Question

[Frigid2000]

<p>Sword and board? Or dual wield?</p><p>Why for either?  </p>

[ForgottenFoundling]

<p>sword and board for soloing - mez kiting</p><p>dw for dps</p>

[Novusod]

We are one of the lowest DPS classes there is so go dual weild. Even if all you do is solo I would still go dual weild because most of the time you will not be kite mezzing. You will want to burn those mobs down as fast as you can or you will be one board troubie. If you can afford it get a set of duel weilds and a sheild for when you need the extra solo protection. If you plan on grouping forget about the shield, it has no use in groups.

[aelder~]

<p>There is also the AA line that requies you to use a shield, but I gather that's most popular among the PvP crowd for "bump" (iirc) so you can stun folks.  </p><p> If PvE and you go the standard AA lines of STR and WIS (turnstrike, bladedance, and DKTM), the only time you might consider using a shield is for particular raid mobs where you want the extra resists the shield brings you and don't want to be swapping short blades for swords all the time to use turnstrike.  I found when first really raiding that I could take alot more AEs that way.  Once better geared and playing with better raiders this becomes moot and you will just DW and swap in a sword when needed, but when learning to raid, sword and board might help you get up the noob curve faster on AE mobs.</p><p>I also keep a sword & board for tanking when necessity dictates.  Ended up tanking, incl named, in HoF last week with just a wizard and a templar.  Put on best mit gear and melee resists, put up Alin's then cancelled it off myself.  So long as they let me get a bit of a head start it worked fine.  I was surprised that we only wiped when I noob'd a pull.  This might be security blanket though.  I suspect the shield was of marginal benefit and that it would have gone exactly the same with the DWs.  Probably gave the templar more confidence in me though - hehe.</p><p>Happy hunting,</p>

[ForgottenFoundling]

<p>Bump is the 2nd AA ability of the Agi line and requires a dagger to use.</p><p>Also, a shield will only help on melee based AEs and the majority of AEs are not melee based.</p><p>Sta is fun for solo and small groups, but unless you have a top of the line 1her you're going to lose dps.  All that said, if I wasn't in a raid guild and trying to maximize my dps, I would be Sta specced for the soloability (one of my favorite playstyles).</p><p> as always YMMV</p>

[aelder~]

<cite>ForgottenFoundling wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>Bump is the 2nd AA ability of the Agi line and requires a dagger to use.</p><p>Also, a shield will only help on melee based AEs and the majority of AEs are not melee based.</p><p>Sta is fun for solo and small groups, but unless you have a top of the line 1her you're going to lose dps.  All that said, if I wasn't in a raid guild and trying to maximize my dps, I would be Sta specced for the soloability (one of my favorite playstyles).</p><p> as always YMMV</p></blockquote><p> Alot of KoS AEs are in fact melee or have a melee component (think Labs and the crush from droags, the bloodbeast's vicious stomp, et al.) so the Archaic Roundshield, for example, is somewhat useful for new raiders.  What I actually meant, however, is that many round shields and bucklers (err, transmuting fodder) have decent resist stats on them--something which you cannot get from a second dagger etc.  And since most people don't really use them, they can be had for very cheap.  Sure you lose DPS, but its not a bad idea if you are getting one-shotted at the moment.</p><p>As well, now that I am in game and can look, I guess its the skald AA line (STA) that requires the use of a roundshield.  It has a stun, double attack, and other amusing things for shield wearers.  Again though, I suspect it is only really a popular line for PvP.</p><p>Cheers,</p>

[TerabithianWhisperwi]

Beware of anyone who tell you that dual-wielding should be the way to go because of its "DPS" advantage. This is pure hogwash. If you go with a 1-hander and shield, you MUST utilize the stamina line of Bard Achievements to not suffer the DPS loss of not using an additional weapon. When you do, you will realize that the bashing, and, far more importantly, the double attacking, will boost your DPS back to either just as good, or, as I find it, BETTER than dual wielding. I find that the protection a shield offers amounts to diddly-squat...even the great roundshields. However, sometimes they'll have a stat-boost or an ability that makes them quite desireable. Couple that with a nasty-one-hander with a nasty proc on it, and you're in business. I find that I do quite a bit of damage with my combat arts and spells. When doing these things, you aren't auto-attacking, so really it is quite beneficial to hit much harder when you do get those attacks in between. But truly, there isn't that big a difference...it's more of a style choice. Personally I do both, and it only takes one space of inventory to keep the shield/secondary weapon in. But again, you HAVE to have the stamina line for Bard Achievements. Without that line (say you went agi, or str, or the popular wis instead) you'd be better off dual-wielding!! my dirge went stamina line, and was endlessly happy with it. My troubadour went the INT line, because I wanted to take the road less travelled.