*Casually talking to someone to the side.*
*Turns to you.*
Oh hello there. Didn't see you there.
*Walks into a side room, where various noises can be heard.*
*Walks back out with a chair, sets it down, and sits on it backwards.*
Now I'm here to-
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Okay, that joke's unfunny now. Down to serious business, I have some suggestions for shields in the game. These aren't about adding new shields specifically, I'm just giving some ideas for certain things to be added to the shield genre in general. You'll understand in a second.
First of all, I'd like to draw your attention to something. You've all heard of the 3 basic arsenal types, correct? Gunner, Bomber, and Swordsman? This is common knowledge. Have you ever heard of a Shield-bearer though? I'm not just referring to the Lockdown Guardian class, I'm referring to those in Clockwork expeditions that throw away their damage dealing role for a more team-supporting role. You may laugh, stating that this is blasphemy. Well, it's not. Some people actually equip themselves purely in gear to negate the heavy damage their team takes by using the more high-tier shields to safeguard them, and/or use their boosted health reserves to revive their team-mates more often. These people are few, but not non-existent. And believe me, they can be lifesavers. From the few times I've played with them, they seriously reduce the strain large crowds put on me. And I figured "Hey, maybe if we gave more of a reason to play like this, there would be more."
So here's my suggestions for the proposed "Shield-bearer Buff.":
1. Give shields specific UV variants that boost their overall effectiveness. One major suggestion is Shield Recharge Acceleration, or SRA. This would basically cause damaged shields to begin recharging earlier and/or faster. Another could be Shield Movespeed Increase (SMI), which basically enables the user to move faster than usual with his/her shield up. Another suggestion I have is Shield Radius Increase, or SRI. This would cause the user's shields to extend in radius. You may ask "What use is this? You only take shield damage if enemy attacks hit your character's hitbox, not your shields". Yes, this is true, but this brings me to my next suggestion.
2. Give users the ability to cover team-mates with their shields. Yes, it's a rip-off the Guardian's shield ability, and probably suggested before. Still going to suggest it. Where was I? Oh yes, the shield-er could basically take the shield damage for the shield-ee (so to say). This team-covering ability would only become active if the user has at least 1 Shield Radius Increase (SRI) in effect. Otherwise, you couldn't cover team-mates. Also, give shields the ability to give specific buffs to those in the radius. This brings me into my next suggestion.
3. Edit current in-game gear to assist Shield-bearing/Add more that assists Shield-bearing. Certain Heavy Armor (Volcanic for example) would give certain traits. Ironmight could give SRA, Ancient could give SRI, and Volcanic could give a mixture of the 2. Certain shields could also give buffs to team-mates in the radius, which would be handy for high SRI Shield-bearers. For example, being in the radius of a Bristling Buckler shield could give you a small damage boost for swords. Being in the radius of a shield-bearer who's shield is an effective counter to the status ailment currently being endured could effectively either cure it straight away, or make it expire twice as fast (You're stunned, a Plate Shield user shields you, the stun timer depletes faster). Finally, those Heavy (Volcanic, Ironmight) could give buffs to those in the radius such an ASI increase, speed increase, or even a generic damage increase.
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And that's about it. Let me know what you think about this, I'd love some input. If you don't like it, tell me why. If you do, try to get this post noticed please.
And yes, I know I overuse/misuse commas. Don't have to tell me.
~Nitresco
One does not simply narrate actions with asterisks and expect it to be funny. Two do not want to share narration because they would confuse each other. Three are crowding the narration area and will be evacuated before the flying walruses find them and headbutt their internal organs out of their nostrils in diagonal alphabetical order.
Shields are currently used for three things in the Clockworks: deflecting damage from an attack to the extent of its ability, shield bumping, and giving passive bonuses such as Swifstrike and Barbarous Thorn. In Lockdown there are classes to derp around with, but that is Lockdown. Having shield regeneration added to through UVs or equipment bonuses has been discussed already, though I am unsure whether it was defeated or neutral. I remember seeing a proposed time scaling table for a UV exclusively for shield which accelerates shield regeneration, but it was about two second skip at maximum bonus from a completely broken shield to fully healing. You would get your shield back to full health two seconds faster. If you want to see my take on shield utility improvement see here. Volcanic and Ironmight lines for Plate do need a sort of buff, seeing as their only real benefit is having less balanced normal and specialized defenses where normal outbalances normal; apparently this is compensated by crippling attack speed. As the alleged tank armor it should have something more tank relevant, not rely on normal defense to satisfy that role. All that normal defense does is allow the user to tank melee hits better. Is there a point in the game where we are supposed to take damage to proceed as part of the game? No. Why are Plate lines pointing toward that? No. Why do they not yet give any team benefiting effect? No. We demand justice. Justice and dessert. Preferably something to share. Yes, with everyone. Everyone or no one gets dessert.