Guild Wars 2

As Anet is convinced that the problem with shield is the CD, could we get some statistics on who has switched from Focus to gei…. shield after the awesome CDR from the latest patch.

May I add that they mistakenly nerfed shield 5 by removing the 2 second blocking after the channeling (when the guard crouched down holding up his shield) thinking it was a bug. It wasn’t. Because, the shield duration is stated being 4 second. You channel for 2 second, and it continues to last for another 2 more seconds. They “fixed” it by removing the post-channel 2 second shield duration.

i use shield, due to the fact its funny killing people with shield 4/5. i also perfer it over focus cause i dont like the fact that a non shield weapon “blocks”. i use hammer sword/board with maurader amulet eagle rune and air and fire sigils on all my weapons for fast killing with cc. so much fun

That man is a credit to our Profession. And probably the only guy with shield

#longliveshield
edit. when air\fire sigils proc on shield skills people go wth XD

i only use shield if i’m doing a meta event where i want something besides staff for support…otherwise zero use for me

I love the shield now! Cause knocking thieves out of SR is Kreygasm. Also more interrupts and decaps in spvp nice too.

imo shield has better use than focus

The fact that focus received the same 20% base cooldown reduction makes the shield just as pointless as it was before.

quaniesan.8497:

As Anet is convinced that the problem with shield is the CD, could we get some statistics on who has switched from Focus to gei…. shield after the awesome CDR from the latest patch.

You’re not going to get any accurate statistics from a forum thread. I believe that Anet thinks reducing CD’s makes shield a more appealing proposition and to a certain extent, it does. I don’t think the solution is very good and obviously neither do you but I don’t think this approach to demonstrate that is a very effective one if your goal is to illuminate the issue to Anet.

What I think is going on here is that Anet thinks there is problem A, players think there is problem B. If we don’t have consensus with them on what the problem is, it’s REALLY unlikely we will get a solution that seems to make sense, regardless of how many shaming threads are made about it.

The functionality is the reason why people don’t use the shield.. not the its Cooldowns timer.

I don’t even know what Shield #4 is useful for. The damage it gives is almost as big of a joke as its 3s Protection duration. Focus #4 is Twice as more useful and powerful than Shield #4 and #5 put together… that says something.

Shield #5 is a ‘hit-or-’miss. I would use it if it was a Knockdown instead of a Knockback effect… the CC just isn’t there. There’s a million ways to make the functionality of the shield better without removing the so called, “support abilities”, of the rightfully underused offhand weapon.

focus is for selfy gaurds. shields are good if you kno how to use them. which i find none of you all do.

Kotte.2460:

focus is for selfy gaurds. shields are good if you kno how to use them. which i find none of you all do.

Focus provides blinds, group regen, group condi clear, and a blast finisher. None of which are provided by shield.

A good player can use a kittenty weapon and still play effectively. That doesn’t suddenly make it any less of a kittenty weapon though.

I tried a lot. The only purpose of this weapon is to knockback with #5 (which already was before). Still doesn’t worth.

Also, support Guardian doesn’t worth at all. You need a lot of investiment to get so little return. In comparasion, as elementalist you only need the water trait line to do wonders – Soothing Mist alone heals allies for 600 per second + 1.5k * 3 (4.5k) from Geyser every 13 seconds + regen if using arcana + healing rain + blast finishers on water + 2k heal on dodge if using arcana + 1k heal on auto atk….

I’ve been using a shield for some time, but it’s simply not as good as focus. The fact that focus can now give you protection is nonsense as it takes away one of the special things about shield in the first place.

I mean, cooldown reductions are always nice, simple buffs, but it needs to have something else added to it’s functionality, something that makes it more unique.

The shield trait could also use something to make it more interesting, like having the abilities give a bit of stability or something. The passive toughness increase is nice, but it doesn’t really help you help other people too much.

Kotte.2460:

focus is for selfy gaurds. shields are good if you kno how to use them. which i find none of you all do.

“Shield is good if you know how to use it”
There you have it gents, thread’s closed.

By all means, tells us how to use it in a competitive setting and i’ll offer twice as many reasons as to why you shouldn’t.

you can quote me all you like, shield has it uses, but for simple minded people like you that cant see it, you say its no good, how about instead of telling you, you can always 1v1 me and find out how to use it competively

The general concept of Shield of Absorption is actually very useful for both stacking and non-stacking fights…… The problem is in how unwieldy it is to activate, and how the knock back prevents it from working in the hand full of situations where it could excel. I think whats wrong is that the Devs don’t want to have a functional overlap with Sanctuary, despite the skill being almost identical in how players would utilize it.

So first we have to examine how each offhand fits into the scheme of builds.

Torch is Condi, both capable of giving and clearing it, and fits well into both Condi and Power focused builds.

Focus is Personal support. An extra blind and a personal shield with contingent damage .

Shield is obviously themed as Group support, having Area effect skills. And it does this conceptually well……

So why divide between players and the Devs? The Devs believe its a pure back line weapon, when what we need is more front line functionality from it. In essence, its expected to be paired with a Scepter.

