Changes

[[Shield]]s are generally considered armor, even though they are equipped in the off-hand weapon slot. (As of March 2010, only [[Barbarian]]s and [[Monk]]s can dual wield Shields will be a useful item in Diablo 3.III, but far less useful (overpowered) Shields are found than they were in Diablo 3II. In D3, and can be used shields work like the "absorb" property on magical items; they absorb some set amount of damage from incoming attacks, with the amount varying by four the type of shield, the five character classesshield's magical properties, and other factors. Monks can not use shieldsThis means that a small shield will only absorb something like 4-6 damage, for reasons expressed by [[Bashiok]] in so if your character takes a pair hit of forum posts in early March 2010. [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/blizzard-on-diablo-3-class-specific-weapons/] [http://diablo.incgamers50 damage, the shield will hardly help you at all.com/blog/comments/blizzard-on-diablo-3-class-specific-weapons/]

::Bruce Lee would not use This is '''very''' different than the Diablo 2 system, where any successful block absorbed 100% of the physical damage of the hit. Most characters in Diablo 2 used shields since the ability to completely block up to 75% (or more with a shieldPaladin) of incoming physical damage was enormously useful. Much more useful than the added damage from using a two-handed weapon. Without shields working so fantastically in Diablo 3, and neither would the monktwo-handed weapons should be a much more viable option.

For whatever reasonAt one point Monks could not use shields, shields are extremely rare for reasons expressed by [[Bashiok]] in a pair of forum posts in screenshotsearly March 2010. [http://diablo.incgamers.com/galleryblog/comments/blizzard-on-diablo-3-class-specific-weapons/] [http://showphotodiablo.incgamers.php?photo=820&title=barbariancom/blog/comments/blizzard-on-battles&cat=560 Only one screenshotdiablo-3-class-specific-weapons/] thus far released shows a Barbarian using a shield, and there are no pieces of concept art that show characters using shields.

It seems that shields will not be a very popular item in Diablo 3, unlike Diablo 2 where they were very commonly equipped for their huge defensive and blocking bonuses. Barbarians seem to prefer dual wielding or two-handed weapons, Monks can ::Bruce Lee would not use shields at all, and [Wizard]]s can use a special item type, the [[orb]] in their off-hand, along with a [[wand]] or [[short staff]]. Orbs provide offensive bonusesshield, and may be more popular for neither would the glass cannon style charactermonk. It's not known if [[Witch Doctor]]s ::We have an off-hand item that they'll prefer to shields; something like the class-specific totems favored by [[Necromancer]]s in Diablo 2. And finally, the [[fifth character]] is unknown as of March 2010, Everyone but is widely assumed to be an archer/ranged attack specialist, who would have little use for shields eithermonk can wield them. Also note that the lack of a [[weapon switch hotkey]] in Diablo 3 makes hybrid builds non-viable, and that characters will thus find little use in collecting two different weapon sets, ::Of course that’s subject to utilize in different situationschange.