After reading through your replies, it looks like most of us are on the same page when it comes to shields/blocking. As for Armor, it sounds as if there are a few who prefer the new system and others who have issues with how it changes combat tactics. Magic armor and elemental resistance are a whole separate animal (maybe worthy of a new thread). Hopefully the developers are reading this and considering reintroducing the a blocking function and changing up armor/resistances.
@Aj0413: You've got some great suggestions. I'd like to see the old will/body/block instead of the new defense stats, however I think that if they're keeping the new defense bars, they'll probably keep stats that are directly tied to them. Developing a method of letting the player control the ratio of damage reduction would also be an improvement, though I'm not sure if that'd make things simpler or more complex.
@Baudolino05: I like your suggestion for a flat damage deflection rating for shields. If they're not going to use the old blocking system, I'd definitely support this one.
@error3: Thanks for pointing out how frontloaded the combat system has become. I agree that standard armor and shields become useless after a few rounds of damage absorption. The developers should see this a major flaw in the relationship between gear and combat.
@ImariKurumi: Though I disagree that moving away from RNG was a good move, I do agree that damage reduction and blocking would improve the new armor system.
@Kalrahk: The idea of armor/shields with regeneration would be a solid improvement, overall I feel like that's a small fix for a bigger problem but I'd take it anyways. I've got agree with you that with the current shield system, one-handed is the weakest weapon skill.
@Kilroy512512: In DOS1 you could use Loremaster to analyze enemy defenses and resistances, so I'd have to disagree with your statement that DOS2's physical/magic armor bars are introducing such tactics. In both games you choose your attacks based on the target's known defenses.
@Smokey-If you like the new physical/magic defense bars, I understand why you'd like to see more of them for each element. However, I have to agree with Stabbey that this would only further complicate character and combat management. I also understand that if you prefer predictable tactics with less chance, you'd be against bodybuilding/willpower rolls. However many players were drawn to this game because it reminds them of good old dice-rolling RPGs where even the underdog can crit, and the boss can miss.
