Tower Shield

[mar3usmc]

This thread is to discuss the Tower Shield. Feel free to post anything on the topic.

[Ishan451]

Hmm,.. could you elaborate what you would like to talk about?

[mar3usmc]

I would like to start with WHY is it two handed. Tower shields are HISTORICALLY one handed with a short sword, Spear, or Javalin to use as a weapon. I see no reason why we should deviate from that fact. It just drives me nuts when I see things like this put into a game.

Make it one handed, and give an attack speed and damage penalty. Done.

[Ishan451]

Originally posted by mar3usmc:

Tower shields are HISTORICALLY one handed with a short sword, Spear, or Javalin to use as a weapon.

Okay, if you throw in words like Historically then we have to start with the fact that there is no tower shield in existence. The closet example to a 'Tower Shield' would be the Pavise and that thing wasn't carried at all, but rammed into the ground to hide behind it.

The next closet thing would be the Scutum, which has the dimensions of 110cm x 60cm at most. As comparison the Viking 'big round' was up to 120cm in size. The classic Teardrop (Kite) shield was 120cm x 50cm in dimensions.


So now that the mythos of the Tower shield is out of the way, the reason why the Tower Shield is twohanded in Gnomoria is so people don't equip two of them (yes, that was a thing for a while). Or at least that is how i understood the change. So instead you have your regular shield (which is larger than what people commonly consider a Tower Shield, since most think of the Scutum) and you have a big Siege Shield, that is basically supposed to be a movable wall, like the Pavise.

[mar3usmc]

A scutum is a type of tower shield. A big, tall, rectangular shield. Just look at the wikipedia on shields. You have basically just described the many types of Tower Shields. The idea that pops into most people's head when you say "Tower Shield" is usually that of the Roman "Scutum". However, most no one on the street is going to be able to give you that name. Thus, many people just refer that shield as A tower shield, because that is what it is.

NOW, back on to why it is now two handed. Ok, I just started playing again after many months, and I can see why they may have changed it to just being two handed due to abuse of that dual wield mechanic. However, I think it was a lazy quick fix, and hope to see a bettter fix in the future.

My suggestion is to simply remove the "right" and "left" hand designations and instead have "Primary" and "offhand" designations. Then, you can set it such that only certain weapon types can be placed is said designations. This will also prevent dual wielding two normal shields, which is also rediculous.

[Ishan451]

Please, don't call them Tower Shield when you speak about historical real world shields. There is a reason why even Wikipedia lists them as "Tower" shield. The Quotation marks refer to a word or label for something that is "dumbed" down. A colloquial, inaccurate terminology. In this particular case its mostly D&D and Videogames that push the existence of a Tower Shield.

What i tried to highlight with my mention of the Viking Shield and the Kite Shield is that the Scutum is a regular sized shield. There are smaller shields in existence like say the heather shield, which was worn by knights in full armor. Or a Buckler or even ritual combat viking round shields (which would only be 45cm wide). 100cm to 120cm is a regular shield size. The Hoplon (aka Aspis), the Viking Round Shield (carried at war, not at ritual single combat), the Kite shield and the Scutum.. all fall within that size. 100-120cm in size is a regular shield length.

And those shields are one handed in Gnomoria.

[lPaladinl]

I'm still trying to figure out which is better to use for maximum blocking, a Tower Shield, or Two normal Shields.

I imagine the Tower Shield will have an easier time getting closer to a 100% block rate, but I still ponder if two shields add up to better blocking overall with the extra speed and more actions per moment in time.

As with Dual-Wielding and Frenzy, Dual-Wielding Shields gives you way more actions over your enemies, and I imagine is just like with weapons, making it easier to overpower opponents than other options.

[SilverRose]

the reason THEIR GNOMES people.... their small, so tower shields will require two hands.

there happy :P

[tweed]

I can deal with that.

Originally posted by SilverRose:

the reason THEIR GNOMES people.... their small, so tower shields will require two hands.

there happy :P

[Wraith_Magus]

Originally posted by SilverRose:

the reason THEIR GNOMES people.... their small, so tower shields will require two hands.

there happy :P

That presumes that gnomes build their tools assuming a "standard" size that is larger than themselves in a world that apparently has no humans, elves, or other sentient, civilization-building races other than gnomes and goblins. Why would gnomes build tools too large for them to effectively carry the way they were designed to be carried, just because they are "small" compared to creatures that don't apparently exist?

===

Anyway, I get the sense that the problem is more one of symmetry: There are one-handed and two-handed versions of everything, and shields are apparently just hammers with a sword catcher for better blocking, so having a two-handed hammer hits harder. Considering how many kills I've seen with shields somehow crushing the ribcage and embedding in goblin hearts, "tower shields" exist as a way to have better armor-piercing arm-portable "armor".