Latest revision as of 03:02, 8 August 2014

Shields return as an item type in Diablo III. As in previous games in the series, shields provide blocking, which absorbs some set amount of damage with every successful block. Shields roll with powerful defensive properties, including huge boosts to Armor, Vitality, Life%, Life Regen, and more. They can also roll with good offensive bonuses, such as to Critical hit Chance and mainstat, but will never provide the DPS boost that the other, non-defensive off-hand items deliver.

The trade off with a shield is much less offensive might than is provided by a two-handed weapon, or more commonly (for Monks and Barbarians) by dual wielding. Other classes have special Off Hand items that add huge offensive bonuses, but unlike shields, do very little for defense: sources (Wizards), mojos (Witch Doctors), or quivers (Demon Hunters).

Legendary Shields[edit | edit source]

Legendary Shields in Diablo 3 and Reaper of Souls. All regular shields can be used by any class, though in Reaper of Souls they are used mostly by Crusaders, who also have special Crusader shields as well. See the individual articles for full stats and details on these hand-warmers.

Items of level 61 and higher can only be found or crafted in Reaper of Souls.

Legendary Shields:

12) Coven's Criterion Act 2 5 Horadric Cache only
12) Denial
23) Wall of Bone - Crafted
31) Defender of Westmarch
31) Eberli Charo
31) Freeze of Deflection
31) Vo'Toyias Spiker
50) Lidless Wall
60) Ivory Tower
60) Stormshield
70) Hallowed Defender - Crafted Set
70) Wall of Man - Crafted
70) Hallowed Barricade - Crafted Set

Legendary Crusader Shields - Crusader restricted

12) Salvation Act 5 Horadric Cache only
31) Akarat's Awakening
31) Hallowed Bulwark
31) Hellskull
31) Jekangbord
31) Sublime Conviction
31) The Final Witness
?) Amazonian Parma - (Season One Legendary)
70) Piro Marella - Crafted

Shield Changes in Diablo 3[edit | edit source]

Shields.

Shields are much changed in function in Diablo 3. They are less effective defensive tools than they were in Diablo 2, since they block a much lower percentage of attacks, and only absorb a set amount of damage, rather than 100% of physical damage with a successful block. These changes are meant to provide a more compelling reason to upgrade your shield, and to make two-handed weapons and dual wielding more viable.

In retrospect, most fans agree with the D3 Devs that blocking was grossly overpowered in Diablo II. In that game, the ability to use any shield to completely negate up to 75% (the maximum blocking rate) of incoming physical damage was unbalanced, and made dual-wielding or using a two-handed weapon a far less viable tactic than going with a one handed weapon and a shield. Diablo III's shields are meant more as a form of damage mitigation, decreasing a percentage of the incoming damage, rather than an all or nothing source of damage spikes, as shields were in Diablo 2.

Monks and Shields[edit | edit source]

Monk with shield.

At one point during their development, Monks could not use shield. (Or many other types of weapons.) Bashiok offered an explanation of this in a pair of forum posts in early March 2010 ^[1]

Bruce Lee would not use a shield, and neither would the monk. We have shields. Everyone but the monk can wield them. Of course that’s subject to change.

It did. A Monk was first seen using a shield in August 2010, during the Artisan Video and the Monk remains able to use shields as of the Diablo 3 Beta.

Shield Skills and Class Skills[edit | edit source]

Two views of a low-level Barbarian with a hand axe and buckler.

During development the Barbarian had a variety of shield-based skills and passives. These were gradually removed during development and in D3v no class had special shield-related skills. This changed in Reaper of Souls when the Crusader was added to teh game with a variety of special shield talents.

The following are shield skills the Barbarian had during development, preserved for posterity:

Shield of Iron

Max points: 3
Description: Increases your chance to block attacks.

Shield Slam

Max points: 1
Description: You have a chance to hit your target with your shield and interrupt them.

Even earlier in development, before traits were introduced, the Barbarian had a Battlemaster skill called Shield Specialization that granted considerable blocking bonuses. Here are the stats for this skill, which was removed from the game in 2009.

