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<blockquote data-quote="Olgar Shiverstone" data-source="post: 5923672" data-attributes="member: 5868">I agree shields should be more flavorful.I think the challenge is to make all fighting styles more or less equally viable in play, while retaining meaningful tradeoffs.So for example Sword + Board is less damage than TWF or THF, but better defense than either -- enough to be viable, not so much to be the &quot;always superior&quot; choice like it was in 1E or BECMI.&nbsp; TWF IMO ought to have a slight defense advantage over THF, though never as much as S+B, but always a bit of a damage disadvantage compared to THF.&nbsp; THF I'd give the most damage to, but least defense.&nbsp; THF is the &quot;go big or go home&quot; option; TWF is less high payoff but more consistent damage; S+B provides a balance of offense and defense.&nbsp; Then consider balancing with range- and reach-weapon styles ...And then of course there's balancing the shields with the three armor types, plus unarmored.&nbsp; For example, I think Heavy + Shield needs to ultimately be strictly better than Light + Shield or Medium + Shield, though H+S takes more effort to be proficient and benefits less from Dex (so finesse fighters push to light armor while Str fighters head to heavy).&nbsp; Medium + Shield needs to be a viable middle ground for classes like the cleric.Ugh ... I don't envy the developers their challenge of getting it all to work out.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Olgar Shiverstone, post: 5923672, member: 5868"] I agree shields should be more flavorful. I think the challenge is to make all fighting styles more or less equally viable in play, while retaining meaningful tradeoffs. So for example Sword + Board is less damage than TWF or THF, but better defense than either -- enough to be viable, not so much to be the "always superior" choice like it was in 1E or BECMI. TWF IMO ought to have a slight defense advantage over THF, though never as much as S+B, but always a bit of a damage disadvantage compared to THF. THF I'd give the most damage to, but least defense. THF is the "go big or go home" option; TWF is less high payoff but more consistent damage; S+B provides a balance of offense and defense. Then consider balancing with range- and reach-weapon styles ... And then of course there's balancing the shields with the three armor types, plus unarmored. For example, I think Heavy + Shield needs to ultimately be strictly better than Light + Shield or Medium + Shield, though H+S takes more effort to be proficient and benefits less from Dex (so finesse fighters push to light armor while Str fighters head to heavy). Medium + Shield needs to be a viable middle ground for classes like the cleric. Ugh ... I don't envy the developers their challenge of getting it all to work out. [/QUOTE]

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