Types of shields

[Terrini]

As far as I know, the names/designation is about the appearance. Round shields are smaller and round (easy!), Kite Shields are the ones the are shaped like a kite, with a rounded top and then taper to a point at the bottom, and Tower shields are a big blocky rectangular shape. I am not sure about the historical use of Kite shields, but Tower shields are historically used for Phalanx maneuvers where you have a line of people like a living wall, these shields are meant to fit in close to other shields and cover as much as possible.

I'm not a big history or armor buff, but I have friends that are... They can go on for hours sometimes complaining about fantasy armor.

[snowbu]

As far as I know, the names/designation is about the appearance. Round shields are smaller and round (easy!), Kite Shields are the ones the are shaped like a kite, with a rounded top and then taper to a point at the bottom, and Tower shields are a big blocky rectangular shape. I am not sure about the historical use of Kite shields, but Tower shields are historically used for Phalanx maneuvers where you have a line of people like a living wall, these shields are meant to fit in close to other shields and cover as much as possible.

I'm not a big history or armor buff, but I have friends that are... They can go on for hours sometimes complaining about fantasy armor.

This is an awesome piece of information and a nice introduction about shields' appearances, thank you for your contribution =)

[BlaiseArath]

This is an awesome piece of information and a nice introduction about shields' appearances, thank you for your contribution =)

It should also be noted in real life, Tower shields were often the size of your body, or at least cloth to its length/Significantly longer than other types. in XIV, all shields are roughly the same size. but as far as stats go, in XIV its like this

Round Shield: High Block Rate, Low damage reduction
Kite Shield: Medium Block Rate, Medium Damage Reduction
Tower Shield: Low Bock Rate, high damage reduction.

I think the thread linked earlier goes into the math but to me, shield values are just big empty numbers and I equip the one with the highest Item level \o/. However, there are differences worth noting, so give that other thread a ready (its only like 3 posts)... its interesting to me to see how "Block Rate" works. (Personally, I hate when MMOs use arbitrary numbers for something that could easily be a % value. why have "Block Rate: 413" when you can just say "Block Rate: 38%"... but maybe I'm just a cranky old man .___________.)