Shield Specialization
- Passive Skill
- Max Rank: 15
- Description: Increases the Barbarian's chance to block with a shield and the amount of damage he can block.
- Rank 1: +8% chance to block, +6 damage blocked.
- Fury cost: None

Media[edit | edit source]

A cool skull shield in the Blacksmith's display.
Barbarian with shield.

References[edit | edit source]

↑ Class-Specific Weapons - Blizzard, 11/3/10

[1] Class-Specific Weapons - Blizzard, 11/3/10

[1]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-Shields are an item type found in Diablo III.  Specific types of shields are not yet known, but they will be familiar to gamers from other RPGs; the D3 Team isn't reinventing this item type.
+[[File:Amazonian-parma-equipped.jpg|thumb|250px|Crusader with an [[Amazonian Parma]].]]
+Shields return as an item type in Diablo III. As in previous games in the series, shields provide blocking, which absorbs some set amount of damage with every successful block. Shields roll with powerful defensive properties, including huge boosts to Armor, Vitality, Life%, Life Regen, and more. They can also roll with good offensive bonuses, such as to [[Critical hit Chance]] and [[mainstat]], but will never provide the DPS boost that the other, non-defensive off-hand items deliver.
-One thing that is new about skills in Diablo III can be gleaned from the Barbarian's Battlemaster skill, [[Battlemaster_Skill_Tree#Shield_Specialization|Shield Specialization]]. Here are the stats, as of October 2008:
+The trade off with a shield is much less offensive might than is provided by a two-handed weapon, or more commonly (for Monks and Barbarians) by dual wielding. Other classes have special [[Off Hand]] items that add huge offensive bonuses, but unlike shields, do very little for defense: [[source]]s (Wizards), [[mojo]]s (Witch Doctors), or [[quiver]]s (Demon Hunters).
-* Passive Skill
-* Max Rank: 15
-* Description: Increases the Barbarian's chance to block with a shield and the amount of damage he can block.
-* Rank 1: +8% chance to block, +6 damage blocked.
-* Fury cost: None
-Note that description; this skill increases the chance to block '''and''' the amount of damage blocked.  That makes it sound as if shields in Diablo III will now block a % of the time, but will only block some amount of damage. In Diablo II, a shield completely absorbed all physical damage from an attack it successfully blocked. It sounds like this will not be the case in Diablo III, and that makes for some interesting dynamics. Certain types of shields might absorb 10 damage, others up to 20.
-In retrospect, blocking was overpowered in Diablo II. That a shield gave your character up to a 75% chance to completely erase all incoming physical damage hardly seems fair, and was certainly not realistic. How can a weak Sorceress or Necromancer with a little wooden plate on their arm completely stop the damage from a massive polearm? If the Diablo III system works as Shield Specialization makes it sound, the use of shields should be much more interesting in D3. It would make two-handed weapons more viable, for one thing, since a player wouldn't be giving up 75% damage reduction by using them.
+==Legendary Shields==
+[[Legendary Shields]] in Diablo 3 and Reaper of Souls. All regular shields can be used by any class, though in Reaper of Souls they are used mostly by [[Crusaders]], who also have special [[Crusader shields]] as well.  See the individual articles for full stats and details on these hand-warmers.
+* Items of level 61 and higher can only be found or crafted in Reaper of Souls.
-[[Category: Armor]]
+'''Legendary Shields:'''
-[[category: shields]]
+* 12) [[Coven's Criterion]] {{c_slate|Act 2 5 Horadric Cache only}}<br>
-[[category: items]]
+* 12) [[Denial]]<br>
+* 23) [[Wall of Bone]] - [[Blacksmith Plans|Crafted]]<br>
+* 31) [[Defender of Westmarch]]<br>
+* 31) [[Eberli Charo]]<br>
+* 31) [[Freeze of Deflection]]<br>
+* 31) [[Vo'Toyias Spiker]]<br>
+* 50) [[Lidless Wall]]<br>
+* 60) [[Ivory Tower]]<br>
+* 60) [[Stormshield]]<br>
+* 70) [[Hallowed Defender]] - [[Blacksmith Plans|Crafted]] {{c_green|Set}}<br>
