The 1h/shield line needs some improvement

Lynx7386

No real changes have been made to 1h/shield since launch (short of adding some mediocre splash damage to deep slash and nerfing deadly bash).

Comparing it to any other melee weapon type, 1h/shield is severely lacking. The highest damage ability for 1h/shield (deep slash) costs twice as much stamina and does half as much damage as wrecking blow or flurry/hidden blade. Power bash costs twice as much stamina as deep slash and does half the damage again, making it one of the least efficient and worst dps attacks in the game.

Before anyone brings it up, I'm fully aware that 1h/shield is not designed for heavy damage output, however there is no reason it should be so much less efficient and lag so far behind the other melee weapons in damage potential. I'm not saying you should have wrecking blow-level damage for it, but it's not even a viable option for soloing right now unless you're making heavy use of abilities outside the weapon tree to make it work. Really, the only reason for taking the 1h/shield line right now is for the passives and puncture to taunt (and even then, so many tanks are using inner fire/inner beast to taunt now because it's got range).


I'd like to see 1h/shield improved at least to be a viable option for weapon-heavy builds like 2h and dual wield currently are. You can kill just as surely with a longsword as you can with a dagger or maul, and history has proven that a shield is just as effective a weapon as the sword you've got in the other hand.

Some suggestions:

Low Slash (Deep Slash / Heroic Slash) Should be the primary damage component for a 1h/shield combatant. Puncture has plenty of utility added to it via additional defense and the taunt, but low slash and its morphs only provide a minor maim debuff and snare (neither of which have a huge effect in pvp or when soloing) and is horribly inefficient as a standard attack.
Reduce the stamina cost of Low Slash and its morphs by 20%, and increase the damage it deals by 20%



Defensive Posture (Defensive Stance / Absorb Magic) Currently only provides benefit against spell projectiles. However, it makes just as much sense to hunker down behind your shield when taking arrows or flying daggers to the face as it does when taking a fireball. There's no reason defensive posture shouldnt apply it's benefit against all projectiles in much the same manner as reflective scales (minus the reflect). This should be a shield user's go to ability for fighting any ranged opponent, not just casters. Additionally, limiting it to a single absorbed/reflected projectile makes the ability useless in anything but one on one combat.
Change Defensive posture and it's morphs to the following:

Defensive Posture
Raise your shield and absorb the next 4 projectiles directed at you for 10 seconds. While slotted, the amount of damage you can block is increased by 5-8% and the cost of blocking is reduced by 5-8%.

Morph: Defensive Stance
New Effect: Now lasts 15 seconds and absorbs up to 8 projectiles directed at you.

Morph: Absorb Magic
New Effect: Each source of fire, frost, shock, or magic damage absorbed restores 5% of your maximum health.



Power Bash (Reverberating Bash / Power Slam) is, as it currently stands, a worthless ability. It does absolutely pathetic damage for an insane stamina cost (you literally get more damage out of a standard block + attack bash and for less cost), and has no redeeming qualities other than the healing debuff applied by reverberating bash. This should be a highlight of the tree, a key ability for someone fighting with a shield, and instead we get... this puddle of mediocrity.
Increase Power Bash's damage and that of its morphs by 100% - double the current amount (putting it on par with low slash/puncture). Reduce the cost to be equivalent to puncture, making it an inexpensive but moderately powerful damaging attack. Remove the stunning effect on Power bash and replace it with a knockback/knockdown effect similar to that of wrecking blow. Lastly, Change the Power Slam Morph to add Major Brutality, giving 1h/shield users a damage-boosting option similar to momentum or the new changes being given to hidden blade.

Additionally, The Deadly Bash passive should boost the damage of power bash / reverberating bash / power slam.



With these few changes, 1h/shield would go from a weapon set that only tanks ever see a use for to a weapon set that can be used effectively in a damage role (though not nearly as powerful as 2h/dw), and it would make soloing as a tank that much easier by letting you use your tanking weapon setup without becoming a complete and total gimp for damage.

Sentinel

I'd kind of like to see morphs that make you choose between an offensive or defensive build using 1h/s. I wouldn't want it buffed too heavily (using your suggestions, unless they're simply concepts), but to give it more build opportunity.

Lynx7386

Exactly my point. As a melee fighter, you really only have two options: 2handed or Dual Wield. I'm sure there are a great many players who would like to utilize 1h/shield in a more offensive manner, but right now it's just not viable. I'm at vet rank 5, and if I wanted to throw on a 1h/shield to start leveling up the skill line (currently at 38 with it from using it at a lower level), I'd be gimped as all hell when trying to solo. It just isnt effective enough.

Similarly, I wish they'd take a bit of the defensive focus off of the shield line and open up the option to tank effectively with other weapon types. Right now, the shield's blocking bonuses are so necessary for endgame tanking that you cannot use any other weapon.

Forestd16b14_ESO

Would be nice to see some other SnS skills used in pvp besides that bloody troll humping horker dung shield charge.............

Lynx7386

Bump

p_tsakirisb16_ESO

I agree with the OP and the rest.

The STA usage of some H&S abilities are ridiculous high compared to the DW, Bow and 2H ones.
Indeed they need to be reduced, ESPECIALLY now when while blocking doesn't regen stamina.


Damage.
If the above is resolved, and ZOS significantly reduces the blocking mitigation of the 2H then, there is no need to buff the H&S damage. But the STA costs are ridiculous for the abilities.

And completely agree about the proposed Defensive Posture.

However to properly make H&S line viable, they need to sort out this stupidity with the animation cancellation.

That alone going to balance the whole game and make it better

BuggeX

S/B Line is just fine as it is, It is for Deff and some good Debuffs for enemys in pve and pvp.

Lynx7386

BuggeX wrote: »

S/B Line is just fine as it is, It is for Deff and some good Debuffs for enemys in pve and pvp.

It is for defense, I'll grant you that, and the passives for the line are excellent. The problem with 1h/shield is in the active abilities not being balanced at the same time that other skill lines were rebalanced.

1h/shield abilities cost an atrocious amount of stamina compared to their damage output. Most dual wield and two handed single-target damage abilities have a cost to damage ratio of about 1-4 or 1-5. For example, uppercut/wrecking blow costs roughly 1000-1200 stamina (for my character anyways) and deals roughly 5500 damage. Ransack ends up being more around a 1-2 ratio, while deep slash is closer to a 1-1.5.

That means for every 1 point of stamina you spend, dual wield will do about 3-4 damage, two handed will deal about 4-5 damage, and 1h/shield will do 1-2 damage.

Now ask yourself, do the few passives and negligible side effects of 1h/shield's active abilities justify 50% less damage for 50% higher cost? Especially now that you'll lose all stamina regeneration while blocking?

Just what defensive or side perks do 1h/shield abilities provide? Let's take a look:
Puncture/Ransack/Pierce Armor: Applies major fracture / minor resolve / major breach
Low Slash / Heroic Slash / Deep Slash: Minor Maim / Minor Heroism
Shielded Assault: Damage Shield
Reverberating Bash: Major Defile

Every one of those can be gained in another weapon line, class tree, or world/pvp/guild tree, and in most cases those other abilities will either do more damage or have some other more beneficial effect. I did not include defensive posture because it's one of the few somewhat decent abilities in the tree, even though it clearly needs improvement to be on the same level as eclipse or reflective scales.



Point is, the 1h/shield tree is out of date. Nothing (good) has been done for the skill line since launch, while every other weapon line has been buffed or had abilities modified to make them more useful. A 1h/shield buff is long overdue at this point, even if it's just rebalancing the cost to damage ratios on the abilities.