Berserker Bucklers for the AA line (For the Semi-Casual Gamer)

[sfarugger]

<DIV>I'm not "Hardcore" per ser, but I play alot.  Don't have the T7 raiding abilities, so I assume I would fall under the casual gamer:</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I am level 70 and currently have 18 AA  (which I am just placing in STA/STR/AGI lines atm till I determine what I will do)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I'm the main tank in 99% of my groups I am in.  Hold agro very well, Adept III my entire spell line 56+.  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>So....running into a little problem.  I need to find a buckler that is an acceptable mitigation piece that will allow me to follow the STA AA Line and also allow me to tank efficiently.</DIV> <DIV><BR>Are there any bucklers out there that will suffice this?  If so, let's see a list of them.  This is my biggest problems atm <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Thanks in advance to all of our berserkers out there !</DIV>

[FightGame]

<DIV>Shields don't provide much mitigation (if at all).  There's only a couple that actually have a tiny bit of mitigation on them.</DIV> <DIV>Primary reason for a shield, is avoidance.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>There's a couple threads already going on this.  I think one is simply called "bucklers".  Try a search.</DIV>

[hector]

<DIV>i use a buckler called iron plate shielding</DIV> <DIV>+20 str sta and agi</DIV> <DIV>75 health 70 power</DIV> <DIV>630 mental and poison 140 slashing</DIV> <DIV>shield factor is 392 (which seems very low)</DIV> <DIV>I got it in sepulcher is i remember correctly its tradable so you mat eb able to get 1 on broker</DIV>

[sfarugger]

<DIV>Iron Plate Shielding is an acceptable option, although I have yet to see it listed on our server on the broker(Lucan DLere)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>It's an extremely unhappy feeling to know there's one or 2 bucklers that will even serve a true advantage in using the STA AA Line and tanking.  Especially for a casual gamer who does not have access to obtain the shields from Lab or Temple of Scale(?), it's a difficult task to find something that is going to allow you to be able to tank effectively.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Someone mentioned that avoidance > mitigation.   Shields don't server much for Mitigation, but shields are for avoidance?  My Crimson Rock Targe still showing 1110 mitigation...I don't understand where you are coming from with that making that statement.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>You read another post and it's the opposite.  Funny to bring together everyone's conception on how to play their char and class.  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>And yes, you're right, there's buckler threads posted on this forum.  However, I specifically asked for CASUAL GAMER options.  Sorry for your confusion.</DIV><p>Message Edited by sfarugger on <span class=date_text>04-19-2006</span> <span class=time_text>09:25 AM</span>

[Amon`]

<P>Shields do NOT give mitigation unless they have bonus to "vs crushing/piercing/slashing. If you look at your shield it says "Shield Factor". This is a chance to block with the shield. It's easy, press P, equip/unequip your shield, and watch how your mitigation doesn't change but your avoidance does... amazing isn't it?</P> <P>My best advice would be to respec your aa to wisdom line and max out your mitigation, hell even max out your dps and get your "no-negative" stances while you are at it. I won't get into it but it makes me sad to see tanks take the buckler line, especially raid tanks... there are much more superior aa routes to take.</P>

[sfarugger]

<P>Hmm.....well that's weird.  I could have sworn that I saw a Mitigation on the shield.  I will definetely check on this tonight.  That's very good information Amon, thank you.  </P> <P> </P> <P>I have a few additional questions for your Armon:</P> <P>"Max out your DPS" - Can you explain further concerning this?</P> <P>"Max out your Mitigation" - Can you also explain this further?</P> <P> </P> <P>I will definetely look into the WIS AA line, thanks for the reference and will post any questions I have concerning that.</P> <P> </P> <P>Thanks for all your help!</P>

[Rousso]

