There is no cut and dry answer to the dilemna of "To Wear a Shield or To Not Wear a Shield."
Why? Because different situations call for different tactics.
Challenging battles = Shield Recommened
Farming Groups of Greens or Blues = Choice. Most blues and greens at level 22 (Paladin) rarely hit me and it is easily recovered by my Power Cleave ability that heals me upon a successful hit (2- hand required).
Soloing or Duoing = Choice, but 2 hander preferred. Which leads in to my response to those who say, "If you want DPS be a rogue" or "DPS is the job of the rogue." That's great... if you have rogue in the group. I think everyone is assuming an ideal situation of a full group, that is perfectly
balanced. In the past several months that I have been playing, a full group has been rarity. A balanced full group, as in a representation of all the ideal classes (whatever that might be) is even rarer. What is more common is soloing and duoing with (less commonly) a third.
Last night I duoed a x2 group raid encounter in Commonlands, Capt
Graek. The encounter was green to me and the level 21 Fury I was with. The battle was long and tough, but as the primary damage dealer in group, it was my job to kill the mobs as fast as possible, because the longer I stood there taking hits, the more power the Fury was using up. Worse, and this has not been seriously addressed in this thread, is that Capt. Graek had two
Oracles (healers) with him. I knew from first hand experience, if I couldn't deal enough damage and fast enough to overcome their heals, the battle was over.
I learned this the hard way going up through the levels and fighting in encounters where their were healers or the mob itself (Ancient Octopus) has the ability to heal and even ward. In this particular situation, sacrificing the damage output of the Dwarven Warhammer of Cleansing for the minor AC, stat, avoidance of a shield, but a substantially lesser damage dealing 1 handed weapon, would have cost me the fight.
As a Paladin, I have come to realize that my effectiveness is directly linked to my power. As long as I have power, I can heal myself, ward myself, and spam every damage dealing ability I have (solo/duo) or taunts, etc. (group). As soon as I run out of power, it becomes a slug fest that, unless I have established the upperhand in the beginning of the battle, will soon turn south.
As dynamic of game as Everquest 2 is, it is no surprise that there is no simple, "one" strategy for playing a class, that different situations call for different tactics.
As an aside, most of the rogue classes I have grouped with that are near or at the same level as I have not been able to match my damage output. The Rogues I have grouped with have fast DPS, but I have very high DPA that is substantially higher than their cumulative small attacks. A lot of times, especially against named mobs, it is very common for me to see "Immune...
Immune... Immune..." pop up above the mob's head. In fact, the only class that has been able to consistently out damage me, are the mage classes with their powerful nukes.
Yes, I understand that those players probably don't have the best gear and aren't playing their rogues to their highest potential. It is a very good example of how reality can have a good way of destroying well made theories that assume an "ideal" enviroment, with a good players that have to equipment and that play their charaters well, reality is far different. All of us will eventually be put into a situation where they have to play a role that they perhaps, did not intend to play, with their character. There has been times, that as a Paladin, and the only character with heal spells in the group, that I have become the primary healer as well as the tank.
Have fun, be flexible, and learn to overcome.
Edited, Thu Apr 7 17:56:59 2005 by Kallirye