why do a lot of tank use sword and shield as a tank?

[lanrayc2]

why do a lot of tank use sword and shield as a tank?
i can use two-hands weapon to block attacking, why do i need to use shield to block?
a shield defence just1000~2000 defence, i think this is a little defence.
and more, if i use sword and shield, i will lose a lot of powerful attacking skills.

[Табушка]

PvE tanks don't need to focus on anything else other than stacking mobs, taking damage and support. So they don't need to use anything other than shields.

But in PvP I use heavy armor and shield but I play healer because as a healer you're going to get focused on a lot so being able to soak up a lot of damage isn't a bad idea.

And it's not just the defense bonus the shield gives, you get a lot more than that. Look at the passives of the one hand and shield skill line. The first one reduces the cost of blocking by 36%. Second one increases the amount of damage you block by 20%. You will also be able to move faster while blocking. Defense posture skill also passively reduces the cost of blocking and the amount of damage you block by 8%. So you will be a lot more effecting when you're blocking if you use one hand and shield. Also the ultimate allows you to block at no cost for 5 seconds. It even stays up if you switch weapons. So you can use the ult on your back bar, then switch to your main weapon that you deal damage with in PvP.

You can block with any weapon, but you need a shield to block effectively basically.

[JimPappa]

Originally posted by lanrayc2:

and more, if i use sword and shield, i will lose a lot of powerful attacking skills.

In group content PvE, the tank's job does not require powerful attacking skills. It's welcomed, but not at the cost of losing powerful tanking skills.

Originally posted by BatushkaTabushka:

And it's not just the defense bonus the shield gives, you get a lot more than that. Look at the passives of the one hand and shield skill line. The first one reduces the cost of blocking by 36%. Second one increases the amount of damage you block by 20%. You will also be able to move faster while blocking. Defense posture skill also passively reduces the cost of blocking and the amount of damage you block by 8%. So you will be a lot more effecting when you're blocking if you use one hand and shield. Also the ultimate allows you to block at no cost for 5 seconds. It even stays up if you switch weapons. So you can use the ult on your back bar, then switch to your main weapon that you deal damage with in PvP.

You can block with any weapon, but you need a shield to block effectively basically.

Just to add,
Sword and board skill tree also has an excellent taunt skill, Puncture. With the Pierce Armor morph, it will reduce both physical and spell resistance of enemies (including bosses).

The passives also reduce the cost of bashing (interrupting).

[Drake]

Taunt, ultimate generation, very good spell absorb skill (damage shield + heal), better bash, better block.
Everything a tank needs.

[>//The_FALCON]

It would be like saying "I have healing abilities in my class, why do i need to use a restoration staff for healing if i can just use a damage staff?"

[Requimatic]

Tanks that queue up with the dungeon finder and walk in with a 2H weapon always fail at some point.

If they have no sword & board at all, even if they're taunting properly somehow, they ultimately either end up dying, or someone/everyone else dies because the healer literally can't stop focusing on them because they're taking so much damage.

Now, a proper tank who has 2H on their backbar for abilities like Rally is just fine.. in fact, it's a good idea because the Rally heal is pretty handy. And if there's an add phase, they could use Cleave for a quick damage shield and extra DPS to help get things down.

But to actually tank bosses and such with a 2H? Typically a bad idea. If your group's DPS is stellar, then it likely won't matter and things should be fine.

[Shellbie]

Because of your overwhelmingly monstrous behavior, you have been vilified by the community of healers.

[Табушка]

Originally posted by Paladin Katherine:

Because of your overwhelmingly monstrous behavior, you have been vilified by the community of healers.

*equips a random shield*
You are now dressed as a member of the Tanks

[Wendersnaven]

Batu nailed it on the shield passives. I have found there is no replacement for that.

You can get away with whatever on half the normal dungeons, but the other half and every vet thereafter requires a real tank, i.e. 1H+Shield.