<P>Shields generally dont affect mitigation - they go to avoidance. Towershields add a lot more avoidance than most bucklers. Keep your eyes peeled for a buckler looking shield called the <STRONG>shield of the flapping wing</STRONG>. has around 1000 defense on it and it definitely works as a buckler for the sta AA line. I picked one up off the broker yesterday and found that it gives me almost the same avoidance as my griz and also allows me to use the Sta line AA doubleattack. Nearly doubled my DPS with no avoidance penalty.</P> <P>No idea where it drops but have seen a few on the broker - a little odd in that in the class listing it says it is for bezerkers and guardians only, but it counts as a buckler.</P> <P> </P> <P> </P>

[Toshikii]

<P>The shield of the flapping wing drops in the Ascent, an epic zone in KoS, and aye, works with the AA line and has a nice graphic. I got that shield on broker for around 20 gold pieces some time ago. ALso, in that zone you can get the Staff of the Flapping Wing (I also own one <img src="/smilies/b2eb59423fbf5fa39342041237025880.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />~ ), a legendary 2H blunt weapon with 2 procs and 108,5 DPS ratting.</P> <P>I know there's a legendary buckler with 800 protection too and nice stats, but no idea where that one drops.</P>

[Amon`]

<P>Hiya, first of all to address the shield bonus - I believe shields USED to give straight mitigation... it was quite some time ago that they brought in the whole "shield factor" concept and If I am not mistaken, before this shields DID provide mitigation (I could be mistaken, sometimes my memory is not so hot). </P> <P>There are some good bucklers out there yes. I know of at least 2 legendary ones which provide more shield factor than the flapping wind buckler - AND they drop off regular nameds somewhere (not raids). I am not positive where off hand but I have seen them, although quite rare. With some research I am sure one could track them down. There are also 1 or 2 uber raid dropped bucklers with 1k+ factor. If you choose to take the buckler/sta line definitely put the time in to get one of these shields to at least make your choice somewhat beneficial.</P> <P>About the AA choices.. The wisdom line is great line to go with, unfortunately the first option is wisdom (which isn't so great, but in a conceptual view maxing out any of the stat booster aa's is not going to make or break your character).</P> <P>-First aa choice in wisdom is the 1 handed crushing attack - a decent skill, but I would say all the 2nd line aa's (the specific weapon attacks) are not very relevant in truly advancing your character. Definitely do not make your aa choice by these.. your main weapons will often change as you get new ones, find uber drops etc. This one is decent though, it has a very nice mitigation debuff with it, but of course it only lasts 10 seconds making it of smaller use. Maxed out, these attacks can do decent damage, but I would suggest to spend only 4 aa so you can advance the line, saving the other 4 for the better choices instead of maxing it.</P> <P>-Second choice in wis line is your dps. This aa raises your raw dps adjustment. In your persona window this is located with your haste bonus listing. This one is great for group situations - tanking or not, maxed out it adds 19% more damage to all of your attacks. A group tank that can do damage too makes things die faster, an admirable trait.</P> <P>-Third choice is the raw mitigation aa. (I think it is called Unshakeable?) - I am not in game right now). In my opinion, I strongly feel this is the best aa out of them all, even the last "bonus" choices. Maxed out with 8 aa's this one will give you a permanent boost of about 300 to your raw mitigation value.</P> <P>-Last choice is the stance one of course. You can use defensive OR offensive stances without any penalties. Again, lovely for normal groups. On normal mobs you can go offensive and do some nice damage without sacrificing your defense. On the other hand, on toughie named mobs and such you can use defensive stance without sacrificing your attack, which will let you hit more and hold better aggro. A good skill, personally I took this one too but there are other ways to continue spending your points if this one does not float your boat.</P> <P>I would say the mitigation portion of this line is VITAL for a raid tank in comparison with most the other choices. If you don't take this line at least throw some points into the mitigation and ignore maxing the others.</P> <P>There are of course other good choices, who am I to say what is the very best choice, but I can guarantee you this one would not be the wrong choice.</P> <P>On a final note I will supply my reasons against the buckler line. A decent buckler is attainable for most yes, do I think this makes using this aa any more relevant.. no.</P> <P>Benefits: </P> <P>1) AA-You get a chance to double attack when using buckler.</P> <P>2) AA-You get a counterattack when an avoidance check is made when using a buckler. </P> <P>My argument: Both of these simply mean more damage. There are better ways to increase your dps than having to use a buckler at all times. For example the dps aa in the wisom line, the critical attacks in the str line, or the haste in the int line - which are permanent, you dont need to wield a buckler.</P> <P>3) AA-You can raise your raw defense when using a buckler.</P> <P>My argument: You can permanently raise your defense in the agi line without having a buckler equipped.</P> <P>4) AA-skills use less power and the portion that would be used is added to your hit points.</P> <P>My argument: The portion of power you save is a low percentage in my opinion. Power consumption is not always a problem, especially in groups and especially with a bard or enchanter. So the power aspect is small, and not always relevant. As for the hit point aspect I would confidently say this is sure as heck not going to keep you alive much - it may save you a couple percent of the time but so will our no-death skill. As for being a healing skill? I would definitely not call it that, it is not near enough to be considered healing. If you think this is a benefit on raids I would like to know what is hitting you.</P> <P>In conclusion: Slap on your friggen tower shield and pick some good AA if you want to tank <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />... or don't even use a shield at all.. I don't unless I am tanking a raid.              </P> <P>*After my wisdom choices I went to the strength line to max out my critical hits. I am a raid tank often, but I am also a dps junky and love a good dps role on raids too. These choices allow me to do both better. Just because we are a tank don't forget we can dps. Sure we used to do more but I still can parse #1 on raids sometimes, and I am rarely not in the top 6 or 7, so keep that role in mind if you like too.</P> <P>One last thing - I wouldn't really reccommend the int line. The last ability in it is quite nice but that is really it. As berserkers we dont need haste too much. Having your haste buffed in a group and berserk going off is going to bring you fairly close to cap. Using Open wounds is definitely going to bring you over the 100% haste cap where you will stop receiving attack speed benefits. Since choosing haste aa will not always be relevant because of being allready capped, I would suggest another choice. The way I look at it is this: What choices are going to give the most benefits ALL of the time?</P> <P> </P><p>Message Edited by Amon` on <span class=date_text>04-20-2006</span> <span class=time_text>11:12 AM</span>

