can hold anything other than his staff can he?

[beuns]

I think the staff is 2H, yes... So nothing in the second hand for shifty eyes

[fallen]

The staff is two handed and Kjartan can't use anything else.

[tenbsmith]

bobsoup, thanx for recognizing the adolescent nature of my thread title.

Glad to get the cleared up about the staff.

What do y'all think about the utility of shields?

[Karjus]

Only been using them on Kyera myself as she can't use anything else there. Without knowing exactly how armor/parry works hard to tell just how effective they are, or how effective they will be in the future as items improve.

[beuns]

I also tend to use shield only with Kyera (Vraes is dual wielding and Vincent is using a one handed blade). When I upgrade her shield from +1 to +2 parry, I really could tell the difference. Anyway, I really need her to get as many armor as she can...

[contributor]

Isn't there a light blade for sale in Oskahold that has +3 parry? Would carrying it in the other hand be as good as a shield? It would use AP but add damage. Could you get a last 1 AP hit in with it at the end? Hmmmm?

[slayernz]

Dual-wielding is very effective for Vraes, and if you find a light blade with a +3 parry, it works as effectively as a shield too

I do have a +3 parry shield in my inventory, and sometimes Vraes still carries it when I want that extra bit of movement during combat. This is when you come across a party of Ratkin archers. They are always a bit spread out so you have to be able to move and strike, and dual-wielding doesn't give you the flexibility you need.

[Cory Trese]

Well, shields (unlike weapons) can have always on magical buffs so, yeah, shields are awesome.

+2 Parry from a shield is very good -- it works against all types of attacks.

+3 Parry from a dagger is good, but not as good as a shield and it cannot give buffs, so yeah, shields.

The balancing system all of the above into account, you're just looking at the tip of the iceberg and estimating the balancing value of shields without seeing the full scope of what they're capable of.

Also, don't discount shields as improving your ability to soak ranged damage.

[Cory Trese]

Dec 15, 2013 16:56:30 GMT -5 contributor said:

Isn't there a light blade for sale in Oskahold that has +3 parry? Would carrying it in the other hand be as good as a shield? It would use AP but add damage. Could you get a last 1 AP hit in with it at the end? Hmmmm?

No, you wouldn't get that last hit like that. Try it out, you'll see it works well.

[John Robinson]

Only the Outlander can use the Phalanx Shield buff, and must have a shield equipped to do so.

Phalanx Shield 2, has a low cost of, 3 AP and 9 SP. You get +3 Parry stacked with your +2 shield and an additional +2 Armor for 8 combat rounds.

Remember you can walk around all you want without the buff expiring. The count down only occurs during combat.

Edit: Forgot to mention; Vraes has the unique skill called "Leadership".  This skill increases the duration of Phalanx Shield

beyond 8 rounds, for each point in it. Also applies to Berserk Rage.  Stone Skin extends duration using Lore.  You can balance or specialize in one or the other.

[johndramey]

I don't use shields on my current Vraes build, but the do seem to improve longevity a lot. If I were building a good tanky high difficulty party I'd have Vraes walking around with a shield and a hammer, but since I'm just running through on normal right now he's using a 2 handed spear. Shields are very good for defense and, just like John Robinson said, you gotta remember Phalanx Shield. Add that buff into Vraes's shield and suddenly the equation becomes much, much nicer.

[morten]

So the offhand.. Does the sorcerer have any use for it?

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using proboards

[John Robinson]

Dec 16, 2013 1:47:54 GMT -5 morten said:

So the offhand.. Does the sorcerer have any use for it?

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using proboards

If you try to equip a shield or knife in the off hand, he will not be allowed to do it.