So i finally got around to downloading the newest version, to check out the new shield heroic ability. Initially i thought it seemed really strong, almost OP.
But then i remembered the durability rule, and thought "oh its balanced on account of the shield breaking here and there and everywhere".
Towards the gear section i went, to look up the durability on the strongest shield, large shield with 18, "okay that is quite high, but not unbreakable, considering a 2 handed weapon deals 2d10 plus bonus die." I thought to myself.
So I went to look at the bestiary, to see which of them might provide trouble for a strong-willed defensive shield fighter....
and only a giant and dragon have attacks that might somewhat reliable break a large shield.
That means a bandit armed with a 2 handed weapon actually hits harder than most of the beasts/monsters.
But wait, they have to roll to hit you say, that will surely make them less of a danger, and true if the evasion skills of your adventures isn't very high that is a weakness.
However, rolling to attack also gives them a massive advantage against a highly skilled opponent, as they can actually roll a dragon(critical hit) that will not only make the attack very hard to avoid (only a dragon can avoid a dragon) but also deal even higher damage.
So to all my heavy armor shield bros out there, beware the bandit, he is far more likely to kill you than the beast
and do not neglect willpower, it will server you better in the long run ^^
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you can even get a master crafted shield and push the durability to 21 threshold
Here is the new heroic ability
Shield Block, You can activate this ability when parrying with a shield to
roll with a boon. Using this ability, you can also parry physical
monster attacks (not area effects) that normally cannot
be parried. This requires a shield and you get a boon to the
roll. This ability can be combined with Defensive.