In newer dungeons like Bloodroot, the tank has to literally plug lava geisers with their body. If you aren't blocking, you're d.e.d.- but the kicker is how long and how much you can block. I've struggled to sustain stamina to block on my epic tank. I can blame DPS for not killing the adds or taking the boss down fast enough, but those runs were normal setting and I'm struggling with a pretty awesome tank. I have yet to finish Bloodroot Forge in a p.u.g.

Without very specialized armor, you can't do it. You have to use 1H+Shield.

I feel specific examples are important. Another new one, Moonhunter Keep's thickwolf-boss has programed damage mechanics that will eat through anything but a shield block, simply by numbers. Even if you block perfectly with a resistance capped tank at 44K health and shields up, you take a lot of damage. Same thing with veteran settings for the last boss in Wayrest Sewers 1. She eats into your health despite blocking. Miss the block and only a proper tank will survive. A non-shield/icestaff tank will get eaten.

***********

In order to taunt without using the Puncture skill as mentioned above, you have to use the Undaunted 'Inner Fire' talent or an Ice Staff. (Ice-Tanks are prefectly legit but difficult to balance.) Inner Fire costs magica even after morphing, and if you're using non-magical weapons -and thus talents- for damage, you'll probably run outta magic before you finish taunting.

If you use sets with magic+stamina, such as Shaklebreaker, you can compensate for resource management, but it will probably result in you not having enough resistance or health to tank properly. In otherwords, you have to choose to tank with magika or stamina; both is not a viable option on harder dungeons atm. This is contrary to their day 1 premise, which promised you would have the freedom to viably build whatever kind of character you want to.

I totally get what you're trying to figure out lanrayc2. I've pitched the idea before and tried to make it work myself, but ultimately feel the Developers have not made a working option for tanking besides 1H+Shield or an IceStaff.

[Exilyth]

The sword & board taunt 'pierce armour' is easy to aquire (morph of the first skill in the skill line) and also doubles as a debuff. Helps with dps vs the taunted mob and saves a slot compared to some other taunt + debuff skill.

[lanrayc2]

Originally posted by BatushkaTabushka:

PvE tanks don't need to focus on anything else other than stacking mobs, taking damage and support. So they don't need to use anything other than shields.

But in PvP I use heavy armor and shield but I play healer because as a healer you're going to get focused on a lot so being able to soak up a lot of damage isn't a bad idea.

And it's not just the defense bonus the shield gives, you get a lot more than that. Look at the passives of the one hand and shield skill line. The first one reduces the cost of blocking by 36%. Second one increases the amount of damage you block by 20%. You will also be able to move faster while blocking. Defense posture skill also passively reduces the cost of blocking and the amount of damage you block by 8%. So you will be a lot more effecting when you're blocking if you use one hand and shield. Also the ultimate allows you to block at no cost for 5 seconds. It even stays up if you switch weapons. So you can use the ult on your back bar, then switch to your main weapon that you deal damage with in PvP.

You can block with any weapon, but you need a shield to block effectively basically.

Thanks for your help:)

[psychotron666]

It's about the powers. Just look at the one hand and shield abilities, you can reflect/absorb magic, armour pierce and taunt, and the passive are all tanky. It's built for a tank.

I'm currently playing a tank that is one hand and shield in one slot and two handed in the other. Complete beast, in battlegrounds it takes usually two teams to take me down. Chaos ball? If I get the ball it's an automatic win for our team pretty much.

[Big Daddy-Chan]

Originally posted by lanrayc2:

why do a lot of tank use sword and shield as a tank?
i can use two-hands weapon to block attacking, why do i need to use shield to block?
a shield defence just1000~2000 defence, i think this is a little defence.
and more, if i use sword and shield, i will lose a lot of powerful attacking skills.

A shield doesn't just give extra armor, it also mitigates a percentage of damage if I am not mistaken. Much more than a regular weapon and if further enhanced with its skill line passives.