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Shields
Shields are pieces of personal armor held in the offhand. Other things that you can carry in your offhand are Orbs and Rune Arms.
Proficiency[edit]
Not all characters are proficient with shields. However, the penalties for using a shield you are not proficient with are fairly low. You take a penalty on attack rolls equal to the shield's Armor Check Penalty.
- The General Shield Proficiency feat allows a character to use any of the following shields (except tower shields) without incurring a non-proficiency penalty.
- The Tower Shield Proficiency feat allows a character to use tower shields without incurring a non-proficiency penalty.
- Master's Touch spell can make you proficient with any shield.
Benefits[edit]
- Armor class: Shields grant Shield bonus to AC.
- Shield bashing: You can use shields to attack your enemy.
- PRR and MRR (bonuses stack with Sheltering enchantment)
Shield type PRR and MRR Bucklers/Orbs 0 Small shields 5 Large shields 10 Tower shields 15
- PRR and MRR multiplier: Wearing a large or tower shield double your effective PRR and MRR vs effects that require a Reflex saving throw.
- Extra damage reduction while actively blocking.
- Extra gear slot that can be used for various enchantments.
- Increased benefit of Intimidate for shield users.[Unverified"Increased benefit of Intimidate for shield users." has not been verified in-game. Please verify it!]
Penalties[edit]
Wearing a shield might also cause a few penalties for your character:
- Armor check penalty
- Arcane spell failure
- Cannot use Evasion (heavy / tower shield only)
- (tower shield only): Dodge cap, attack penalty -2
Often, the increased defense granted by shield use can also reduce your DPS.
Types of shields[edit]
- Buckler
- Small
- Large
- Tower
Basic shields overview[edit]
The following table lists the basic shields in the game. Note that random-gen Bound to Account shields from chain end rewards (or quest end rewards in The Sharn Syndicate quests) use an older algorithm and do not match these stats.
Table: Basic Shields | ||||||||||
Name | Cost | Absolute Minimum Level |
Damage*1 | Shield bonus to AC |
Shield addition to PRR/MRR*2 |
Added blocking Damage reduction |
Max Dexterity bonus to AC |
Armor check penalty*3 |
Arcane spell failure chance |
Weight |
Buckler | 15 gp | 1 | [1d4] | 1 | 0 | 1 | — | 0 | 0% | 5 lb. |
Buckler, Darkwood | 15 gp | 4 | [1d4] | 1 | 0 | 2 | — | 0 | 0% | 5 lb. |
Buckler, Densewood | 15 gp | 10 | [1d6] | 2 | 0 | 3 | — | 0 | 0% | 5 lb. |
Buckler, Spiritcraft | 15 gp | 16 | [1d6] | 3 | 0 | 4 | — | 0 | 0% | 5 lb. |
Buckler, Celestial | 15 gp | 22 | [1d8] | 3 | 0 | 5 | — | 0 | 0% | 5 lb. |
Light Shield | 3 gp | 1 | [1d4] | 2 | 5 | 2 | — | -1 | 10% | 5 lb. |
Light Darkwood Shield | 3 gp | 4 | [1d4] | 3 | 5 | 3 | — | -1 | 10% | 5 lb. |
Light Densewood Shield | 3 gp | 10 | [1d6] | 4 | 5 | 4 | — | -1 | 10% | 5 lb. |
Light Spiritcraft Shield | 3 gp | 16 | [1d6] | 5 | 5 | 5 | — | -1 | 10% | 5 lb. |
Light Celestial Shield | 3 gp | 22 | [1d8] | 5 | 5 | 6 | — | -1 | 10% | 5 lb. |
Heavy Shield | 7 gp | 1 | [1d6] | 3 | 10 | 3 | — | -2 | 15% | 10 lb. |
Heavy Darkwood Shield | 7 gp | 4 | [1d6] | 4 | 10 | 4 | — | -2 | 15% | 10 lb. |
Heavy Densewood Shield | 7 gp | 10 | [1d8] | 5 | 10 | 5 | — | -2 | 15% | 10 lb. |
Heavy Spiritcraft Shield | 7 gp | 16 | [1d8] | 7 | 10 | 6 | — | -2 | 15% | 10 lb. |
Heavy Celestial Shield | 7 gp | 22 | [1d10] | 9 | 10 | 7 | — | -2 | 15% | 10 lb. |
Tower Shield*4 | 30 gp | 1 | [1d8] | 4 | 15 | 4 | 2 | -10 | 50% | 45 lb. |
Battle Shield*4 | 30 gp | 4 | [1d8] | 6 | 15 | 5 | 2 | -10 | 50% | 50 lb. |
Magecraft Shield*4 | 30 gp | 10 | [1d10] | 8 | 15 | 6 | 2 | -10 | 50% | 50 lb. |
Mountain Shield*4 | 30 gp | 16 | [1d10] | 10 | 15 | 7 | 2 | -10 | 50% | 50 lb. |
Planeforged Tower Shield*4 | 30 gp | 22 | [2d6] | 12 | 15 | 8 | 2 | -10 | 50% | 50 lb. |
*1 Shields can get +1[W] as an enchantment, which overrides the AML to 20, even if the AML was higher; note that this currently applies to all lootgen shields (as of U15.2) Seems fixed with U18.1.
*2 Note that shields don't raise the MRR Cap
*3 This is for disjuncted shields. If the shield is enchanted, reduce this value by 1
*4 invokes a -2 penalty to attack rolls
- See also: Armor