Why use a Tower Shield?

[ByucknahTheRed]

Why use a Tower Shield when the Normal Shields are, without a question, just far superior? Yeah, the Tower Shield has a "slight" amount more armor but it really does not seem to out weigh the negatives in terms of greater movement speed reduction and the inability to parry.

The loss of being able to Parry alone is HUGE considering just how powerful parry is in combat to the point of making a lot of deadly enemies very easy to kill.

I LOVE Tower Shields in fantasy, it's such a cool look and I love playing tankier characters, but it really does not feel like there is much of a choice when normal shields just outperform Tower Shields but such a wide margin in the game right now.

Like, to give a comparison the Black Metal Shield, fully upgraded, has a block power of 100 while the Black Metal Tower Shield, fully upgraded, has a block power of 115 which is a TINY difference in power. The normal Black Metal Shield only reduces movement speed by 5% while the Tower Shield reduces it by 20%. A fully upgraded regular shield, in addition, has 60 Parry Power with a 1.5 parry mod.

I really want to like Tower Shields but they just do not feel like, in their current design, they have any kind of foot above regular shields. Perhaps I am missing something but right now Tower Shields just feel very weak compared to normal shields.

What am I missing?

[kekkuli]

I honestly don't know, parrying with regular shield just seems so strong.

[terry]

I've had the same thoughts so I'm missing the same thing you're missing I guess.

[Karax]

I guess this should be balanced in the future, like give tower shields some perks, since you lose parry

[FÆROÜS]

I'm guessing they intended the tower shield to be used in a "tank" playstyle with a better passive defense, but they just haven't really gotten the balancing for shields down yet. So at the moment, there isn't really a reason to use tower shields.

[Naewyng]

For pvp.
Timing a parry is much too risky, and seeing people waste their arrows while your black iron tower shield makes it so that you barely lose any stamina (you literally recover it in between shots) is wonderful!

[kekkuli]

Maybe if you could hit while blocking when using tower shields, with increased stamina cost or something, just an idea.

[Is It?]

I would like to see some differences, such as bucklers unable to effectively stop arrows, or adding a recoil when hit hard, while towers block virtually all arrows and are not subject to being stunned as much - it would give a good balance between block ability and speed.

[ByucknahTheRed]

Originally posted by Naewyng:

For pvp.
Timing a parry is much too risky, and seeing people waste their arrows while your black iron tower shield makes it so that you barely lose any stamina (you literally recover it in between shots) is wonderful!

Okay, but you can parry ranged attacks (Which... is weird and I am assuming is absolutely not intended but for the sake of this discussion I am going off the idea that it is.) I have done it to Gray Dwarves, Drauger, and Goblins (I forget their proper names)

So wouldn't regular shields still be better even in that PvP situation by being better able to close the gap through properly timed blocks? Though, admittedly I have not done any PvP so I am not sure if you can time block a player Arrow like you can an NPC projectile.

I mean, again, if that were not the case at all then I would fully see your point 100%

[Naewyng]

Originally posted by ByucknahTheRed:

Originally posted by Naewyng:

For pvp.
Timing a parry is much too risky, and seeing people waste their arrows while your black iron tower shield makes it so that you barely lose any stamina (you literally recover it in between shots) is wonderful!

Okay, but you can parry ranged attacks (Which... is weird and I am assuming is absolutely not intended) I have done it to Gray Dwarves, Drauger, and Goblins (I forget their proper names)

So wouldn't regular shields still be better even in that PvP situation by being better able to close the gap through properly timed blocks? Though, admittedly I have not done any PvP so I am not sure if you can time block a player Arrow like you can an NPC projectile.

If you can consistently pull it off, sure!
But in my experience having pvp fun with my friends, latency makes it really improbable to pull off a parry, even if you're good at it.

[djinnxy]

I see it as a risk/reward or like a champion vs. a tank situation. There's no risk in just raising your shield and absorbing all damage, but the lesser shields can still take some from tough mobs as a price for possibly timing a parry to stun or stagger it.

[Luu5]

You lose the parry mechanic and move -20% slower just for approx +10% more block power compared to the normal shields. lvl2 plains enemies still send you staggering regardless which one you use.

Tower shields really need something more important to make them even closely viable to normal shields, such as ALOT more block power, less stamina lost on block, guard jab, or even a shield bash or charge.

[djinnxy]

Originally posted by Luu5:

You lose the parry mechanic and move -20% slower just for approx +10% more block power compared to the normal shields. lvl2 plains enemies still send you staggering regardless which one you use.

Tower shield really need something more important to make them even closely viable to normal shield, such as ALOT more block power, less stamina lost of block or even a shield bash or charge.

I like the charge idea. +1

[ByucknahTheRed]

Originally posted by Naewyng:

Originally posted by ByucknahTheRed:

Okay, but you can parry ranged attacks (Which... is weird and I am assuming is absolutely not intended) I have done it to Gray Dwarves, Drauger, and Goblins (I forget their proper names)

So wouldn't regular shields still be better even in that PvP situation by being better able to close the gap through properly timed blocks? Though, admittedly I have not done any PvP so I am not sure if you can time block a player Arrow like you can an NPC projectile.

If you can consistently pull it off, sure!
But in my experience having pvp fun with my friends, latency makes it really improbable to pull off a parry, even if you're good at it.

Oh yeah, fair point with the latency for sure.

Originally posted by djinnxy:

I see it as a risk/reward or like a champion vs. a tank situation. There's no risk in just raising your shield and absorbing all damage, but the lesser shields can still take some from tough mobs as a price for possibly timing a parry to stun or stagger it.

I mean, I agree that is what it looks like they are trying to go for but it's not the case at all right now. As Luu5 said--

Originally posted by Luu5:

You lose the parry mechanic and move -20% slower just for approx +10% more block power compared to the normal shields. lvl2 plains enemies still send you staggering regardless which one you use.

As of right now the Tower Shield just isn't doing a good job at being the better "defensive" option. Though I have to agree that Luu gave some really great idea on how to improve them.

Originally posted by Luu5:

Tower shields really need something more important to make them even closely viable to normal shields, such as ALOT more block power, less stamina lost on block, guard jab, or even a shield bash or charge.

I 100% think it need more block power and less stamina drain regardless but I think a Shield Bash or something would improve it quite a bit.

[djinnxy]

I don't disagree that the tower shield could use something more. There's definitive difference though against mid tier mobs that would otherwise cause damage against a small shield. Like a 2 star troll will face roll you if you miss a parry or 2 and don't stun lock it. Tower just takes all that.

[Dan]

There is literally no reason to EVER use a tower shield in this game. They're literally useless pieces of crap. Slower, heavier, no parry, and doesn't block full damage from end game mobs. So whats the point you say? It's a bigger shield and looks cooler, that's literally the only reason to gimp your combat and defensive abilities by using a tower shield now.