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<blockquote data-quote="WarpedAcorn" data-source="post: 6901790" data-attributes="member: 6819400">My current character is a Fighter/Cleric and has been using a Shield about 90% of the time. The only times I've used a 2-Hander is when we were attacked in the middle of the night at an Inn and I ran out (buck-naked of course) and used the Greatsword, and when I was jumped by Thugs in the street and didn't have a Shield with me.Tips to make the shield better than what it is...well, as is its a pretty good defense tool with the +2 AC and potentially more if you get a Magic one. With the way Attack scaling works in 5th, a high AC doesn't seem to ever degrade in value (as opposed to 3rd when you end up fighting things with +18 Attack).The Shield Mastery feat has been invaluable for me. Being able to knock down enemies is not only fun, but great from a defensive standpoint because then your teammates can move out of range no problem...and getting Advantage on melee attacks is almost better than rolling a little extra damage via 2-Hander / dual wield.Speaking of Dual Wield, I saw a recent thread (pre-purge) talking about using the Shield as an Improvised Weapon to make attacks. Combo with the Dual Wielder feat you get bonus AC and can wield 2 regular weapons (so standard Longsword and Shield). Also add in the Dual Wield fighting style and you have a very interesting armored tank that doesn't sacrifice damage. And yes, you retain the AC bonus from the shield even if you attack with it. The drawback is this requires several feats to work, so you have to build for it.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="WarpedAcorn, post: 6901790, member: 6819400"] My current character is a Fighter/Cleric and has been using a Shield about 90% of the time. The only times I've used a 2-Hander is when we were attacked in the middle of the night at an Inn and I ran out (buck-naked of course) and used the Greatsword, and when I was jumped by Thugs in the street and didn't have a Shield with me. Tips to make the shield better than what it is...well, as is its a pretty good defense tool with the +2 AC and potentially more if you get a Magic one. With the way Attack scaling works in 5th, a high AC doesn't seem to ever degrade in value (as opposed to 3rd when you end up fighting things with +18 Attack). The Shield Mastery feat has been invaluable for me. Being able to knock down enemies is not only fun, but great from a defensive standpoint because then your teammates can move out of range no problem...and getting Advantage on melee attacks is almost better than rolling a little extra damage via 2-Hander / dual wield. Speaking of Dual Wield, I saw a recent thread (pre-purge) talking about using the Shield as an Improvised Weapon to make attacks. Combo with the Dual Wielder feat you get bonus AC and can wield 2 regular weapons (so standard Longsword and Shield). Also add in the Dual Wield fighting style and you have a very interesting armored tank that doesn't sacrifice damage. And yes, you retain the AC bonus from the shield even if you attack with it. The drawback is this requires several feats to work, so you have to build for it. [/QUOTE]

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