Most likely because you're the first one after me in this thread who actually thinks before posting ;)

( Also: you're equipped with lockdown shields in lockdown. Those go into the shield slot. So: no third trinket in lockdown possible either way. Yes, I though this through, wouldn't have believed it myself some months ago but it really turn out to be a good idea in the end. No problems with it. Probably really aimed at more experienced players though. )

Your defense to me saying you didn't think it through is just saying you thought it through?
What defense? You didn't bring up any arguments before ;)
Also still you're not really in a position to "attack" me here, so if you're not really trying to "discuss" but only to "attack", maybe you're in the wrong place.

So now:
No, that would not make shields "unnecessary" in any way. First of all, by the time players discover trinkets (and get their hands on the good ones) they usually are late T2, have a shield and know that they need one. If anything, players would craft more trinkets. Not less shields. At the Moment, everyone gets himself 3-4 shields because at least in shadow lairs you usually want to bring one of those things with you. And 1-2 of each module trinket that fits to his favourite equipment. With the proposed change, it'd still be 3-4 shields. But 1-3 modules trinkets.

Also:
This is entirely optional. No way that it could break anything. How can you complain about it being a "useless option" (= too weak) and at the same time about it "breaking something"? That does not make any sense ;)

I don't think this would be used by experienced players at all. If anything, this would just be an...um...easier...hard mode?
Not just "easier". More options, more fun. Maybe we're still thinking of a different sort of "experienced players". Let's call it "endgame players". We've already been running around without shields often enough anyway just for fun... and it IS fun, because it forces you to play differently, often even faster / more recklessly ("need to kill rocket puppy in the middle of those 5 retrodes NOW, no matter what xD"). But it gets... old. The main reason why I picked up a shield again was, that I missed the dmg Bonus from BTS or the ASI from swift.

But I will say that not being able to shield could be a problem...
Yes, it should be. The worst part about not having a shield is actually not even being unable to bump most of the time... it's being unable to shield-cancel. You have to use your charges and the small "charge step" / "charge pause" you can do between two slashes with your sword a lot more often. And do quick "double-slashes" with 3hitters, then run away "charging" instead of letting it go, so the mob doesn't hit you while your sword slowly slides back into "idle position".

Yes, the "offhand trinkets" would be inferior / harder to play with than shields most of the time... which is the main point why I think this couldn't break anything. Playing without a shield just gives many lvls a whole "flavour" and some small boost for the ones who dare would be neat.

Also: I did not learn to really dodge kats / rockets / howlitzer skulls before I faced those wihout a shield. It just gives you more motivation to try for obvious reasons xD. Call me lazy, but even with swiftstrike I often resorted to blocking those skulls etc because it's "more comfortable" most of the time and you don't loose thaaaat many hp. But it's a whole different story if you can't do that at all.

(edit: After reading the suggestion part of your post again, I think I don't fully understand it. Either there's an essential word or two missing or my english isn't good enough ;))

Been there, done that. Also, I'm more sort of... bored... than passionate. :D
So let's just keep going :3

How come you all fail to come up with reasons why this is a bad idea? ;)

- Would it have any negative consequences for anyone?
- If there are even minor ones - are any of those unavoidable?
- Does it sound like introducing this would waste a lot of precious developing time?

The main argument against the Idea that I see here is: "I can't play without a shield so noone should be able to do that" and that has 2 fundamental flaws:
1) It doesn't make any sense. Look out for a "causal connection" of sorts between the two statements. There is none.
2) Ok, let's pretend the previous point made sense. Look again. Does this statement in any way apply to the suggestion here? Some of us can and do play without shields anyway, so... I think no one so far explicitly complained about "trinkets" in that slot being overpowered... what's the problem with them being "underpowered" then - IF they are?

Metagenic: in conjunction with a 0-1* shield
Sounds like more "dev work" and a smaller impact on "playing style"... so effectively, we'd get less "fun" for more "money". Not entirely sure but I'd say that'd cross the line here... the whole "3rd trinket idea" in my opinion is not worth a lot of "dev time". Also without the inability to shieldbump / shieldcancel for "balancing", I think people might complain that dmg/ctr trinket+shield are boosting bombers/gunslingers too much.