[FightGame]

<DIV>Actually, it's not even called "Shield Factor" any more.  It's now called "Protection".  This raises your avoidance.  Same thing for +Defense items.  Same thing as agility.</DIV>

[Rousso]

<P>Slap on a friggen tower shield?</P> <P>My DPS explosion comes from a combination of maxing out the Sta line double attack - +79% chance to double-attack + having the AAs through the last skill in the Wis line - which gives me + nearly 30% DPS, removes the penalty for my offensive stance, and gives me a nice little mitigation bump. With the haste items I wear, bezerk, and the buffs I get from other players I am usually right up against the haste cap anyway so I dont think the haste AA skills would add very much to my DPS. </P> <P>The buckler I use gives me the same avoidance as my griz used to and using sword and buckler I am cranking out more than double the DPS I was doing before with duals or 2 hndr - I can't see any other AA skill combination that would do more.</P> <P> </P>

[Huna]

<DIV>Anyone else found any good bucklers?  I'm about to do the grizzfazzles quest and I need to decide if I want the shield, or something else if I'm not going to be using a tower because of the buckler requirement.  I saw the flapping wing one on the broker, but it was 15pp.  That's by far the best buckler I've seen available on my server, anyone else know of any quests that give a decent buckler?  or any others that drop from raid mobs, or nameds? </DIV>

[Razan89]

IMO the damage dealt with a buckler can far outdo any other DPS buffs from the other AA lines. The high % double attack (forget the actual # off the top of my head) is hard to ignore.  Yes, you can do alot of damage with two dual wields or a two-hander, but I doubt this equals the damage of a double attack from a one hander.  Combine it with the other DPS upgrades from the AAs and you can do some serious damage.  In addition there ARE good bucklers out there, they just have to be found.  The difference between a good buckler and a tower shiled is not going to make or break a group, IMO.  In a raid it might be the better bet to take up the big shield, but for your average group I think the buckler is still a very valuable and unappreciated option.

