Do Ebon and Imperium drop shields?

GreatGildersleeve

I'm trying to put together an Ebon/Imperium set for my tank but am having a heck of a time finding shields to make it work. Does anyone know if they actually exist?
Thx.

Lightspeedflashb14_ESO

Yes ebon shields exist but you don't want that five piece on your buff weapons. The buff goes away when you swap weapons, and therefore makes the buff go away for your whole group.

GreatGildersleeve

Thanks. That's actually why I need the shields. I have the appropriate set weapons which, combined with the opposite set shield, would make bar swapping no problem.
I'll keep plugging away farming them

Lightspeedflashb14_ESO

the weapons and shields only drop from the last boss in the dungeon where it drops, in the case of ebon, that would be crypt of hearts.

i am also not clear on what you wish to do, you want to just have ebon one bar and Imperium on the other? that is not really a good idea. ebon is a group buff, one that you want up all the time.

GreatGildersleeve

The plan is to have 5/5/2 with Ebon and Imperium 'always on' so to speak... with an Ebon weapon and Imperium shied on one bar, and the reverse on the other, bar swapping won't matter and I'll always have both buffs active while still being able to run my BS.

I've got both sets working fine now, I just can't run BS since I need the slots to keep the set bonuses. If I could find the shields I can put BS back in rotation again.

Personofsecrets

Don't use Ebon S&B

yodased

Ebon bugs out on swap when ypu are using them.

You will all seop 1k hp then get 1k hp back in like a second

Lightspeedflashb14_ESO

GreatGildersleeve wrote: »

The plan is to have 5/5/2 with Ebon and Imperium 'always on' so to speak... with an Ebon weapon and Imperium shied on one bar, and the reverse on the other, bar swapping won't matter and I'll always have both buffs active while still being able to run my BS.

I've got both sets working fine now, I just can't run BS since I need the slots to keep the set bonuses. If I could find the shields I can put BS back in rotation again.

That is not how it works though, any time you swap weapons, the buffs and set bonuses that were on the weapons or shield go away for a second and then come back once you finish swapping.

Like this- say that you have 30k health with ebon, you go to switch from one bar that has and ebon shields to one that has an ebon weapon, your health will do this 30k-29k-30k. Now if you are in a group, it will do the same to anyone that you are buffing, like this 18K-17k-18k. Now this might not sound like a huge deal but a healer would be really bothered by this.

GreatGildersleeve

Ok, that leads to another question then...
I have never liked Ebon and don't really want to run it but if that bar swap glitch is such a big deal, am I limited to one bar or do I ditch Ebon? I've seen nothing on the forums but 'Ebon is meta for end game tanks.' (And no, i don't assume I'm end game worthy yet but I'm working on it )

idk

GreatGildersleeve wrote: »

Thanks. That's actually why I need the shields. I have the appropriate set weapons which, combined with the opposite set shield, would make bar swapping no problem.
I'll keep plugging away farming them

Sorry but no. The person you are replying to is attempting to explain that if ebon pieces are used for main hand or shield the ebon buff is lost during weapon swap and therefor the entire group loses that extra health as a result


During weapon swap we lose health tied to passives on the weapon bars, enchants on shield and set bonus that set bonus.

In other words, with just an ebon shield on both bars & 4 more pieces elsewhere, during weapon swap the ebon set briefly only gives up to the 4 PC bonus. The shields do not count for a moment. Additionally, I've heard this bonus doesn't always come back however I have no proof of this.

Autolycus

GreatGildersleeve wrote: »

Ok, that leads to another question then...
I have never liked Ebon and don't really want to run it but if that bar swap glitch is such a big deal, am I limited to one bar or do I ditch Ebon? I've seen nothing on the forums but 'Ebon is meta for end game tanks.' (And no, i don't assume I'm end game worthy yet but I'm working on it )

Ebon is generally accepted as one of the best options for endgame tanking, specifically by an off-tank. Main tanks can use it too, but it depends on your group makeup and the content you intend to do.

My opinion is to ditch Imperium. Imperium is very far from best in slot. The damage shield faces target caps, meaning up to 6 people can get the shield. That shield will usually be consumed in a matter of a couple seconds. However, assuming the shield is not consumed, it cannot stack with itself, meaning that the next time you proc it, the shield replaces itself instead of being doubly strong (an exception would be if the same individual receives the shield on both procs, it will still replace it, but the same person could get it). Furthermore, because of the target caps, if someone who has the shield from the first proc still has the shield during the second proc, it will take their shield away to give it one of the new 6 people. It has the potential to be fun in a build designed for flavor and can prove its worth under certain circumstances, but it is not reliable enough (or potent enough) to be more beneficial to your group than other endgame sets.

I recommend that you use a crafted set like Tava's Favor for 3 armor pieces and sword+shield. This allows you to wear a 2pc Monster Set if you wish, and still have 5 pieces open for whatever you choose. Those five pieces can easily be Alkosh, Ebon, Dragon, WW Hide, etc. I also suggest that your shields are not infused (I recommend either Reinforced or Sturdy) to further mitigate against the issue of temporarily losing your shield's enchant when you bar-swap. The smaller the benefit of the enchant, the less impact bar-swapping has. If both shields are of the same level, quality, and trait, then you do not lose the extra armor or block cost reduction, only the enchant on the shield (usually this is stamina or health).

Furthermore, while you do regain the benefit of the shield's enchant, it only affects your max resources, not your current resources. The higher max stats passively increases the efficacy of some skills, but it doesn't give you any more resources to cast them without first doing something to recover said resource. For this reason, bar-swapping and temporarily losing a stamina glyph, for example, can be detrimental to the tank's survivability if he/she is already at low stamina. This "bug" encourages us as tanks to either never bar-swap, or to not use our shields as a main source for buffing max stats.

GreatGildersleeve

Well, SPC is considered BiS and that only hits 6... (just playing devils advocate a bit.)

Lol. So meta tank 101.

Well, given I'm an Argonian hybrid sorc tank, anyone other than the gang I'm running with is going to kick me to the curb anyway...

I can juggle the set pieces a little bit so that it's the Imperium set I lose instead of the Ebon during a bar swap which I think is the simplest solution. I'll just farm up an extra Imperium shield and maybe a WW set to experiment with a bit in the meantime.