Quote Originally Posted by Booden View Post
I've done all the new dungeons from both pld and sam pov, can't say where as a melee dps I'd actually like the tank to stun monsters instead of dpsing. Most of the time you can run around the monsters and continue aoeing without getting hit by any orange aoe, and if you do you can just pop Bloodbath and heal yourself to full in like two/three gcds, or second wind if you really need it.

Not sure why Shield Bash is still in the game, it's pretty useless now considering Low Blow is a 5s stun and is ogcd. Melees also have Leg Sweep if they really need to interrupt a trash mob, and it's yet another ogcd stun, so even in the unlikely case that you'd need 3 interrupts, the tank can use interject and low blow, while a melee dps can use leg sweep, and since everything is ogcd you can keep your aoe rotation going and kill the mobs fast.

Honestly I'd rather you be casting clemency than wasting a gcd on shield bash, it's that bad.
Still leveling my PLD, just entered SB, but as I've leveled I've seen a few times where Shield Bash was useful. Most recent example was Baelsar's Wall, those three drill armed mechs on the moving platform midway through the dungeon. If you don't stun them, good chance all 3 of them will use their party-wide unavoidable needle rain attack. I was with a SCH, so no Holy chain to do the job. By chaining Shield Bash -> Low Blow -> Shield Bash, I was able to stun all 3 of them in 2 GCDs before they could get their cast off.

Would it have wiped us if they did? No, most likely not. But it is a fair burst of party-wide damage that typically forces the healer to drop a couple of AoE heals. By using two GCDs, I allowed the healer to continue DPSing not only because the party didn't take that AoE damage, but also because I myself was no longer taking any damage for ~5 seconds. A huge difference? No, not at all, almost meaningless, in fact, but that's just off the top of my head. Imagine if you did that to prevent something that *could* have wiped the party?

So, no, it's not very useful. It's alright in the low levels where tools are limited, particularly when you're just starting to level a tank and things are still hitting you like a truck so those 5 seconds of stun time are a godsend, but beyond that it's very limited in use. But there *is* still a use for it, albeit extremely situational.