Fencer Archive

I would have no problem with a shield. I probably wouldn't use it, butI can buy the fact that cultures within SW would use them.

Just for discussion, how would it work? I would think that when you use a shield, you're no longer attempting to dodge. You're attempting to actually catch the attack with the shield. This should make you much easier to hit, so it would be worth using against for example, kinetic or energy attacks, but if your shield was vulnerable to another damage type, then you might be better off avoiding that attack by dodging rather than trying to catch it.

On the other hand, I don't think a shield should be a liablity-- I'm not all that familiar with Western sword and shield combat, but I would guess that the shield can actuallyhelp to counterbalance to the sword, so maybe you're hitting heavier blows, but not as often.

In any case I think there should be a real costand a realbenefit. The reason is, in MMORPGs, whenever a new type of item like this is introduced, one of two things happen if the cost vs. benefit is not well thought out:

1) If the cost outweighs the benefit, few people use it, and it basically means valuable development time spent for a nice wall decoration.
2) If the benefit outweighs the cost, then it becomes standard equipment and everybody uses it. Rather than creating variety and offering another viable option, it becomes the only option. Right now I like the fact that the fencer can be seen as a streetfighter orduelist, a primitive or traditional warrior, or someone trained in military close quarter fighting tactics. If shields were so great that everybody used them, it would take away from that variety somewhat.

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SethlinNetril wrote:

I can say for myself that if ur not wearing buffs and comp, we are pwners

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Message Edited by ken0bi17 on 08-24-2004 04:43 AM

Message Edited by ken0bi17 on 08-24-2004 04:43 AM