Title says it all.
Best Shield for Bombing?
Tue, 10/08/2013 - 02:13
Tue, 10/08/2013 - 03:21
#2
I guess you could say the
I guess you could say the Swiftstrike Buckler is of particular note, since it's the only way I'm aware of to get ASI on your bombs. Does ASI simply speed up all animations other than charging animation? I don't know how much time you can save by doing that for bombs, but bombs very strongly emphasise evasive maneuver over activating the shield.
More realistically, shields generally don't favour or disfavour one class relative to the other two the way armor does. Snarble line is the only exception I'm aware of, which does not in my mind make a rule; it makes that shield a single item with an eccentricity that helps set it apart from "normal."
As a half-baked thought, Drake Scale family might be as much a "bomber" shield as there is, though I don't even know which alchemy path: the main line emphasises protection from ranged attacks since they tend to lack Normal damage, while its Omega Shell fork goes the opposite way like some Plate shields do. I don't even know which of those would be more of a bomber thing, but baking it a little further, maybe it could go either way- emphasised melee defense for Shard bombs, emphasised ranged defense for Blast bombs, for example.
Tue, 10/08/2013 - 04:34
#3
Defence on your shield matters jack all.
Get a grey owlite and a dread skelly shield to get all four statuses covered in two shields.
Tue, 10/08/2013 - 05:35
#4
not the first
You're not the first player to think "I want to be a bomber...but what shield do bombers use?"
Tue, 10/08/2013 - 07:27
#5
@Zeddy
"
Defence on your shield matters jack all.
Get a grey owlite and a dread skelly shield to get all four statuses covered in two shields.
"
I wouldn't go that far. Status may be more important than typed resistance, but to suggest that typed resistance is utterly useless seems quite wrong to me. Turning your shield from 2-shot to 3-shot is a fairly big deal.
Tue, 10/08/2013 - 09:50
#6
There are very, very few
There are very, very few situations where you need to take enough hits for typed damage to matter, and more importantly a bomber lives and dies by their mobility. If you're getting hit enough to need a specifically tailored shield, you probably need to focus on just getting better at dodging. Time spent blocking is time not spent charging bombs, which is sort of integral to you being able to achieve any comparable performance to a swordie/gunner. Not to mention bombs are all about crowd control, if you're not doing something wrong then it's a rare day you'll really need to block.
Although even then, shields are horribly balanced. What other shields would even be worth making if we believed it to be important? Crest of Almire is basically the only one, the Piercing shields all have terrible status resistances which makes them abysmal in the notable Piercing stratums (Like IQP). Maybe Dragon Scale if you're finding C42 difficult, but otherwise eh. Poissibly Heater Shield in the wake of Battle Sprites inflicting an ice age on the clockworks.
tl;dr
-You 'need'-
Grey Owlite
Dread Skelly
-You probably want-
Crest of Almire
-You maybe might use-
Dragon Scale
Heater
Tue, 10/08/2013 - 22:01
#7
Hmm
One time I had just finished Lockdown and accepted an invite to a T3 arena, not realizing I didn't have a shield. (Back then Lockdown stripped you of your shield, even after leaving the Coliseum.) Managed to survive just fine on my all bomb loadout.
/truestory
But, yes, for the longest time I only used Grey Owlite then only got a Dread Skelly because of the annoying fiends and their projectiles. Can't really go wrong there.
Wed, 10/16/2013 - 19:30
#8
In the end, just bring the appropriate shield.
The best shield for a bomber is the shield that has protection against statuses and damage types in that general area. We don't have a "best" like swords or guns might.
Thu, 10/17/2013 - 12:50
#9
Option 1: Swiftstrike Buckler - Attack speed on bombs make you lift them up faster, same effect as attack speed on spam charging swords have.
Option 2: Omega Shell - Badass looks. Perfect all around with more shield health. Longer shield bumps.
I use shields that protect against the monsters in a level (defender for slimes, crest of almire for fiends, owlite for gremlins, etc.)
So I guess the best-all-around shield you should have if you aren't going to bother with specific damage are those with high health (ancient, the purple shield).
How do I used shield?