Shield Use
Shield Use is a skill a character trains in to increase their skill with a shield, therefore increasing defensive strength when the shield is in the character's off-hand.
Ranks and Training Point Costs
| Type | Square | Semi | Pure | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profession | Rogue | Warrior | Monk | Bard | Paladin | Ranger | Cleric | Empath | Savant | Sorcerer | Wizard |
| Max Ranks Per Level | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||
| 1 | 1 | ||||||||||
| Training Point Cost | 4/0 | 2/0 | 8/0 | 5/0 | 3/0 | 5/0 | 13/0 | 13/0 | |||
| 13/0 | 13/0 | ||||||||||
Defensive Strength Calculation: Blocking
Shield use is essentially the Blocking part of the Evade/Block/Parry system. The defensive strength generated by the shield is as follows:
Base DS bonus × Stance Modifier × (1.0 + Shield Size Modifier) + 20 + Shield enchant = Final DS bonus
where shield size modifiers are as follows:
- Small shield: -0.15
- Medium shield: 0.00
- Large shield: 0.15
- Tower shield: 0.30
and stance is given by:
- offensive: 0
- advanced: .2
- forward: .4
- neutral: .6
- guarded: .8
- defensive: 1.
Note: the use of a large shield benefits the defensive strength generated by the Shield Use skill and the shield, however, larger shields harm the defensive strength provided by the Dodging skill. The larger the shield, the more harmful the shield is. A small shield lowers dodge DS by 20% where a tower shield lowers it by 50%. Shields generated by the bard song, Sonic Shield Song (1009) may be less harmful depending on how much Elemental Lore, Air training the bard has.
Shield Maneuvers
This system provides Warriors, Rogues, and Paladins with exclusive access to new options and abilities related to the Shield Use skill. The SHIELD (verb) provides access to this new system. The goal of this release is to provide new capabilities to the shield use character builds within the martial classes, so that those character builds can better compete with the powerful twohanded and ranged weapon builds.
The system is broadly similar to the existing CMAN and ARMOR systems. Each rank in the Shield Use skill provides the warrior, rogue, or paladin with one (1) Shield Training Point, which they may then use to buy ranks in the various SHIELD skills via SHIELD LEARN. Skills may be unlearned via SHIELD UNLEARN, and you may view the lists of skills to learn via SHIELD LIST. SHIELD HELP provides you with detailed information on each of the skills.
List of Available Shield Maneuvers
| Name | Paladin | Rogue | Warrior | Prerequisites | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small Shield Focus | X | X | None | Adds attack bonus and CvA with small shields, unlocks other abilities. | |
| Medium Shield Focus | X | X | X | None | Adds attack bonus and CvA with medium shields, unlocks other abilities. |
| Large Shield Focus | X | X | None | Adds attack bonus and CvA with large shields, unlocks other abilities. | |
| Tower Shield Focus | X | X | None | Adds attack bonus and CvA with tower shields, unlocks other abilities. | |
| Shield Bash | X | X | X | None | Attempt to wallop your foe with your shield, causing stance change/knockdown/RT/minor damage. |
| Shield Charge | X | X | Shield Bash (rank 2) | Improved version of Shield Bash. | |
| Shield Push | X | X | Shield Bash (rank 2) | Push an enemy into another room and give RT. | |
| Shield Pin | X | Shield Bash (rank 2) | Fake a shield bash, followed by a weapon attack with critical weighting. | ||
| Shield Swiftness | X | X | Shield Focus (rank 3), small/medium shield | Reduces dodge DS penalty from shield. | |
| Shielded Brawler | X | X | X | Shield Focus (rank 3) | Reduces MM penalty from shield. |
| Prop Up | X | X | Shield Focus (rank 3), large/tower shield | Reduced chance to be knocked down from critical damage, CML defense against knockdown maneuvers. | |
| Adamantine Bulwark | X | Prop Up (rank 2) | Reduced RT inflicted on you by physical attacks. | ||
| Shield Riposte | X | X | Shield Bash (rank 2) | Martial Stance, give extra RT to attacking opponents. | |
| Shield Forward | X | X | X | None | Gain a bonus to defensive Shield Use after using offensive shield attacks. |
| Shield Spike Focus | X | X | X | None | Reduces the penalty when using a spiked shield to attack. |
| Shield Spike Mastery | X | X | X | Shield Spike Focus (rank 2) | Allows reactive shield spike flares. |
| Deflection Training | X | X | Shield Focus (rank 3) | Redirect ranged/thrown attacks at enemies. | |
| Deflection Mastery | X | X | Deflection Training (rank 3) | Additional CML and maneuver defense. | |
| Block the Elements | X | X | None | Reduces damage from elemental flares and ball explosions. | |
| Deflect the Elements | X | X | None | Provides a chance to block elemental flares and ball explosions. | |
| Steady Shield | X | X | Stun Maneuvers (rank 2) | Reduces the penalty to block chance from being stunned. | |
| Disarming Presence | X | X | Disarm Weapon (rank 2) | Martial Stance, chance to disarm on a block. | |
| Guard Mastery | X | None | Increased effectiveness when GUARDing. | ||
| Tortoise Stance | X | Block Mastery (rank 2) | Martial Stance, reduced AS and additional block chance. | ||
| Spell Block | X | X | X | Shield Focus (rank 3), ensorcelled/anti-magic shield | Allows blocking magical bolts and balls. |
| Shield Mind | X | X | X | Spell Block (rank 2) | Ten seconds of automatic warding success while in defensive stance. |
| Protective Wall | X | X | Shield Focus (rank 2), tower shield | Reduced DS penalty from conditions on group members/self. | |
| Shield Strike | X | X | X | Shield Bash (rank 2) | Unbalancing shield bash followed by weapon attack. |
| Shield Strike Mastery | X | X | X | Shield Strike (rank 3), 30 ranks MOC | End your MSTRIKEs with a shield bash. |
| Shield Trample | X | Shield Charge (rank 2) | Knock down multiple targets and give RT. | ||
| Shield Trample Mastery | X | Shield Trample (rank 3), 30 ranks MOC | Additional targets for Shield Trample. | ||
| Steely Resolve | X | X | Shield Focus (rank 3), tower shield | Bonus DS and block chance for a brief period. | |
| Phalanx | X | X | X | None | Work with group members with Phalanx to grant your group extra block chance. |
Changes since GemStone III
The effectiveness of a shield in Gemstone III depended heavily on the enchantment of the shield, in a formula where the shield's benefit was calculated with (Enchantment Bonus + 20). Therefore, a 4× shield produced, literally, twice as much defensive strength as an unenchanted shield, where an 8× shield produced three times as much defensive strength as an unenchanted shield. Also, there was no difference, mechanically, between a buckler and a tower shield.