So how to address it? Well, if we assume the shield became both Front line and back line support, all they’d have to potentially do is make of a handfull of changes.

1. Swap the knock back between 5 and 4. If nothing else is changed, it makes Judgement a control skill and absorption both a point blank and close range projectile destroyer. As is, Skill 5 doesn’t prevent follow up attacks, and actually tends to trigger stronger traits or recovery skills. So despite taking the feature away, it actually improves its front line functionality in PvP and PvE by a significant amount; because now you can safely envelop your group against projectiles without disrupting their melee combat.

2. Make Knockback on 5 triggered with shield explosion. This adds an element of trade off and timing, by letting you choose what function you want the Skill 5 to perform. Theres also some debate on the skill’s actual uptime that needs to be properly addressed as well.
2b. Give Skill 4 a 0.5-sec Immobilize. This is more of a PvP/WvW oriented change to actually disrupt a front line if timed right. If immob is too strong, they could use 1 sec of slow instead (weight of your sins, nyuk nyuk).

3. Redesign the shield skills to do much better at back line support so it doesn’t require proximity to perform its functions.

Kotte.2460:

you can quote me all you like, shield has it uses, but for simple minded people like you that cant see it, you say its no good, how about instead of telling you, you can always 1v1 me and find out how to use it competively

balancing a group support tool around 1v1…. sounds logical.

like i said can 1v1 and find out how to use it. but i see some ppl are all talk.

Kotte.2460:

like i said can 1v1 and find out how to use it. but i see some ppl are all talk.

Thats how theory crafting works. Plus the shield being good in 1v1 doesn’t change the fact its pretty much useless everywhere else for a number of obvious functional gaps. This is why the unified balancing never worked in GW1, and quickly lead to PvP versions of skills. And very few things in Guildwars 2, which is built from the ground up for passive force multiplication, seek to directly exclude team play.

Thats why the “1v1 me, bro” argument in every MMO is as idiotic…… We’re not Street Fighter. Except for that one mini-game in EoTN…. that was actually kind of fun; But it used a set of exclusive skills for the game mode.

its useful in other places as well as 1v1. again more talk

I’m fine with the number 4 skill & the knock back on number 5 but honestly the absorb is kinda pointless given how short it is and the fact that ground targeted stuff can be placed under you anyway.

The trait also sucks compared to the focus trait.

If they would change number 5 to do a knockback and grant AOE AEGIS it would be great.

It would also be great if they changed the trait so it caused shield skills to grant a few seconds of resistance on shield use.

Before anything gets discussed, I’d like to point out that we guardians can’t even use the combo field shield 5 makes for us. Letting us use that combo field would help shield compete with focus. Not alot but it’d help.

I also like that aoe aegis idea. +1 or even light aura.

I feel like the 4 on shield should knockdown. It’d help set up the long start up times and often missed skills of guardian mainhands. ie sword 3 or mace 2. (w/o having to pigeon hole us into mace 2>JI)

I also think the knock back distance is not high enough on shield 5. In fact, I feel like the knockback should be little bit less than the full launch distance. 550~ ballpark

After I shield 5 someone I still feel like their in the danger zone.

I’m inclined to agree with Kotte for the most part. I’m finding the shield to be quite useful (as a support) in PvP.

Kotte.2460:

you can quote me all you like, shield has it uses, but for simple minded people like you that cant see it, you say its no good, how about instead of telling you, you can always 1v1 me and find out how to use it competively

I’d love to duel you if you’re NA. I’m more than willing to correct myself too if Shield is at all viable on a competitive level. I’ve only toyed with a hammer + spirit hammer build’s prepatch, so i’m quite curious how you would use shield postpatch.

Let’s hope my assumptions are wrong. I’ll add you in game.

Silhouette.5631:

That man is a credit to our Profession. And probably the only guy with shield

I wonder how you know.

It has been fun to mess around with in PvP for power builds with the sword, As you can double tap #5, do a knockback and heal in a split second and give you a chance to land some free hits. also it works really well if you switch to a Scepter/Torch combo, because you can then cast smite on them before they get up, then immob after, causing more smite/AA hits.

Saiyan.1704:

Kotte.2460:

you can quote me all you like, shield has it uses, but for simple minded people like you that cant see it, you say its no good, how about instead of telling you, you can always 1v1 me and find out how to use it competively

I’d love to duel you if you’re NA. I’m more than willing to correct myself too if Shield is at all viable on a competitive level. I’ve only toyed with a hammer + spirit hammer build’s prepatch, so i’m quite curious how you would use shield postpatch.

Let’s hope my assumptions are wrong. I’ll add you in game.

I would be welcome to duel you if im on, granted I generally run hybrid builds currently, but i would love to test out some shield play ^.^

Kotte.2460:

you can quote me all you like, shield has it uses, but for simple minded people like you that cant see it, you say its no good, how about instead of telling you, you can always 1v1 me and find out how to use it competively

Please tell me you’re NA? I’d love to make you look foolish

Shield can actually be clutch in some situations in PvP, people definitely take it for granted. #4 is still kitten awful but #5 can be really nice for anti-stomp, and de-capping.