+* 70) [[Wall of Man]] - [[Blacksmith Plans|Crafted]]<br>
+* 70) [[Hallowed Barricade]] - [[Blacksmith Plans|Crafted]] {{c_green|Set}}
+'''[[Legendary Crusader Shields]]''' - {{c_slate|Crusader restricted}}
+* 12) [[Salvation]] {{c_slate|Act 5 Horadric Cache only}}
+* 31) [[Akarat's Awakening]]
+* 31) [[Hallowed Bulwark]]
+* 31) [[Hellskull]]
+* 31) [[Jekangbord]]
+* 31) [[Sublime Conviction]]
+* 31) [[The Final Witness]]
+* ?) [[Amazonian Parma]] - ([[Seasonal Legendary|Season One Legendary]])
+* 70) [[Piro Marella]] - [[Blacksmith Plans|Crafted]]
+==Shield Changes in Diablo 3==
+[[File:Shields1.jpg|left|thumb|100px|Shields.]]
+Shields are much changed in function in Diablo 3. They are less effective defensive tools than they were in Diablo 2, since they block a much lower percentage of attacks, and only absorb a set amount of damage, rather than 100% of physical damage with a successful block. These changes are meant to provide a more compelling reason to upgrade your shield, and to make two-handed weapons and dual wielding more viable.
+In retrospect, most fans agree with the [[D3 Devs]] that blocking was grossly overpowered in Diablo II. In that game, the ability to use any shield to completely negate up to 75% (the maximum blocking rate) of incoming physical damage was unbalanced, and made dual-wielding or using a two-handed weapon a far less viable tactic than going with a one handed weapon and a shield.  Diablo III's shields are meant more as a form of damage [[mitigation]], decreasing a percentage of the incoming damage, rather than an all or nothing source of damage spikes, as shields were in Diablo 2.
+==Monks and Shields==
+[[File:Shield-monk1.jpg|frame|Monk with shield.]]
+At one point during their development, [[Monk]]s could not use shield. (Or many other types of weapons.) [[Bashiok]] offered an explanation of this in a pair of forum posts in early March 2010 <ref>[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/blizzard-on-diablo-3-class-specific-weapons/ Class-Specific Weapons] - Blizzard, 11/3/10 </ref>
+<blue>Bruce Lee would not use a shield, and neither would the monk. We have shields. Everyone but the monk can wield them. Of course that’s subject to change.</blue>
+It did. A Monk was first seen using a shield in August 2010, during the [[Artisan Video]] and the Monk remains able to use shields as of the [[Diablo 3 Beta]].
+==Shield Skills and Class Skills==
+[[File:Shield-barb2.jpg|thumb|300px|Two views of a low-level [[Barbarian]] with a hand axe and [[buckler]].]]
+During development the Barbarian had a variety of shield-based skills and passives. These were gradually removed during development and in [[D3v]] no class had special shield-related skills.  This changed in [[Reaper of Souls]] when the [[Crusader]] was added to teh game with a variety of special shield talents.
+The following are shield skills the Barbarian had during development, preserved for posterity:
+[[Shield of Iron (trait)|Shield of Iron]]
+* '''Max points: '''3
+* '''Description:''' Increases your chance to [[block]] attacks.
+[[Shield Slam]]
+* '''Max points: '''1
+* '''Description: '''You have a chance to hit your target with your shield and interrupt them.
+Even earlier in development, before traits were introduced, the Barbarian had a Battlemaster skill called [[Shield Specialization]] that granted considerable blocking bonuses. Here are the stats for this skill, which was removed from the game in 2009.
+* '''Shield Specialization'''
+** Passive Skill
+** Max Rank: 15
+** Description: Increases the Barbarian's chance to block with a shield and the amount of damage he can block.
+** Rank 1: +8% chance to block, +6 damage blocked.
+** Fury cost: None
+==Media==
+<gallery>
+File:Shield2.jpg|A cool skull shield in the [[Blacksmith]]'s display.
+File:Shield-barb1.jpg|Barbarian with shield.
+</gallery>
+=References=
+<font size="-3">
+<references/>
+</font>
+{{Template:Items navbox|normal}}
+[[category:Items]]
+[[category:Armor]]
+[[category:Off-Hand]]
+[[category:Shields]]

Difference between revisions of "Shields"