Tower Shields and Full Plate

[Bitterbarb]

Oi mates..

I tried searching for this info before hand.. alas, I seldom have luck with forum search engines, so forgive me if it's been discussed to death.

I've just started a Favored Soul. I just hit 7. I won't get into details of the build, but I will say that what I'm interested in is a basically a caster/healer, who won't immediately die if he decides to swing a weapon from time to time.

I get the impression that tower shields and full plate aren't exactly the way to go with this class.. but for some reason, the RP'er in me wants just that.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of having a caster based FvS that wishes to use full plate and tower shields? I recall someone mentioning that spells won't crit as well, or something?

Any info is appreciated.

Thanks,
Shynes McKraken - Thelanis

[clanqui]

There is no special penalty for a favored soul using them. It has no effect on your spells. The problem is that favored souls don't get free proficiencies in them. So in order to use them, you would either need to spend two feats, or (more likely) go for one level of fighter. That will work fine if you do it, but look carefully at what favored souls get at 20 and decide whether it's worth it.

[barongt]

There is no special penalty for a favored soul using them. It has no effect on your spells. The problem is that favored souls don't get free proficiencies in them. So in order to use them, you would either need to spend two feats, or (more likely) go for one level of fighter. That will work fine if you do it, but look carefully at what favored souls get at 20 and decide whether it's worth it.

Or he could just take the -4 penalty it gives him. But i suppose that would defeat the purpose.

If you aren't going pure, you should at least get to lvl 17 for Leap of Faith. Maybe do 3 fighter levels? or 2 fighter and 1 barb? Just a thought.

[clanqui]

Or he could just take the -4 penalty it gives him. But i suppose that would defeat the purpose.

If you aren't going pure, you should at least get to lvl 17 for Leap of Faith. Maybe do 3 fighter levels? or 2 fighter and 1 barb? Just a thought.

I think he would get both penalties (shield and armor) but I can't say that I've ever tried it.

[Skirmish]

I have my FS and my Cleric both setup with a nice TS for when they only need to be healbots for a short time. (usually during raid-boss fights) There are a couple named tower shields you can hunt that give you the TS skill while carrying them. Thus eliminating the penalty. And if you can get your hands on a nice suit of mithral plate, you can kill that penalty as well.

So, while it may not be all that easy to gear your FS at the moment to meet what the RP'er in you wants without penalties, it is quite do-able.

8) Check the Definitive Static Rewards list and start planning out what you want to go hunting after as you progress. While some might be hard to get, there are missions you can run that will give you at least a predictable shot at some mithral plate. The shield will be a bit trickier until you start smacking the Reaver around. (Madstone Shield will probably be the easiest TS to get with TS proficiency on it.)

http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=121279

Good Hunting.

[Matuse]

You can always use mithril FP, which is more protection than normal FP (if you've got the dex), and doesn't have any proficiency issues.

For the tower shield, I use one all the time. I have a +3 of greater false life (pending getting an Amrath belt), which is useful for groups/raids since it blocks well, and I'm not swinging at stuff, so the penalty is irrelevant.