Shield skill

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Originally Posted by Alhanelem

So far, it doesn't look that way. On THM Sacrifice is gone, all the astral/umbral magic is gone, and no new survivability tools seem to have taken their place. So that makes two different classes to level up just to be able to move from one fight to the next without a lot of downtime.

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Necrogenesis, Parsimony, and Sanguine Rite just conference called, they would like to have a chat with you.

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Originally Posted by Masamune1004

Except it didn't take any effort, it was just tacked on.

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Huh? Not true!
I had to use single hand wands instead of staffs which would have been way more effective:eek:

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Originally Posted by buritoslicer

If you want your shield again you gotta lvl GLA. Makes perfect sense.

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Makes perfect sense, right, because according to SE, mages are not just too dumb to cast while moving, they are obviously even too dumb to equip a shield-
No wait, they can STILL equip a shield, they just don't gain any experience from using it..
That's making as much sense as saying someone doesn't gain any experience from shooting with a bow just because he's dressed like a Knight:rolleyes:
Oh WAIT, SE does that, too..

Me lvling GLA? Not gonna happen.

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Originally Posted by Atoli

Huh? Not true!
I had to use single hand wands instead of staffs which would have been way more effective :eek:

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So you never used the shield skills? Then what was the point of leveling shield? It doesn't give you anything else...

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Originally Posted by Masamune1004

So you never used the shield skills? Then what was the point of leveling shield? It doesn't give you anything else...

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I used the shield skills, but I used them in dungeons and such, not while lvling.
For normal lvling, a staff would have been more useful.
But I had to use a wand during normal lvling too, so my shield lvl would rise for new shield skills to use in dungeons and the like.

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Originally Posted by Atoli

I used the shield skills, but I used them in dungeons and such, not while lvling.
For normal lvling, a staff would have been more useful.
But I had to use a wand during normal lvling too, so my shield lvl would rise for new shield skills to use in dungeons and the like.

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I'll give you that. It just doesn't seem like it's a big deal, especially since you can hit 50 on a battle class in a few days.

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Originally Posted by Masamune1004

I'll give you that. It just doesn't seem like it's a big deal, especially since you can hit 50 on a battle class in a few days.

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But GLA is no battle class I want to lvl :(
Devs were just lazy with balancing, it's not like the shield class broke the game or anything, it was just easier to balance if shield was only for GLA..

The way I see it, at launch, the Gladiator should have never gotten shield skills to begin with. Rampart I & II, Ambidexterity (or at least what it became), and Self-Preservation. Those *should* have been Sentinel skills. And then Gladiator could have gotten some other nifty abilities in between instead.

(Since they had a shield out, they would have earned all those abilities anyway after the first November patch, heheh).

Granted, as a mage, once passive mode casting was initiated, MP recovery, AND emergency switch-to-level-50-job-to-avoid-wipe options were available, active mode didn't seem so great anymore. Before 1.18, I don't think I used as many shield skills as a caster. 1.18, had some difficulty solo'ing leve and Aegis Boon gave some breathing room in those darn Humblehearth leves. 1.19, don't think I've touched a shield skill on my mage.

Ironically, the only reason why I kept the shield in 1.19, was to build up Sentinel to eventually use it on my Gladiator. Until they adjust the passive mode for mages or until Spirit/Phantom Dart become worthwhile moves again, I don't foresee myself using active mode as a mage outside of screen shots.

continued tangent:
I think a lot of people tho are having to get used to things they used to have.
Gladiators using Cover to protect people will be dry until jobs come out.
Lancers with their Speed Surge's melee haste.
Marauders with their Storm's Path for affordable serious AoE damage.

Although I do admit, Thaumaturge seems to have gotten the largest overhaul of all the classes.