[IcelusDMent]

I'm definitely planning to take this is my first AA line (I play on Venekor and the double bow shot will be a god send with all the chasing I do(!), not to mention the big time melee damage output). Does anyone know of good bucklers to use on the way towards the end-game, rather than just the epic stuff? I'm talking about 20 on up. I'll try and post any I find, but if other people would do the same it'd be a good resource for those up-and-coming who are using the Stamina line.

[Mordicus]

One of the better threads ive seen in the zerker boards, just wnated to throw my two cents in on the matter, the iron plate shielding seems to be the best option for those who have speced this AA for soloing and such, with regards to the Flapping Wing stuff i wouldnt trust those numbers and id run some parses. The staff has a higher DR than any 2H raid fabled ive seen but it sure doesnt parse like it, the vraksakin beat the snot out of it and autos for about 2k, Flapping staff was no where near that, the numbers are wrong and need to be fixed. Oh and hi Miishu, long time no see. Mordicus 70 Zerkah <a href="http://eq2players.station.sony.com/en/guild.vm?guildId=1217108" target=_blank><b>The Dark Side</b></a> <div></div>

[Pegesus]

You'd be insane to pay anything over a plat for the Flapping Wing shield.  you can farm AoA with 8 people for it and its a common drop.  Its the highest procteciton buckler if have found yet.  Other than that the shield of the frankenstien mob in HoF is very nice as well better stats less protection. <div></div>

[Rousso]

<P>I paid 2 plat for my shield of the flappng wing and it is one of the best purchases I have made. Then again...I AM insane - which is why i chose the zerker in the first place. There is one better/other buckler in the game - I think there is one that you get in HoF from one of the steps in the claymore quest series, but it is lore and no trade so dont even bother looking for it on the broker. As for "verifying" the stats on the shield...I am not sure how I would parse avoidance - but when i swap it out with my grizfazzle shield my avoidance drops by .4% in the persona window. For the massive DPS boost I get I am more than happy to make that tiny sacrifice.</P> <P>Earlier on I took the Grizfazzle shield but the resists on some of the other easily attainable towershields were so nice that I seldom used it. As I recall one of the grizfazzle options was a really nice greatsword with over a 100 damage rating and a nice proc and a nice 1 hndr too.</P> <P> </P>

[metalhed]

<DIV>Azjer'orz Guard is the best buckler that I have found for non- raids, it is dropped in HoF by the named that you have to spawn by clicking on the machine,its kinda rare to get him to drop it atleast with my experience but he did drop it eventually. It is slightly better than the Shield of the Flapping Wing even though the protection is more than the Guard.The Guard will give you more health, but the avoidance for flapping and guard are exactly the same on my persona window. I use flapping for backup and it has very nice disease and mental resist if you are needing them. Guard gives me more health though,so I use it as my main.With parsing as an off-tank I get more dps with my one-hander/buckler combo than 2hander/DW. I have to say I was amazed by that myself.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>My solo ability has improved dramatically from when I used the wisdom line.I am just afraid of a nerf on the buckler line at this time,but if not I got to say I love it. I am also going with the slayer line as well.Currently the only way for me to hold aggro any better is to increase dps.Nice thing is my dps in my main group can let lose more now that I push the dps threshold.Hoping later to aquire a better buckler from a raid though.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>For group tanking I do better than I did with the wisdom line IMO. I think the Gladitor's Revenge helps out on that, notice it gives you all quadrants to be parried and not just frontal only.</DIV>