BiS Shield

[Synestr]

Hello all!

As the title states, this is about our BiS shield. A lot of talk in a lot of different threads are going around about what is best and what is crap etc., etc..

From what I have found in scouring forums and what not the order is:

HA Kite
Noct Hoplon
Holy Shield Novus

This is what is out there. So why all the beef about Noct Hoplon being so terribad? HA Kite hands down is the best, iLVL wise, stat wise, even though you loose a smidge of acc for det. Also from what I have read for HS Novus, the current stat allocation idea is a split of 13 / 9, Parry/Acc. Which is understandable, attempting to get the HS Novus to mimic the HA Kite as much as possible.

My question is why is the Noct the red headed step child of the group? Take the HA Kite out of the equation, that is the end point, the goal shield to get. Again, we are pretty much all in agreement that it is the BiS.

So why prefer the HS Novus to Noct. Is it for that 76 extra block rate? Does that make that much of a difference? Some threads that argue the superiority of the Novus speak of parry not having that much of an effect. If this IS the case why meld it to the Novus?

I myself like parry, I see myself parry quite a bit. My Noct gives me "more" opportunity to parry, or so it seems.

Now understand I am not here stating as "the word" that NOCT IS TEH BESTS. I am here to discuss why so many don't consider it the second best to HA Kite, until you get it. Why do so many bash it and profess that Novus is the better shield to have? Making the BiS shield order this:

HA Kite
HS Novus
Noct Hoplon

Just for visual reasons, a comparison.



Thanks for your time and I look forward to a good discussion.

Syn

[Remn]

Personally, I don't like noct shield because it is a tower shield and it got low block chance which make it unreliable to me and it also kindda force you into stacking Parry which I also don't like ^^". also I happen to get lucky and got HA shield drop on first T8 kill. (2 month ago) ^^
I going with CRIT/DET personal BIS for PLD. With HA Shield I got more vit and str plus decent block rate and % reduction.

there not really much to compare HA and Novas as it the same shield type.

[krazyrs]

I put parry13/acc9 on my novus, still trying for a ha shield for dps build

[Warrlordd]

Higher chance to block = better. Your healers will notice that you reduce nukes more often via blocking. Also, Bulwark is only GUARANTEED to do anything at all if u have enough of a block rate. With the Noct Hoplon, you are playing the odds. Not a smart choice for a tank, I think.

[LevyLilium]

Actually, i've both HA kite and Noct Hoplon, and I prefer Noct Hoplon for most fight.

Why?

Parry and Block are random, and won't be usefull until you can force it. You can't force parry, but you can force block with bulwark.

Block strength have a far higher impact on damage reduction than block rate have on blocking chance. And you can raise your blocking chance to secure some block for bulwark.

With my Noct, i have a damage reduction of 42%, which turn Bulwark better than Sentinel when taking physical damage.

To me, the lost of the few pourcentage of blocking rate is really nothing considered to the damage reduction Noct give. It's just the best shield in the game, far better than HA shield.

Trading 11% block reduction, for losing 4% block rate, 1 VIT, 1 STR and few stats is worth it. Expecielly with bulwark.

[Synestr]

This is an interesting perspective. My understanding has always been that Kites are the middle ground when it comes to shields, they are level in both rate and strength of block. Buckler / round shields have high block rate but low block strength, Towers have low block rate but high block strength, kites are as I mentioned, the middle ground, a block rate and strength somewhere in the middle of the two.

I had wondered if the 76 extra block rate you get from kite(in this case HA) is that much more important than the 108 block strength you give up. If the percentages above are close to correct it looks to be interesting. I would prefer to block 11% more 4% less of the time, I mean, I am still blocking for more right?

Also, I could be wrong on this, but doesn't Bulwark have more of an impact on shields with less block rate? How is the 60% applied, is it the *1.6? Or is it a flat 60%? What I like about Bulwark when I use it is the 42ish% blocked I see when it's active. Is there clear evidence on how it actually works? What of clear numbers on block rate %'s?

Syn

[LevyLilium]

Also, I could be wrong on this, but doesn't Bulwark have more of an impact on shields with less block rate? How is the 60% applied, is it the *1.6? Or is it a flat 60%? What I like about Bulwark when I use it is the 42ish% blocked I see when it's active. Is there clear evidence on how it actually works? What of clear numbers on block rate %'s?

Bulwark ADD 60% to the actual block rate. If you have 20%, you'll have 80%. That's the reason why Noct Shield is OP. But as Empressia say, i use it with the skin of HA shield, fit better with the blade :P

[Symbiant]

Everyone has what they believe is best. Choose the one you feel is better. I personally rather have the more consistent blocking but, that's just me. Other things need to be considered such as the other stats. Str / det give a dps increase. Dps increase means the mob dies slightly faster and the increased enmity. Vit gives more hp and str also increases the amount of damage blocked if said str pushes you past the threshold. IMO the HA is the way to go followed by the HSN.

[Empressia]

Aw come on not some ridiculios question can't u see the EPEEN of the said shield beholder? Remember tat shield always become the most first to be seen by the masses before ur tank body gear!

Noct Hoplon : free handout gear and before that its only showed u only cleared t6 (esp if u dun have any t789 tank gears) aka scrubs

HA Shield : considering its t8, and its pretty difficult for the masses to clear it, it makes u a bit standoff and it looks cool to match ur HA Blade! Trust me, my static PLD MT with HA blade but with no HA Shield is very sensitive to this situation lol

HS Novus : means ur FILTHY RICH more RICH POWAH on legacy servers!