Some ideas for making shields more fun and interesting to use, as well as making each choice an actual choice. As it stands right now, defensively shields are not used much. We generally dont need to bring the proper damage resistance on a shield becsuse we dont block all the time. Which is why shields like Barbarous Thorn Shield and Swiftstrike Buckler are meta. I think we should give each unique shield a shield bash effect unique to it, making every shield have an interesting purpose
Swiftstrike Buckler
No longer gives ASI High. Shield Bash will grant a temporary movement speed and attack speed bonus.
Thorn
No longer gives Damage Bonus Sword. Shield Bash will mimic a Barbarous Thorn Blade's Charge Attack. Firing a barrage of snarbolax thorns.
Plate
Shield bash inflicts very strong Stun and has a wider hit box than usual as well as doing more damage than the base bash, but takes a longer time to recharge
Cobalt
Basic Shield Bash no special effects.
Omega Shell
Shield Bash will do a tremendous amount of knockback and damage, but doesn't go as far as other bashes.
Dragon Scale
Shield Bash will leave behind a trail of fire that burns enemies.
Scarlet Shield
No longer gives health bonus. Hit enemies are inflicted with a weaker version of Heart Attack
Owlite
Shield bash will grant a temporary charge time bonus after hitting an enemy.
Crest of Almire
Shield bash will grant a temporary damage bonus after hitting an enemy.
Jelly
Shield bash gets larger with each star level but the damage and knockback will remain the same.
Skelly
Hit enemies are paralyzed with fear, unable to attack.
Heater Shield
While bashing you cannot be frozen. If you shield bash while frozen you'll thaw.
Just a few ideas.
Well, yes.
Imagine if shields were more than just bubbles- one would be a front shield, and another an ever present back shield. There could be a reflection shield that parries bullets but can't stay deployed very long and drains quickly. You could even go all in and have the lockdown boosters as shields.
But they didn't do that because they wanted a samey feeling game. It would at this point be a lot of effort to implement something like this. I think it would be worthwhile to fix shields after swords/bombs get an update each though. I would personally have a few basic types and then branch out to funkier ones etc.