Am I the only one that...?

[Valiena]

Carries an Admantine Tower shield? When I drop a Firewall instead of hopping around like a chicken with his head cut off I like to sheild block at one end of it so the melees can wail on the mobs instead of chasing them around. Works just fine for me, wondering if I am alone in this tactic.

And please do not babble about spell failure, I do not try to cast while wearing it.

[llevenbaxx]

I used too, now I just use the Madstone shield. It does an acceptable job though I do still like to jump around like a monkey on crack at times...

[Talon_Moonshadow]

If I could pull a good one, I would.

But I seem to get along fine blocking with a +5 Mithral Light Shield and Displacement. (and other buffs)

But I also have Jump and am ready to get away if I have to.

[Yajerman01]

i have the madstone shield but I insist on jumping around as I have to keep my hop-scotch skills sharp

[MrCow]

I don't carry a tower shield as my arcanes can self heal through SP and the spell failure would be a bit much. I do however carry +5 Heavy Mithril Shields for blocking purposes and sometimes couple it with a Divine Power clickie (as higher BAB will net higher blocking DR).

[seventyseven]

This is one of those ideas that is so good that it's still not popular. Clicking a hotbarred item after you cast is still much too complicated for the masses. Ghoste has a youtube video suggesting this btw. Ingenuity beats popularity, like rock beats scissors. =)

[Freeman]

I carry the Skyvault Shield myself. That way, I can get some DR but still have 0% ASF.

[Deathseeker]

...and sometimes couple it with a Divine Power clickie (as higher BAB will net higher blocking DR).

Ooooohhh...MrCow, please do expand on this point! I think I'm about to learn something I didn't know before. Please elaborate?

[Aphion]

Ive been doing this for quite sometime on my wiz and the DR alone is worth it. Originally I was using a skyvault for no asf but havent since I managed to get a fanion . Blue dragon robe & superior potency item lets you wield a shield all the time if needed.

[rimble]

Ooooohhh...MrCow, please do expand on this point! I think I'm about to learn something I didn't know before. Please elaborate?

BAB / 2 is added to your blocking DR:

http://ddo.enterwiki.net/page/Damage_reduction

[Phidius]

Ooooohhh...MrCow, please do expand on this point! I think I'm about to learn something I didn't know before. Please elaborate?

I second the motion...

[MrCow]

Ooooohhh...MrCow, please do expand on this point! I think I'm about to learn something I didn't know before. Please elaborate?

When blocking with a shield you get the shield's blocking DR and one-half of your BAB. As a 16th level arcane you have a BAB of 8, which translates to +4 blocking DR. If you hit divine power and bump that BAB to 16 you then have +8 blocking DR.

[Phidius]

Right on - I need more 5x a day clickies. Does the DR granted from the Titanic Docent stack with shield blocking? How about the DR from the Docent of Defiance?

[Strakeln]

Pssst hey folks there are only 2 shields in the game you should be using for this tactic.

Both come from the hound. Both have 15DR.

Previously, the best shield was the Madstone shield... because it had 6DR...

See why the hound ones are better?

[MrCow]

Right on - I need more 5x a day clickies. Does the DR granted from the Titanic Docent stack with shield blocking? How about the DR from the Docent of Defiance?

Yes.

Innate DR (Stoneskin, Barbarian DR, Adamantine Armor, Golden Greaves, Axeblock, Bramblecasters, Titanic Shield effect, Defiance effect, etc.) stacks with blocking DR.

[Solmage]

While you can stand around in the firewall like a dead chicken, I prefer getting hit for exactly 0 damage, including rays, while at the same time making sure the enemies remain close to the melee so they don't have to chase them.

The more competent groups are also able to intimidate them in place on top of the firewall.

I prefer carrying 2-3 wands, 100 heal scrolls, 100 heal pots, and using a total of 0, but hey that's just me.

[Merkinsal]

I have a shield but the only time I use that is to get a charge from Reaver. If the melee can't stop the mobs from getting to the casters due to terrain there are many ways to handle that without a shield, too many that I never get to the shield. I guess it comes down to priorities and the order you do things. In the new content I have noticed the mobs are saving will and fortitude saves on Fod, Hold Monster, Dancing Ball, Flesh to stone, etc. and I am using a variety of combinations of spells with different saves, the best of which have partial or no save at all like solid fog, cloud kill, and firewall. One senario is to drop the firewall in the solid fog and run around the outside and the mobs never get out of it. I do not have much experience in there yet but form what I have seen, I do not want a couple of those monks hitting me, damage reduction or not. Our lvl 16 monks should hit so hard.

[nbhs275]

your a sorcerer, you should be able to drop 1-2 firewalls and a BDF and kill basically anything worth using DPS on. Unless of course you dont have max/emp and in that case you really are doing far to slow damage to be of use.

[MrWizard]

i have a shield for help blocking mobs not aggroed on me whrn out of mana or to allow melee to have fun.

seldom ever do i throw wall of fire and less would i stay in it.

Different playing styles, different spells

[Desteria]

The main reason I don't do this is main hand needs to be able to swap between scrolls and sup. pot and stuff and off hand my skiver soo swaping a sheild if i havent used up 400 sp yet hurts

But it is a great tacktic if your off hand cna be swaped easly, and yes now a day the hound sheild should be used and specificaly the oen with the chach to heal you now that it;s fixed.