Hey all,
I like the imagery that comes to mind with both Shield Strike and Shield Pin, but I have to ask... is either really worth it? I'm still pretty low level, and I haven't done much training with either of them (Bash is at 3 ranks though). I plan on picking up Block the Elements and Deflect the Elements, and probably Guard Mastery (RP purposes). Has anyone had serious success with either of these two?
Shield Strike pretty much just seems to be a bash and a swing for the same RT as a regular swing, I've never seen much Damage from the bash itself and Shield Pin is supposed to add some Critical weighting but I'll admit to not seeing much (only had one or two ranks in it when I tried it though)
Thanks in advance!
-D
DALESHAN1
TUCKERS
Re: Shield Strike or Shield Pin? Neither?
05/31/2016 09:03 PM CDT
I can't give you a good mathematical reasoning (I'll leave that to more qualified parties). I'm capped and experimented with both Shield Strike and Shield Pin. Honestly, I didn't notice enough critical weighting with Pin to make a difference in most combat situations. However, I use Shield Strike frequently and unabashedly. It's a great opener that can knock down your opponent or at give you time to select an appropriate follow-up. If you have a spiked shield, all the better. I use a spiked tower shield and I'll frequently get stuns, knock downs and occasional crit from a shield strike.
If you're low level, I wouldn't invest too much in the more exotic shield skills. Get Bash, Get Focus for your particular brand of shield, and then build around that. If you have bash, look at Shield Riposte.
Xanith
CAVEMANIAC
Re: Shield Strike or Shield Pin? Neither?
06/01/2016 02:27 AM CDT
From my experience shield strike is better than shield pin. I have seen Shield Pin add up to 10 points of crit weighting from my testing but never any more than that. While that can be nice the extra damage, extra crit and potential knockdown from shield strike is often superior. Not counting spikes or flares the bash from shield strike causes 5 points of damage per crit rank (up to 20?), can knockdown (-50 DS) and stun (-20 DS). If you get a good bash anywhere but the arms or hands your shield strike will be much better. Even without a knockdown from shield strike if the attack from shield pin does not hit a vulnerable body location shield strike would still be a better choice since you are only going to see about 10-20 more damage from increased crit rank whereas you still get the bash damage and potential stun.
In both cases its mostly about style over mechanics. I would not sacrifice the basics to get either but both can be very effective with a spiked, flaring shield to increase your damage even further.
In both cases its mostly about style over mechanics. I would not sacrifice the basics to get either but both can be very effective with a spiked, flaring shield to increase your damage even further.
RATHBONER
Re: Shield Strike or Shield Pin? Neither?
06/01/2016 08:27 AM CDT
Strike seems like a decent deal. Having another shield attack besides bash will become useful as you level because quite a few critters know bash and have good defense against it and also the frequency of failures to knockdown with bash is annoyingly high on occasion. Back when it was the only alternative I had charge, but now I use trample. Strike doesn't appeal to me because I'm either aiming or mstriking but if I didn't have much MOC it might.
>I've never seen much Damage from the bash itself
You need to be well trained. The damage rate plummets if your training isn't quite good enough. (e.g. the penalty of 10 from spikes causes my crit kill rate to drop by 98% with no mastery or 90% with partial mastery) With full bash, full focus and no spikes, I get several crit kills per hunt against a target without shield training.
>I've never seen much Damage from the bash itself
You need to be well trained. The damage rate plummets if your training isn't quite good enough. (e.g. the penalty of 10 from spikes causes my crit kill rate to drop by 98% with no mastery or 90% with partial mastery) With full bash, full focus and no spikes, I get several crit kills per hunt against a target without shield training.
ARCHIGEEK
DVDMORSE
Re: Shield Strike or Shield Pin? Neither?
06/09/2016 02:38 AM CDT
>Trample FTW.
Gotta agree here. Trample really rocks.
--David
"At a moment like this, I can't help but wonder, 'What would Jimmy Buffett do?'"
Gotta agree here. Trample really rocks.
--David
"At a moment like this, I can't help but wonder, 'What would Jimmy Buffett do?'"