In particular I think shield is fun at mid in Khylo for example; if you position the knock back right so they fall off point. Find it useful for setting up spikes as well on occasion… cheeky knock back to initiate the KO. Those are just some examples of #5 uses which people probably already know.

I do think #4 needs some major revamp though I just have no incentive to use it, yeah the protection can be beneficial to soften a blow from a spike but it needs more.

Obtena.7952:

quaniesan.8497:

As Anet is convinced that the problem with shield is the CD, could we get some statistics on who has switched from Focus to gei…. shield after the awesome CDR from the latest patch.

You’re not going to get any accurate statistics from a forum thread. I believe that Anet thinks reducing CD’s makes shield a more appealing proposition and to a certain extent, it does. I don’t think the solution is very good and obviously neither do you but I don’t think this approach to demonstrate that is a very effective one if your goal is to illuminate the issue to Anet.

What I think is going on here is that Anet thinks there is problem A, players think there is problem B. If we don’t have consensus with them on what the problem is, it’s REALLY unlikely we will get a solution that seems to make sense, regardless of how many shaming threads are made about it.

Maybe, maybe not. But maybe they are just ignoring everything we say when we should just all agree that there “is” a problem. Simple really, the focus and mace block more than the shield does. It doesn’t get any clearer than that.

Honest question. Would you take a shield if you used any of the traits such as Invigorated Bulwark, Communal Defenses, or say even Might of the Protector?

OJM.5103:

Shield can actually be clutch in some situations in PvP, people definitely take it for granted. #4 is still kitten awful but #5 can be really nice for anti-stomp, and de-capping.

In particular I think shield is fun at mid in Khylo for example; if you position the knock back right so they fall off point. Find it useful for setting up spikes as well on occasion… cheeky knock back to initiate the KO. Those are just some examples of #5 uses which people probably already know.

I do think #4 needs some major revamp though I just have no incentive to use it, yeah the protection can be beneficial to soften a blow from a spike but it needs more.

Situational but does have its giggle moments. I use it a lot of skyhammer or when I’m running around on the mist map.

People use shield?

I used a shield back when thieves used to be more common, flushing a shadow refuge or thwarting a CnD-backstab combo was commonplace and useful to the group.
Nowadays? In condi meta? Good luck taking out a mesmer with shield. Over torch or focus? Surely you jest.

Stop thinking of Shield as solely a Defensive Weapon… increase it’s dmg modifier (thus increasing utility).

Whats a shield?

this is a shield

coming at ya !

As people have said the cooldown wasnt so much the issue as what the shield actually brings to the table over other weapons. The detonate should have better heal scaling and be a blast finisher, the cone protection maybe up the dps a little and give friends caught in it’s path aegis(as well as protection) and enemies a daze or weakness.

I have been using shield in certain instances simply for the small amount of group support it brings but tbh it could use a buff. In a group situation for support staff is the go to weapon closely followed by hammer if your group has some decent fields to blast.

If you are medi DPS or condi you still wont take the shield, you will take the torch for the kittenedly broken burn mechanics or the focus for a little bit of extra survivability with the blocks/protection and burst when the shield detonates, and of course the blind.

I shield 4 should get knockdown or a longer protection duration. Because honestly skill number 4 is useless and skill 5 definately looks like a blast, then why the hell isnt it a blast skill. And lol at that guy who is challegning ppl to a 1v1, you are pathethic just because you can beat noobs doesnt mean ur build is anything.

Wow, some people are so salty.

Also, Shield DPS was just increased in the specialization update.

Saw a level 35 Guardian using shield + mace this morning at the Fields of Ruin.

Chorazin.4107:

As people have said the cooldown wasnt so much the issue as what the shield actually brings to the table over other weapons. The detonate should have better heal scaling and be a blast finisher, the cone protection maybe up the dps a little and give friends caught in it’s path aegis(as well as protection) and enemies a daze or weakness.

I have been using shield in certain instances simply for the small amount of group support it brings but tbh it could use a buff. In a group situation for support staff is the go to weapon closely followed by hammer if your group has some decent fields to blast.

If you are medi DPS or condi you still wont take the shield, you will take the torch for the kittenedly broken burn mechanics or the focus for a little bit of extra survivability with the blocks/protection and burst when the shield detonates, and of course the blind.

Comboing Protection and Weakness is an interesting thought, giving an overall 50%-75% damage reduction for 5 seconds. Weakness giving 50% chance for 50% damage, and negates crit, with the 33% reduction from Prot.

Synergizing boons and conditions in an attack could be a much better angle then simply upping the power of the boons. And Weakness itself is also under utilized on a lot of classes.

Ghotistyx.6942:

Wow, some people are so salty.

Also, Shield DPS was just increased in the specialization update.

shield has dps?

In the complete and technical sense, yes, and in that same sense, it was increased.