17 replies to this topic

[hvgotcodes]

I found a legendary withdoctor shield yesterday.  It made me wonder, why no shields for wizards?  Obviously it shouldn't do the same thing as a source, but witchdoctors have the equivalent of sources, so why no shields geared for wizards?

Edited by hvgotcodes, 14 December 2012 - 01:35 PM.

[Kyoob]

What do you mean by witch-doctor shield? Shields are not class-specific.

[hvgotcodes]

Kyoob, on 14 December 2012 - 01:49 PM, said:

What do you mean by witch-doctor shield? Shields are not class-specific.

Sorry, i mean a shield that helps a wizard ability.  I found one that helped the witchdoctor, said "witch doctor only" (for that ability, shield could be equipped by my wizard)

Edited by hvgotcodes, 14 December 2012 - 01:52 PM.

[Bagstone]

You're probably talking about Lidless Wall. It can roll wizard abilities, too:

http://us.battle.net...em/lidless-wall

[Kyoob]

Oh, you mean class specific affixes on shields. Check the link Bagstone provided, there you can see it actually can roll wizard-specific affix.

[rebjorn]

Any shield can have bonuses to Wiz specific abilities, same as with Sources. Rares can be quite good. Try to get a Sacred Shield, they have the highest Block amount.

[hvgotcodes]

rebjorn, on 18 December 2012 - 01:32 PM, said:

Any shield can have bonuses to Wiz specific abilities, same as with Sources. Rares can be quite good. Try to get a Sacred Shield, they have the highest Block amount.

Does anyone use them on high MP?

[Bagstone]

hvgotcodes, on 18 December 2012 - 01:37 PM, said:

rebjorn, on 18 December 2012 - 01:32 PM, said:

Any shield can have bonuses to Wiz specific abilities, same as with Sources. Rares can be quite good. Try to get a Sacred Shield, they have the highest Block amount.

Does anyone use them on high MP?

No, because everyone's running around as glass cannon and WTFBBQPWN full DPS. However, there are some people who are crazy enough to try wizard on hardcore, and for them shield is not a bad choice.

[Nodnarb]

Simple.  B/c there are NO good shields for ANY class atm in D3.  This needs to be addressed when they introduce more legs. in a future patch. Itemization in d3 does exactly opposite of what blizzard said they wanted: create  diverse, unique, and different builds.  Every class with the exception of a few items looks pretty much the same.  (look at how many toons use vile wards, echoing fury, skorn...etc etc.)  But talking about this problem has proved to be like kickin a dead horse....

[joeyb]

Nodnarb, on 18 December 2012 - 03:35 PM, said:

Simple.  B/c there are NO good shields for ANY class atm in D3.  This needs to be addressed when they introduce more legs. in a future patch. Itemization in d3 does exactly opposite of what blizzard said they wanted: create  diverse, unique, and different builds.  Every class with the exception of a few items looks pretty much the same.  (look at how many toons use vile wards, echoing fury, skorn...etc etc.)  But talking about this problem has proved to be like kickin a dead horse....

Legendaries blew monkey chunks before 1.0.4 and people bitched a fit about it so they upped the power of legendaries. Now, everyone uses legendaries because it's easier to put a name into a build as opposed to putting 4-5 key stats to look for. Rares can still roll better than the legendaries, which is key, but they just cost so damn much that no one can afford them. The way to fix it is to find a way to bring top level gear prices back down to normal levels. The only way I know to do that is to increase supply which means higher end rolls need to drop more. Once that happens, though, the economy tanks and gold isn't worth anything, just like in D2.

[galaxy99]

Shield may be good in hardcore. It helps your survivability which is the key there.

[ZeroEdgeir]

Before 1.0.5, my Spec Blades/Meteor build was actually using a Hallowed Scepter and Shield (Shield I think even had a -2 to Meteor Cost on it, which was awesome). They can give you a good chunk of survivability, that is for sure, but you sacrifice alot of DPS for it.

Solo, I couldn't kill the Butcher on MP1 with my tanky build, just lacked the DPS (this could be also because I've been working on a budget so small it isn't funny since I got going. Can't make gold to save my life). If you play with friends, and nobody else wants to tank, a Wizard can do the job, but the gear isn't cheap.

[heavymetalmak]

i just started a HC wiz.  I carry a shield at all times, but i havent needed to equip it yet

[Bel1evE]

blizz really need to add more items

[Litheum]

The reason I dont use a shield is simple.....my AR, amor and HP are more than enough to survive when you can free-spam diamond skin with CM.

You really dont get much benefit from 1400-2000 armor when you can constantly refresh skin.
The extra DPS on the other hand.......

That and APOC on sources is extremely beneficial......

Only way I would use a shield is if I was a new Wiz, a 10% crit shield would be a nice cheap way to get my crit where it needs to be, and add some defense until I could get my APS and crit where it needs to be to insta-proc CDs without the shield.

[DisposableHeero]

In prior patches there was utility for shields.  However, in patch 1.0.5 the damage at MP0 is low enough that using a shield isn't a make or break defensive piece at any budget.  The higher MPs you go, Monster Health scales faster than anything and Monster Damage scales slower than most things so higher MPs are about having the DPS to do them efficiently.  Consequently no class uses shields regularly anymore and I've simply stopped picking them up because they have no value anymore beyond vendoring.

I carry one shield that I purchased in 1.0.4 and used briefly in 1.0.5 when taking higher MP ubers as CM with storm armor.  It is a sacred shield with 19% natural block, 148 Int, 126 Vit, 78 All Resistance, 285 Armor, 10% Crit Chance, and 20% Magic Find.  It really isn't necessary anymore, and it gets in the way of hitting the 2.5 attack speed threshold so I don't use it anymore, but I can't sell this shield despite having basically perfect affixes for a wizard and very high rolls of each one, and near maximum block chance.

Edited by DisposableHeero, 27 December 2012 - 12:50 PM.

[Loroese]

DisposableHeero, on 27 December 2012 - 12:48 PM, said:

In prior patches there was utility for shields.  However, in patch 1.0.5 the damage at MP0 is low enough that using a shield isn't a make or break defensive piece at any budget.  The higher MPs you go, Monster Health scales faster than anything and Monster Damage scales slower than most things so higher MPs are about having the DPS to do them efficiently.  Consequently no class uses shields regularly anymore and I've simply stopped picking them up because they have no value anymore beyond vendoring.

I carry one shield that I purchased in 1.0.4 and used briefly in 1.0.5 when taking higher MP ubers as CM with storm armor.  It is a sacred shield with 19% natural block, 148 Int, 126 Vit, 78 All Resistance, 285 Armor, 10% Crit Chance, and 20% Magic Find.  It really isn't necessary anymore, and it gets in the way of hitting the 2.5 attack speed threshold so I don't use it anymore, but I can't sell this shield despite having basically perfect affixes for a wizard and very high rolls of each one, and near maximum block chance.

Have you priced your shield lately? I think Int and Vit can roll up to 300 or so now on shields, since 1.05. Stil, those are some pretty good stats and I can only imagine how much that was worth at peak shield usage.

[Ezkaton]

u have 4 kind of shields, i dont get ur question...