Guild Wars 2

I’m a new player, loving the game so far, and leveling a Human Warrior. I’ve always enjoyed sword/shield classes in other MMOs and RPGs, so thought I’d try it out here.

Trouble is, with a shield in the off-hand, we only get two skills to use that are associated with it. One is a single second stun (so an interrupt really) and the other is a skill that makes your shield block. Both have a 30 second cooldown. That means I get to block with my shield (what I’d assume to be its primary purpose) once every 30 seconds. That’s a very long time in PVP.

I’m worried that this long cooldown renders the shield practically useless compared to using a 2-hander or dual wielding for the extra damage output and two additional damaging skills. Does anyone have experience using sword and shield at high levels or in PVP? Are my fears correct, or is using a shield a perfectly viable choice in competitive WvWvW?

Darkstorne.6348:

I’m a new player, loving the game so far, and leveling a Human Warrior. I’ve always enjoyed sword/shield classes in other MMOs and RPGs, so thought I’d try it out here.

Trouble is, with a shield in the off-hand, we only get two skills to use that are associated with it. One is a single second stun (so an interrupt really) and the other is a skill that makes your shield block. Both have a 30 second cooldown. That means I get to block with my shield (what I’d assume to be its primary purpose) once every 30 seconds. That’s a very long time in PVP.

I’m worried that this long cooldown renders the shield practically useless compared to using a 2-hander or dual wielding for the extra damage output and two additional damaging skills. Does anyone have experience using sword and shield at high levels or in PVP? Are my fears correct, or is using a shield a perfectly viable choice in competitive WvWvW?

This is a pretty common concern for new players who aren’t used to the concept of having long cooldowns. I had the same issue with my Shield on my Guardian.

Let me address your concerns one at a time:

First of all, the big hurdle to get over in this game is that your abilities are not supposed to be used frequently. You need to use them intelligently. A single well-placed block can turn the tide of an entire fight. So you need to think of the cooldown on Shield Stance as a reflection of its value.

The Cooldown on Shield Stance does not render it practically useless. Precisely the contrary: the cooldown on shield stance exists to offset its enormous value. Shield stance is 3 seconds of blocking. So, for three seconds, absolutely nothing is going to get to you, no matter how many enemies are pummeling away at you, no matter what attacks they’re using.

With that in mind, you need to think of an off-hand shield as a weapon that provides you with that additional trump card. If you’re about to take a massive smack in the face from a Champion in PVE, Shield Stance will save your life. Shield Stance will render any big attacks your opponents use (in PVP) entirely wasted, thus wasting their cooldown and costing them precious momentum.

As for Shield Bash, don’t dismiss it just yet. Its value may not seem much on paper, but as you play the game, you’ll recognize moments where a well-timed stun makes all the difference. Shield Bash can and will interrupt any big attack, channeled attack, escape attempt. It’s versatile and aggressive.

Also, I want to draw your attention to Traits. Traits augment your existing skills in ways that may not be evident just by looking at a tooltip. For Warriors, the following traits augment your performance with a Shield:

Defense III: Sure Footed – Increase Stance Duration by 25% (Bringing Shield Stance’s total duration to 3.75 seconds)

Defense V: Missile Deflection – Reflect Missiles when you are blocking (so not only does Shield Stance render all attacks against you nullified, but anyone in PVP trying to nail you at ranged is going to take damage back)

Defense IX: Shield Master – Gain 90 Toughness when using a shield. Shield skills recharge 25% faster (so Shield Stance recharges in 22.5 seconds, which is really good.)

Remember, in this game, you win not by out-damaging the opponent or out-healing your damage. This is not a game of numbers, but a game of tactics. The cooldown exists in order to ensure that you use Shield Stance at the right time.

And if you do, it can turn the tide of an entire fight.

Hope that helps!

Not that I’ve used a sword & board in PvP, but dual wielding actually only gets you one other damaging skill – the second OH skill is actually a channeled parry that gives adrenaline. I don’t think its CD is 30s, though.

I expect that, as servers settle, the hacking issue is dealt with, more people hit max level and start to PvP, we’ll see huge amounts of skill balance changes in the near future.

I’ve not advanced Guardian very far. On Warrior or Engineer, I would never bother to equip a shield. Simple as that! For what it’s worth, most off-hand or 4- 5- skills are on pretty long cd’s, whatever the weapon, whatever the class. So you’re not being short-changed in that respect.

As a guardian, I often use a shield in WvW matches. The #4 skill is useful for giving people the protection buff, and the #5 skill is useful for protecting a retreat or just securing a few seconds of positioning for the horde.

Would be a couple vids I would suggest – its Mace/Mace with Axe/Shield for the swap

1 vid is the gameplay and the other is the actual build. Both very good vids.

shield skills on a warrior are not meant to be spammed, otherwise, Warriors would be godly. You use it when you need to…weapon swap out..spam.

when you advance your Defense to the 2nd Tier, you can choose the trait Shield Masters: +90 toughness and 20% faster recharge

Thanks for all the answers, everyone! Really helpful =)

I do understand that being able to block absolutely anything with the shield skill is incredibly useful, I was just wondering if having that ability once every 30 seconds is viable when you could just be using a second weapon for more offensive skills (A good offense if the best defence) instead.

But those traits certainly sound great, reducing shield stance’s cooldown to every 22.5 seconds, and making it block for longer. I’m assuming 90 toughness is a lot? I’m still too low level to know how beneficial 90 extra toughness will be at 80.