So when the new Missions got published, I was using Ancient Plaste Shield in Dreams and Nightmares. Surprisingly it proved more useful than expected; I also did read in a post that turrets and Souls deal normal damage aswell.
By comparing some shields I got three questions (by knowing that certain graphical bars exceed the visible area):
1.
Which Shield offers more defense vs normal?
-Ancient Plate Shield
-or Grand Tortoise?
Both shields seem to be completely identically to me, even the Status resistance. Only difference seems the slowness of Grand Tortoise in trade of the shield bash upgrade.
2.
I also noticed another Shield of interest vs These Shooting jellies:
-Ironmight Plate Shield
How is this better/worse compared to the previous two named shields in my post?
3.
Or should i go to another shield like Savage tortoise from the beginning because the poision Status is a too big tradeoff that destroys the shield too fast?
1.
Which Shield offers more defense vs normal?
-Ancient Plate Shield
-or Grand Tortoise?
Both shields have exact same defense stats. Each have their own uses though, the Grand Tortoise is slower which means that the slight drop in movement speed may force you to adjust how you currently play you will have to be better at predicting enemy attacks and you can't survive with this shield if you don't know when to tank and when to sidestep
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/OneDimensionalThinking
You do get the ability to aid your team by stunning larger amounts of enemies when needed though but the shield bash damage isn't that much to begin with, the real buff to the shield is the larger stun radius.
The Ancient plate shield is considered the gunner's "other" shield, it provides good defense in nearly any situation just due to it's huge stat bar. The fact that it doesn't hinder your movement means you have a bit more freedom than tortoshields offer.
2.
I also noticed another Shield of interest vs These Shooting jellies:
-Ironmight Plate Shield
The Ironmight is probably the best shield in the game for defending against pierce damage (I said defending since the Barbarous thorn shield is the best pierce resist shield for attacking). It offers the same pierce resist as the Royal jelly shield but since it doesn't have a resistance to an obsolete status it is allowed a larger normal defense bar. Basically it protects you just as well as the Royal jelly shield does when it comes to slimes and beasts but that larger normal bar means you can tank more damage from other monsters that may pop up in a jelly or beast habitat.
3.
Or should I go to another shield like Savage tortoise from the beginning because the poision Status is a too big tradeoff that destroys the shield too fast?
Beasts and slimes aren't considered the toughest monster families in the game, however the Savage Tortoise shield is the ONLY normal/pierce resist shield in the game that resists Poison and Shock. When it comes to Toxigels and Quicksilvers many people agree that these are some of the tougher individuals due to how unpredictable they can be. Toxigels can shoot spikes at random directions while Quicksilvers dash about wildly making this shield very useful. When comparing other tortoshields you can usually find at least one status they share with the shields you craft them up from.
Omegaward and Owlite both resist fire.
Gorgomega and Dread Skelly both resist freeze.
Grand Tortoise and ancient place both resist stun.