Better buff shield
Nah. All you need is a SAB sword, SAB shield, SAB backpack and mini, with a SAB boom box playing mad tunes when you trigger your Photonic SAB mode. There is no greater power in all of Tyria that can best that.
who needs power with all that burning thatll be flying around. s/p!!
head here to discuss wvw without fear of infractions
IMHO Shield just need another slightly lower CD reduction for base then it will be where it needs to be. I think the hate for engineer shield is brought up by the fact that we never had a good mainhand to go with it (until now it seems) because pistol is for conditions and you are always going to take offhand pistol.
Its the most stacked shield effect wise: 3 sec projectile reflect with a knockback and blast finisher and a 2 second block that stuns melee that hits you and can even stun through evade attacks (like thief sword/pistol 3 or mesmer sword 3) as well as a 900 range throw that dazes both ways.
Yeah, shield actually has some really strong CC’s to accompany it. The problem is, we only have one mainhand weapon (pistol) and it’s pretty terrible as far as damage goes.
Maybe they’ll do the unthinkable and switch OH Pistols Blowtorch with Static Shot. ;D WINK WINK. Then MH Pistol will be good. And offhand pistol will be good.
CD reduction would help it for sure. I’d even add couple of boons to the skills and it should be fine IMO.
http://wpwhendead.tumblr.com - a GW2 webcomic about a Charr and a Skritt
I actually really love using a Shield.
I really hate using a pistol. Doing so essentially locks me into being a tank; There is almost literally no frelling damage you can get out of MH Pistol. Flamethrower has to make up the damage loss of not taking Rifle or Hammer.
But those shield skills – especially when you trait for them from the Inventions line – mmmmn, delicious! I could cream myself. Okay – they may be slightly too long of a CD – but taff me, who cares? They’re really good for bringing down stun bars, warding off mechanics that you didn’t notice were about to kill you until the last second and just deciding that you’ve had enough of one group’s gib and want to stunlock them for a good 4 seconds (Shield 5 – Double the daze, both ways!).
It’s a shame we’ve never had a good MH weapon.
Now, the game changes, my friends. We can have a SWORD. Not just any sword – a weapon that is not as clumsy or random as a pistol. An elegant weapon, for a more.. civilized age.
https://youtu.be/hFB16GCocfw?t=29s
I’m looking forward the MH Sword, even if I’m not really looking forward to the other nonsense Holo-Shroud mechanics. I’m just hoping that between now and launch, some of the traits we’ve seen change to giving more benefits to the Sword.