So, this game has mostly disappointing me because of how abysmally, disappointingly, and absolutely useless shields are. The only reason to use them, is preference. They don't give enough survivability or versatility to outweigh the severe hit to damage output. After all, if you just slap on a dual wield or a 2h, you'll often kill the enemy before they have a chance to attack outright anyway. On the complete opposite of the spectrum, 2 handers are ridiculously good right now. Possibly only outweighed by the stock adrenaline/pawn/stealth huntsman. So, I think I've come up with some possible solutions to balance these two issues, without just slapping 2handers around with the nerfbat until no one plays them anymore.
1. Changes to warfare itself: The passive +3% damage to physical armor per point is fairly useless. It's vastly superior to just put points into your weapon skill of choice. So I think it should do something like add +3% to your damage per level, for every opponent in melee range of you instead. This will make tanks able to put out decent damage, and make it worth the risk for 2handers to dive into the enemy line.
2. Changes to 2handers: Instead of nerfing the damage, I think that all 2handed weapons should come with the negative traits that reduce movement speed(up to half?) and causing all damage you receive to be increased by an amount. (10-25%?). Large weapons are heavy and unwieldy, you wouldn't be able to lift them to block, or even set your stance to shrug off a blow most of the time, and this should be reflected by making you less defensible, as a trade off for the huge damage output. A literal glass cannon. You'll have to rely on movement abilities, positioning, and team mates in order to get in and deliver that massive payload of damage. Failure of calculation will have severe consequences.
3. Changes to shields: I think that a new skill tree should be added to combat skills, called something along the lines of "Guardian" or "Armsman" or what have you. The passive effect is that per point, it will increase how much phys and magic armor shields grant. It unlocks skills that can only be used when you have a shield equipped. See, for giving up all the damage a shield user should not only have more survivability, but should be able to control the battlefield. My suggestions for good shield based skills are along the lines of:
Hunker- (buff self) Restore the full amount of phys and magic armor granted only by your shield. Survivability for your frontliner, plain and simple.
Shield charge- (attack skill) Charge straight ahead, enemies are pushed forward with you (or to the side?). No knockdown, it shouldn't just be a "better bullrush". Allows your frontliner to reposition, both him/herself, and enemies.
Get behind me!- (buff other) Grant an ally bonus movement speed, the ability to ignore attacks of opportunity, and if they spend their entire turn moving without using any damaging skills, then they have (70%?) increased chance to dodge until their next turn. Support or squishy caster in a bad spot? Get them out of there.
Shieldwall- (buff self) Character counts as being three times wider, and can perform attacks of opportunity even without the trait. This prevents enemies from trying to move around them easily, and blocks projectiles from passing through as well.
What do you guys think? Would this balance warfare, and make it more of a risk/reward, and develop more creative roles and versatility, or is it not enough of a nerf for 2h, and too much for shields?
