I had a Shield/SS. So I know what it's like to be lacking AoE. But you're so close to getting your shield charge, just keep pushing. Do sewer trials if you need to speed up the process to level 27 (when you can pop 3 recharges into S.C.)
I have a shield/mace at 50, and she's one of my favorite characters. But yeah, no AoE until 26 is indeed painful (and I even went until 20 with only two ST attacks... yeah, not fun). It really picks up by 30, though. Shield charge plus whirling mace is pretty decent, and the knockdown helps a lot with mitigation as well. On the 'slow' side, though, I'm not sure what you're seeing. Bash is a bit slow for its damage, but jawbreaker and pulverize are both fairly decent, and clobber is awesome in a can (you *do* have clobber, right?).
The 20s, though, were where I started feeling not squishy. Once you get SOs in your defenses and start picking up stuff like combat jumping and tough/weave, survivability really goes up. And you should have perma mez protection now that you've got SOs, so I'm not sure what might be wrong.
I guess my point is, it *really* does get a lot better. Once you get softcapped, you're just a beast - huge AoEs, lots of +damage, very tough to hit and with good resistances and HP even if you do, and a godmode you can use whenever you feel you need it with no crash worries. Incarnate stuff can still rip you up on occasion, but it does that to everyone, and once you get the incarnate powers that equation levels out. My shield/mace can solo the crates/tubes in lambda and she doesn't even have any tier 4s.
If nothing else, try to get on a TF team or something and get to 26/27 or so. If you're worried about survivability on a team, go to striga and do stephanie peeble's arc and get the ring temp power - 5 missions, but on low settings it shouldn't be too bad, and you can drop one of the defeat alls. The 2 hours of +resist should be more than enough to get through a TF or two if you turn it off outside of combat. I still use that at 50 as a sort of ghetto godmode if I need it and OWtS is recharging.
@MuonNeutrino
Student, Gamer, Altaholic, and future Astronomer.
This is what it means to be a tank!
I decided to switch him to a scrapper and focus on the damage - plus getting the aoe mace attacks sooner
Play a low level controller for a bit, come back to the tanker, then marvel at how you can actually hurt things.
Culex's resistance guide
Quote:
Just a suggestion, if you were willing, but you could have taken Spring Attack. It could've filled some of your AoE void, but it would've only been good for about once per mob at best.|
Originally Posted by dugfromthearth
I decided to switch him to a scrapper and focus on the damage - plus getting the aoe mace attacks sooner
|
But I hope getting your PBAoE at 28 will appease you. You'll definitely like the damage more.
Mace/Shield on a Brute is pretty fun; you might want to try that instead.
Quote:
I enjoyed Mace from an early level, and that was before it got buffed back in I11. |
Originally Posted by dugfromthearth
Got to level 23.
No heal, non-persistent status resistance, and really slow attacks with no aoe I don't think I can stand it long enough to actually get AOE with the war mace, and without it and the slow attacks the shield damage bonus is just a waste. I'm not tough and do very little damage. Anyone enjoying a shield/war mace? And at what level did it become fun? |
A few things stood out to me in your post. "Non-persistent status resistance," for one... you shouldn't be non-persistent anymore at 23. I think I threw in a couple of extra slots (or just one), and at SO levels, you should be near perma with just 2 recharge enhancements in there. If it really bugs you earlier than that, 3 DOs will nearly get you to the same place.
As for "really slow attacks," the feel of Mace is to have slow, powerful attacks, like you are swinging about a hefty mace, versus other sets like Dual Blades and Street Justice that have lighter, quicker attacks. If you're used to the latter feel, War Mace will "feel" slow. For performance, though, it's not slow and does quite good damage. I know feel sometimes trumps the actual numbers, but do keep that in mind as well.
While it does take awhile to get into its AOE attacks, War Mace is spectacular for AOE, and I know Shield is a common pairing with War Mace for many. The wait for the AOE is a little long, I know, but you should be enjoying your good ST damage you have from early on. War Mace is kind of the inverse of Fire Melee. Fire gets a lot of AOE early, with its best ST damage later, and War Mace gets lots of good ST damage early. Enjoy the bit you get early and be excited for the rest. Crowd Control and Shatter are awesomely fun powers for War Mace.
As for the "not tough" and "lack of a heal" parts, it is nice to eventually pick up Aid Self for Shield (and Tough), but it is a robust set before that. Most defense based sets take a little to really get going, as you want to slot all your defense powers well, and I'm guessing at 23 you're not at the cap for many of those yet. Your stuns and KU from Mace should help with that as well.
That being said, I played my Shield/SS Tanker through a weekly SG, where I was tanking for them from level 2. Certain mobs with +to hit buffs were annoying, but he tanked quite well. One With the Shield and good slotting helped with those tougher mobs as well.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by boppaholic
Just a suggestion, if you were willing, but you could have taken Spring Attack. It could've filled some of your AoE void, but it would've only been good for about once per mob at best.
But I hope getting your PBAoE at 28 will appease you. You'll definitely like the damage more. |
Just my two cents.
Guide: Tanking, Wall of Fire Style (Updated for I19!), and the Four Rules of Tanking
Story Arc: Belated Justice, #88003
Synopsis: Explore the fine line between justice and vengeance as you help a hero of Talos Island bring his friend's murderer to justice.
Grey Pilgrim: Fire/Fire Tanker (50), Victory
Got to level 23.
No heal, non-persistent status resistance, and really slow attacks with no aoe
I don't think I can stand it long enough to actually get AOE with the war mace, and without it and the slow attacks the shield damage bonus is just a waste. I'm not tough and do very little damage.
Anyone enjoying a shield/war mace? And at what level did it become fun?