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<blockquote data-quote="Korak" data-source="post: 3148269" data-attributes="member: 9781">Are they more cheesy than dual wielding with improved buckler defense and the piddly -1 to off hand attacks?&nbsp; A little bit... but the dual wielder could always use one too.&nbsp; I think most of the distaste people have for animated shields comes from the relative imbalance in combat styles in 3.5e.I think the real reason animated shields are a bit over the top is the relatively low cost of using magic vestment to pump the AC bonus to compensate for supposedly giving up +2 in enhancement bonus to AC.&nbsp; Then again, this is true of all weapon and armor properties.&nbsp; Raw enhancement has been greatly de-valued.&nbsp; If an animated shield wielder was always 2 AC behind his non-animated shield buddy, it wouldn't be as bad.As for negating the AC benefits of staying sword and board... one could argue that actual sword and board style is only meant for low level characters or low magic worlds.&nbsp; Alternatively one could argue that if you take the right feats, shield fighting can be very good (shield slam, charge, etc).I do think that there is a definite disparity between two handed weapons and other styles as the game stands now.&nbsp; IMO, the biggest cause of the disparity is the imbalance in feat investment.&nbsp; TWF or Sword and Board require numerous feats to really payoff.&nbsp; Two handed weapons payoff with just Power Attack.&nbsp; Things have improved with PHBII.&nbsp; However, I would strongly consider reducing the feat requirements to get full iterative attacks with the off-hand.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Korak, post: 3148269, member: 9781"] Are they more cheesy than dual wielding with improved buckler defense and the piddly -1 to off hand attacks? A little bit... but the dual wielder could always use one too. I think most of the distaste people have for animated shields comes from the relative imbalance in combat styles in 3.5e. I think the real reason animated shields are a bit over the top is the relatively low cost of using magic vestment to pump the AC bonus to compensate for supposedly giving up +2 in enhancement bonus to AC. Then again, this is true of all weapon and armor properties. Raw enhancement has been greatly de-valued. If an animated shield wielder was always 2 AC behind his non-animated shield buddy, it wouldn't be as bad. As for negating the AC benefits of staying sword and board... one could argue that actual sword and board style is only meant for low level characters or low magic worlds. Alternatively one could argue that if you take the right feats, shield fighting can be very good (shield slam, charge, etc). I do think that there is a definite disparity between two handed weapons and other styles as the game stands now. IMO, the biggest cause of the disparity is the imbalance in feat investment. TWF or Sword and Board require numerous feats to really payoff. Two handed weapons payoff with just Power Attack. Things have improved with PHBII. However, I would strongly consider reducing the feat requirements to get full iterative attacks with the off-hand. [/QUOTE]

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