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Check out Alpha Two Announcements here to see the latest news on Alpha Two.
Check out general Announcements here to see the latest news on Ashes of Creation & Intrepid Studios.
To get the quickest updates regarding Alpha Two, connect your Discord and Intrepid accounts here.
[Megathread] Dual Shields and you
deadmansprice
Moderator, Member, Leader of Men, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
Noticed the recent community craze over the dual shields, and variants on Discord. Since this is a constant topic for several days, I have created a thread so people can spam the images and discuss the matters over dual shields. Please redirect any talk about this topic to this thread.
Poll here:
http://www.strawpoll.me/20908035
Poll here:
http://www.strawpoll.me/20908035
4
Comments
So to be fair, I don't have a strong opinion on this topic. It won't matter if you're wielding two shields or two swords. When I face you, that's where your journey ends.
Remember big tower shields were designed to create a big wall that would allow for spears/pikes to get between/above to kill the other side.
IMO Having only shield is breaking the immersion the same way as dual wielding big polearms
― Plato
Its kind of the same thing. The basic idea of both are the same; you don't want a weapon, you just want to wield a shield(s).
Who says it would be an effective weapon? But it would be good at blocking, maybe shielding will be as action combat too? Like, block in a certain direction, block in two with two shields, block more area with one large. Catching an attack, or an arrow, can be very satisfactory
Dual wielding shields, however, is ridiculous.
I would much rather see an ability for tanks that rallies shield-wielding allies to join in a shield wall.
Lmao what the hell is that.
This is not about the question if it is possible to create such thing and try it out, but if that thing is actually usable in practice
― Plato
They were never used in real combat because you’d be at the mercy of someone with real weapons.
This is a fantasy MMORPG so it’s not like this sort of thing can’t be included, but it seems close to the “giant anime sword” trope that Intrepid wants to avoid.
There are historical fencing treatises dedicated to the use of a dueling shield.
https://www.freelanceacademypress.com/duelingshield.aspx
That is the same equivalent of fake martial arts today. - No practical use and potentially dangerous for the practitioner. Doesn't mean that it stopped people from doing it.
And historical fencing treaties are literally made up games from bored rich kids. Some became a competitive sport, some remained a drunken dare.
― Plato
Since it will be possible to quickly swap weapons in Ashes, my fear is that dual-wielding (or more) will become meta and switching between your weapons/shield during combat will be prevalent in PvP.
I would prefer if you couldn't swap any gear while in-combat, but that doesn't mean you couldn't wield different gear for different situations.
Example of a two-handed shield in OSRS, which people use to tank attacks and switch back to a weapon right after they mitigate damage (which I find very boring).
In terms if real life Roman's used tower shields but even those were specifically for the phalanx. Far less effective outside of the shield wall.
I'd draw the line at size comparison there.
Kite shields had two sets of hand rungs in em. The typical depiction worn with the point facing down 🔽
And the other set of hand rungs let you wear it sideways ▶️
I'll let your imagination sort out what the pointy end was for.
To over come the natural weakness if wood versus blade, the shield was sealed with a metal ring around the edge, and had a metal ball in the center on the front. They didn't cower behind these shields as they would have been chopped to splinters. Instead they would try to intercept incoming attacks and deflect them with the metal ball in the center.
You could also smash a guy in the face with the metal edge.
-You will be extra tanky, have less mobility, and hit like a wet noodle.
-1v1 you will not be able to do enough damage to kill anyone without them just walking away.
-In a group PVP everyone will ignore you just kite you and kill you last.
-In PVE you wont be able to hold aggro.
I love me a good tower shield.
Only having one big tower shield would not make any sense in anything that is not an anime.
This is my personal feedback, shared to help the game thrive in its niche.
Otherwise "thornmail" as pure tank archetype ability should logically only reduce the durability of the attackers weapon. Which is really interesting, but I would be cautious to implement such a skill
Edit:
or even tank/cleric interaction where you basically do a divine retribution on every attack against you
― Plato
And as to the topic, duel shield is stupid. It is amusing to think about, but just stupid.
Praise the turtle-shield man
Also I'd like to use shields as basic attacks (shield bash). And was thinking how "thornmail" would be nice so shields would reflect % of dmg received back to the attacker.