High end Shield question

[Damagema]

<DIV>I am presently a level 48 Guardian using my SBS (which is now blue to me, btw).  Our guild amourer has told me he will make me a shield, just let him know what I want (he's a level 50 amourer, btw.)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>He gave the the stats on a tower shield, and the best I remember was...</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>SBS Kite Shield Mitigation 752 STR <SPAN class=list-statplus>+11</SPAN>  STA <SPAN class=list-statplus>+10</SPAN>  HEALTH <SPAN class=list-statplus>+50</SPAN>  POWER <SPAN class=list-statplus>+19</SPAN>  </DIV> <DIV>Ebon Pristine Tower Mitigation 850 No STR (Don't remember other stats)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>My question is: Should I get a new player made shield and loose the +11 STR, but gain the +98 Mitigation?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Your suggestions & comments are most welcome.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Thanks in advance,</DIV> <DIV>Dmg</DIV> <DIV> </DIV><p>Message Edited by Damagemann on <span class=date_text>05-12-2005</span> <span class=time_text>06:56 AM</span>

[Sho]

I currently also use the SBS.  I know the most common high end shield I see is the Pristine Imbued Ceder Tower Shield made by woodworkers.  You can find the stats on EQ2players or I'm sure someone here has one and can drop the stats.  I think the mitigation is the same as Ebon (never actually seen someone with an Ebon shield) but I also think the cedar has +8 to str.  Don't forget besides the higher shield factor towers have a 12% bonus over kite to block.

[Oakwood]

<P>Well, first off, Shields add to avoidance, not mitigation.  This is something to keep an eye on.</P> <P>Second, if you are a tank (and few guardians are not), AC (mit and avoid) is more important than anything other hit points.  As a rule of thumb, the order of importance is:</P> <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr> <P>HP/sta > AC (mitigation, avoidance, agi) > Resists > str > int/wis</P></BLOCKQUOTE> <P>More HP allows you to survive longer vs everything, more AC allows you to survive longer vs melee mobs, resists allow you to survive longer vs caster mobs, str gives you more power for agro generation (important, but a full power bar is meaningless if the hp bar is empty), and int/wis don't do much right now (Moorgard has said they will be made more meaningfull with the combat rebalance, but who knows when that will ever be).</P> <P>Items grouped together are different ways to get the same thing, and which is more important of each set will depend on what you have currently (If you have 200 sta, +raw HP will be more meaningfull than more sta, etc). </P> <P>Some people may disagree on the specifics, and of course a huge boost to a lower importance stat may be worth more than a small boost to a higher stat (+10 str is better than +5 hp, for example). </P> <P>For your specific question, +98 avoidance is worth far more than +11 str.  If you are constantly running out of power, there may be some other issue that needs to be addressed.</P> <P> </P>

[Subtlekni]

Not going to get into the whole blocking of kite versus tower. I just don't know enough, and haven't done testing yet. Pristine imbued cedar tower shield: +9 int +11 wis +34 health +34 power Shield Factor 840 5% chance to inflict 116 damage on the attacker.

[shilo]

<P>wow, 1st of all I can't believe no one has stated yet, that armorers make armor, not shields. Woodworkers make shields. Shields are therefore made from wood, not metal, and thus there is no such thing as an ebon shield...round, kite, tower or whatever. </P> <P> </P> <P>Now, as far as shields...I use the SBS because it has way better stats than the cedar tower I was using...which yes adds a few points to your avoidance, but has +int and +wis, which do us absolutely no good whatsoever. So the +11sta nd +10str or whatever it is that the SBS gives is far superior to the cedar tower. I actually sold my cedar tower because I never used it. I am sure I will use a tower shield again if I can get my hands on a master tower shield, but until then, the SBS is the best shield to use imo</P> <P> </P> <P> </P> <p>Message Edited by shilosw on <span class=date_text>05-12-2005</span> <span class=time_text>10:35 AM</span>

[Lyrus]

Keep in mind with the upcoming combat changes, Int will be used to determine any bonuses for any sort of magical damage (some HO's) and Wis will be used to counter the bonus Caster mobs receive from their Int.  The armor that we have that has Wis on it will finally make sense wearing, as it'll finally be put to use. <div></div>

[RafaelSmith]

<span><span><blockquote><hr><span>From Test Server Patch 9a notes: -Item effects that stun, mesmerize, stifle, or fear will no longer affect epic raid targets. </span><hr></blockquote></span></span> IMHO that just added 1 big minus to using SBS over the Crafted or Master dropped tower shield. <div></div>

[zapc]

<DIV>Well id like to reply tooakwood and his list of prioritys for a Tank. Heres what he wrote,</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> <P>HP/sta > AC (mitigation, avoidance, agi) > Resists > str > int/wis</P> <P> </P> <P>    Well in my experience as a high end raid tank this is all wrong. First for 90% of all the raid mobs in this game #1 priority is resists folowed closely by AC, obviously for some encounters this is swapped.  Even the gimpest of the instances (drayek) can own your MT if his resists arent right, dont care how many hitpoints you have you cant take a 16k ice comet,  Same with arch lich, its all about the right resists.</P> <P>    Now some raid mobs are very much pure melee mobs, there arent many but they do exist, in this case i would still stress mitigation and avoidance much higher then hitpoints. I  never understand why so many peopel always talk about how high  theve had their HP, I mean its cool to brag about, and sure i can put a MT grp together to get me way over 10k, but for any mob short of Darathar with the right resists and A/C they can be done easily with hitpoints in the 7-8k range, personally i would never use the sbs becouse like i said the 2 most important things are A/C and reists, NOT hitpoints and STR</P></DIV>

[M1A2Tankage]

<DIV>SBS Vs. Cedar,</DIV> <DIV>If the 2% stun goes away on epic, that will be a bad day.</DIV> <DIV>I just swapped the two out.  I get .3 or .4% less avoidance using sbs vs. cedar. </DIV> <DIV>So the question really now is, does the cost benifit of having the stats of the sbs out weigh the .3 or .4% avoidance?  That is up for you to decide.  I think i will stick with sbs for now. </DIV>

[Oakwood]

<DIV>I found the thread where moogard talks about int and wis being made more meaningfull.  Depending on how big an effect this has, we may need to start putting alot more effort into wisdom to mitigate spell damage.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/board/message?board.id=testdev&message.id=1440#M1440" target=_blank>http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/board/message?board.id=testdev&message.id=1440#M1440</A></DIV>

[Subtlekni]

<span><blockquote><hr>Oakwood wrote:<div></div> <p>Well, first off, Shields add to avoidance, not mitigation.  This is something to keep an eye on.</p> <hr></blockquote> Ha! Tell that to my new Darkkite! It has +80 vs Slash/Pierce/Crush.  Mummm mitigation. First shield I've seen with mitigation though, in my admitably limited EQ existance. </span><div></div>