Guild Wars 2

I know a lot of guardians want to use a shield as it fits the class so nice and looks awesome. But shield in the current state is just really useless for most cases.

The simple solution? Just allow us to apply a shield skin onto our focus. Focus is already a better shield then shield. Or just switch the skills for the 2 off hands.

Make shield #4 crit as hard as thrown torch #4 or blasted focus #5 and I will definitely be using it on roaming powermedi. Unfortunately Robert Gee posted on the Mesmer forums saying that shields in general aren’t designed to do high dps.. Sadface

I am a noob guardian, but shield seems quite efficient in PvP (especially for the knock back) and is the main off-hand in ESL for bunker guardians.

There is nothing wrong with the shield as is. I prefer it over the focus. The shield #5 has a knockback for inturupts and heals. #4 gives protection while still doing good damage.

Shield #4 is a bit weak and the trait is garbage, but the shield isn’t that bad in PvP.

Also, the OP’s suggestion will never happen. Since weapons determine skills, knowing which weapons a player is using is integral to the game.

Of course there is something wrong with shield. It’s terrible. It’s good for an AoE knockback, at the cost of not having a blind, regen, condi clear, block, high burst damage AoE attack, or a blast finisher.

But, you know, it’s totally worth sacrificing that for a knockback, right?

Vikkela.7261:

Make shield #4 crit as hard as thrown torch #4 or blasted focus #5 and I will definitely be using it on roaming powermedi. Unfortunately Robert Gee posted on the Mesmer forums saying that shields in general aren’t designed to do high dps.. Sadface

not everything can be design for high dps

The shield revolves around the aoe knockback effect. If that knockback fails because somebody stability/blocks/blinds/invuln/dodges then the entire weapon set is a miss… it’s why the bubble’s heal need to occure immediately and the channel effect needs to be removed.

Several Guards were using the shield during the “bubble glitch” because they were able to be mobile and reposition themselves. The devs removed an aspect we liked about the weapon set. At the very least, this aspect should be incorporated in the Shield’s Trait.

The bubble is an aoe heal with knockback as a bonus. And the cone should be used for buffing allies, the damage is a bonus

The main problem with shield is that it is mediocre in comparison to our other offhands. As much as I like shield and tried to make it work, I never use it anymore because its just outclassed.
Some small and thoughtful changes could really turn the shield into an interesting and powerful offhand weapon:
-Add a legitimate block in some form or fashion: This should be through aegis application, or through the trait which would give us aegis application while wielding a shield.
-Change the trait: Our traits that affect weapons add interesting or useful functions: Torch gets another fireball, focus gets protection, gs gets healing. What does the shield trait do? It gives us some toughness…. This is boring, redundant and not very useful. Here’s an example of what our shield trait could be: (assuming shield #5 gives self and nearby allies aegis) Blocking an attack with a shield grants self and nearby allies vigor and resistance (20s icd). Shield recharges are reduced.
-Finally: Rework shield skills. This will likely not occur for a long time, but would be very welcome. Shield skills should be reworked to give an innate block just as every other class has. The easy fix now is to add aegis to a skill, or add access to aegis through the shield trait, but a better fix would be to allow the guardian to block attacks (or even just one attack) with the shield. One skill should be devoted to a block that results in boons to allies, and the other skill should maintain a cc/team support/healing theme

I dont believe they will fix the shield (at least in the the next 6-8 months ), if they change is to loose the range AA defense that buble has, so they can make range casters/users more effective, like nades, ranger, DH, and those u want that kind of defense will have to play ravenant.

SoA dome duration bug was never fixed so that means having a defensive class is not what they want, or they prefer to ignore.

lost faith..