Metagenic: and only in PVE.
As is, the "only in PvE" is already automatically built in. Because there are no free shield slots otherwise and you need one of those to use the suggested feature ;). This could theoretically change with future PvP games, but it's questionable if that issue is worth discussing already. Hmmm... wait... ok, let's discuss it anyway! A future implementation of running speed trinkets would theoretically mean, those would have to be disabled for blast network - but I also guess, they already are, because so is armor that gives this bonus. I think in a future super brawl implementation, offhand-trinkets would be underpowered except for very very few situations and those require enough skill so we can safely say: "well, why not". Any other nonexistant PvP modes or trinkets left to discuss?

Explain to me, why exactly that is "stupid" please ;)

edit: Or to be more precise... If you think it's "cool and I should enjoy", then why shouldn't it be "cooler if I could enjoy it even more" with a slight bonus that hurts noone?

Like p.E.: I could have more fun with vortex + brandish charge, if I'd have place for a second elite sword focus. And the swordies could enjoy the "thrill" of playing without a shield without having to miss out on the medium dmg bonus (that BTS would give them).

Not sure I get what you mean, Demonicsothe, but I guess I'll try to answer to the parts I understand...

3-4 shields? Explain to me the point of crafting shields to not have a slot to use them for.
BTS for pierce dmg (/JK) and later just anywhere for the sword dmg. Most players will want owlite for fsc until they get stronger (ele, fire). And replace it with a crest later (shadow, fire). That makes 3 shields already... then there's swiftstrike, which most experienced players switch to for a while before they go back to using BTS anywhere... or for the ones that don't do that, there's the possibility that they have a "useless first shield" like aegis. Makes 3-4 shields. For most players.

You don't think this would be used by experienced players?
*refers to op*
So something aimed at noob players.
Who are you talking to? I think some experienced players would use that feature. Mostly for fun... and easy lvls. Are you citing someone? Don't get what you're trying to tell me.

Oh. Okay. So the noob players get to easy mode through T1 even faster, suffer rage induced QQ, and demand nerfs on all T2 and T3 monsters to allow them to double faceroll using dual troika, or dual cutters. Great. Idea.
- How come all or a significant amount of your "noob players" have 4* trinkets available directly from the start?
- There are many "bad" equipment choices in this game already. How could this suggestion make anything worse?
- I think it's really creative how you managed to find seemingly... semi-logical... connection between this suggestion and the conclusion, that "players then would demand T2 and T3 mobs to be nerfed" but I fail to see how that would be a bad thing. Players have been demanding "healing pets" and lots of other stuff since the beginning of the game. So what?

So what do you propose for attacking with a cutter and sealed? Allow the sealed to have no stop movement when swinging?
First I'd propose: If you don't manage to do that, don't use a trinket for your offhand, you need a Shield!

And then again - if you really *want* to do that, because you think it's fun or something... figure it out yourself ;)
Just some small hints:
- Disable autoaim.
- You can use cutter attacks to walk. And dodge, if you're precise enough.
- You can time your combos - especially with 2hitters - better, if you hold the attack button pressed for a very short amount of time between every attack and then trigger the next attack by letting go the attack button instead of pressing it again. This also works a little bit like shield cancel and allows you to walk a step or two before executing the rest of a combo - or to begin again (/do a "real" charge) if you wait longer and the combo "breaks".

Spiral-Spy: What I have recently been looking into is sacrificing defenses for a higher damage output, which made me rediscover an old and very dusty swiftstrike buckler. Guess what, that thing is fun to use in firestorm after all.
Yes, we've been carrying that shield for a long time, too. After you get used to it, you really miss it if you have to leave it "at home" because you're entering the twins shadow lair or something. From swiftstrike, most of us went back to BTS though later... the dmg bonus is just more useful if you do a lot of sword charges. If you already have been doing fsc with swift a lot, try it without a shield some time! Believe it or not, but some rooms are actually faster without shields, because nobody can accidentally bump the harmless zombies out of the "zombie slaughtering zone" after you stacked all of them there ^^. That's rather rare though of course... mostly it's not more efficient - just more fun :3