Guild Wars 2

We’re going to receive a shield that blocks melee and projectiles. But there has been nerfing threads about the Engineers Gear shield.. so will Guardians receive the same nerf threads with Shield of Courage?

Many think DH lacks support roles but I find F3 to be very supportive. Especially if Renewed Focus is equipped. That leaves not just two aoe Aegis procs but two melee & projectile blocks for your allies.

What makes it balance is that unlike the Gear shield, SoC is 5s directional AoE Ally block rather than an AoE Selfish block. Also it has a higher CD but if Renewed Focus is equipped, then it can be used twice in a row with a 3s invulnerability in between. I can’t imagine how much team wide damage F3 could negate in a 50v50 Zerg battle.

I think Shield of Courage is just right where it is but i’m curious what everyone else thinks.

I’m hoping it actual blocks melee, range & AoE for yourself & allies within it. So it can also sync with all those proc on block effects. I don’t think is so strong as it would of been at initial release as “Unblockable” effects have since been added into the game.

If this does go forward I would also love to see Sanctuary receive the same treatment as at the moment there are so many ways to damage people within Sanctuary that it really doesn’t feel like a sanctuary.

Gear Shield – cooldown 20 seconds. Blocks all directions.

Shield of Courage – cooldown 90 seconds. Blocks in a targeted cone.

It’s not going to be all that good if you’re in the front line fighting. It’s strong but it’s harder to use. That’s the balance. Seems inline with the ranged perspective of DH elite. I don’t imagine it should change at all though I don’t feel that under DH, the Virtues are better. They are just different.

I think this was a needed improvement. Can people cross the barrier by running through it or are they knocked back ward style? Or do they just run into a wall? As Ezrael stated, gear shield is still much easier to use with a shorter CD, but I think this will be one very nice change in many that will finally get guards thinking about how better to protect their allies instead of trying to compete with shoutbows 1-2-3 party heals, which will force guardians in general to either get better or re-roll.

What I’d like to know is what happens with melee attacks if your foe crosses the barrier.

If you’re still blocking melee attacks from a foe that has crossed the barrier then it’s very counter-intuitive to your allies AND your opponents (if PvP.) But if the guardian is not blocking melee attacks across the barrier then it might as well not block melee since there’s a good range between you and the barrier.

Concerning the engineer Gear Shield risking a nerf for having a 20 seconds cooldown, I wouldn’t consider that a sign of an impending nerf for DH F3.

Notice that the warrior Shield Stance does exactly the same thing as Gear Shield but has 30 seconds cooldown, so that’s probably why Arenanet would consider a nerf. Personally I justified it by the fact that the warrior can carry any main-hand with her shield AND can trait it to not only have 24 seconds cooldown but also reflect all projectiles so Shield Stance is far more versatile than Gear Shield, but maybe Arenanet still doesn’t consider Gear Shield balanced vs other blocks.