You know what's fun about shields?

[Kalesh 0]

If you are a pure damage dealer, they are better than anyone without a shield! :D

For this example, I am going to use your standard dagger and leather armor DPS, and my perception of a swordnshield and heavy armor DPS.

Our friend with the dagger has to choose between getting 2 bleed and 1 damage, 2 paralysis and 1 damage, or maybe 1 paralysis and 1 bleed with 1 damage to fit his sneaky-affliction theme (swap numbers as necessary). Our pal the shield user can put paralysis on his shield, letting him max out bleed AND paralysis, and still have a slot left over on both items, for say, damage or mitigation.

Our friend the thief now gets to pick out his armor. Evasion is a nice enhancement that can utterly negate damage caps out at two, so let's go ahead and pick those! That's two slots used up for the evasion, leaving our friend with a spare to do whatever he wishes. Our pal the shield-wielder opted not to bother with evasion and picked heavy armor since he has a skill that lets him match, and exceed, our friend the thief in that regard without using a single slot! This, as far as arguments go, gives the shield user up to 5 slots for free(granted he has to get the SP, of which there is no finite limit).

So, our friend the light armor user now has four armor slots left to choose from, but the shield user only has three! So, what can he do to get a final edge over that darn shield user since he chose light armor instead of heavy armor? Not a whole lot. The only things that separate the two are a few situational enhancements like Regen or things that give you a small boost -if- someone misses. Whatever their personal choice, it's not enough to give the dagger user much advantage greater than one point in armor or slightly higher regeneration.

 

tl;dr Anything a ninja can do, a shield user can do better. Surrender thine dagger exclusivity and give into the power of the shield. There is literally nothing stopping you from doing that unless you chose a two-handed weapon skill!

P.S. Yes, I know this is just pointless whining with no solutions mentioned and that the system is being looked at still and isn't entirely finished. Also that you are all likely aware of these things. My tears are as salty as my soul.

 

Edited August 26, 2015 by Kalesh

[Lindow 0]

I plan on having a DPS set and a Off Tank set at one point or another in my career here. There are not too many skills I am thrilled with just because they dont suit me personally, so I can pick up another weapon skill without hampering my builds. Versatility is key and using the right armor against the right individual in terms of PvP. I do know there are certain skills that are more applicable towards PvP than PvE, it really just depends on the situation. As far as I can see...

Status Effect Players
Pure Tanks
Pure DPS
Off Tanks
Hybrid Builds

These are the only builds I have seen so far or thought as far as I can see based on descriptions of the skills. I think everything is generally balanced to what sort of theme you are going for. 

[Tristan Delaney 0]

Fully aware of and being worked on.