2.2 Best Shield

[odioillatino]

Hi guys!

I really can't decide if keep using my Holy Shield Animus or start farming Leviathan Ex to get the Tidal Wave Shield.

The Holy Shield gives me parry and it has a block strenght greater than Leviathan's one, but the latter has a really good block rate.

Any advice? What do you prefer?

[Duuude007]

Both have advantages depending on the scenario.

Use block strength against hard-hitting single targets.
Use block rate against piles and piles of adds all hitting you at once.

[Synestr]

I prefer Weathered Noct/Noct till I can get in and grab a High Allagan from T8.

Just my 2g

Syn

[Kitfox]

Use block strength against hard-hitting single targets.
Use block rate against piles and piles of adds all hitting you at once.

I would personally put those the other way around. I would use high block rate on potential hard hitters, because it makes the incoming damage profile less volatile and easier to deal with. High strength shields block for more damage for sure, but I think it's more important whether you actually block or not that one specific attack. Personally I just use Tidal Wave for everything, but then again I don't play tank in coil.

If you're looking at Tidal Wave vs Animus, the block rate is around 36% vs 25% and mitigation -21% vs -28%. (Rate tested in i90 gear on 2000-4000 hit samples.)

[Donjo]

The Holy Shield Animus is the better "all around" shield. It's a jack of all trades that's good in nearly every situation. The Tidal Wave Shield and Noct Shields are both great in specific situations and not always so great otherwise.

Tidal Wave: Great for weathering many attacks at once and taking on bosses with specific attacks you really want to block as often as possible(ie. Twintania's Death Sentence). Block Strength vs. Block Rate is questionable for this shield, as you will block more often than you parry but your blocks will prevent less damage than your parries. This is the shield I'm currently using until I can get me an Animus or High Allagan Shield.

Noct: Great for tanking a single target who doesn't have insanely spiky attacks. Bulwark mitigates the low block rate and makes this shield utterly fantastic for the duration. Uncomfortably spiky when weathering many attacks.

[krazyrs]

yea i like my animus shield and its fairly easy to get, drop 3k myth for 2 books and go upgrade if you already have the 12 atmas

[Remn]

for me, I go with Tidal wave shield, as it block more and allow me to spam more shield swipe .
I swap it for high allagan Kite shield. <---- best shield in 2.2,

[Pizzaparty7]

Hit bulwark with noct and watch that blocked(-39%) spam fly! With bulwark up, noct blocks about 40% of damage about 80% of the time, or approximately a 30% damage reduction over the duration.

[ks3v3n]

i feel way more comfortable since i got the wave shield. less spiky in dmg inc, nevertheless which content i play (bosses or srs farming myth at bray). i tested all 3 shields (weathered noct, atma/animus and wave shield), i've no parses to offer to show you the real numbers, but it def. feels like the dmg inc is more steady than spiky. for me, the noct shield got only one pro: with bulwark up its basicly like another sentinel, which could be nice at hard hitting abilities (like death sentence back then at t5 or maybe at t9 - dunno for sure, since i'm at t8 atm)

[Synestr]

Yea but

Higher block rate= moar block chances = less opportunity to parry....

There are a few threads spread here and there that go into block and parry, etc., etc..

Depends on your build I guess. I parry and block a fair amount, and bulwark is banaynay with Noct, and actually gets used. Bulwark is less effective with some other shields and is used less taking up a slot.

Just my thoughts on it though.

Best way is to get them ALL, and perform your own tests ^^

Syn