Let's take a quick look at some of the glorious shields offered in this game, let's start with a decent shield that is just a breadth away from being a viable choice to use under most circumstances:
+25% Increased Chance of Blocking -- Decent defensive statistic +1 to Paladin Skill Levels -- Always a welcome stat for any paladin build, it works for casters it works for melees. Damage Reduced by 5 -- By far one of the best stats on the entire item, mdr/pdr wouldn't look like much to many people who play but with a decent amount stacked it turns squishies into invincible characters. Magic Damage Reduced by 5 ^^ +3 to Light Radius -- Pointless filler. +80-100% Enhanced Defense -- Why do people wear shields? Either for +skills, which this is outclassed by crafts/rares, or for defensive measures. The mdr/pdr is nice, this stat adds a pointless amount of defense that it's trivial. Add a flat amount or remove it all together. +25% Faster Block Rate -- Pointless stat for paladins Resist All +20% -- Res is always warranted, the problems with most uniques is they offer to little and are fucked because they have only a single socket. Basically, add more resist or add more sockets. +20 Defense -- Pointless amount of defense. +15-20 to Durability -- Pointless filler.
All in all, it's not a bad item, but it's not a good item. These aren't really the items I have beefs with, but in a perfect world I'd adjust it to this: +1 paladin +1 combat +20 all res +100 defense +10 pdr/mdr 3 sockets
+1 pally +1 combat and the obvious choice at decent res pickups cater to both melee paladins and caster paladins, and it can actually compete against basic spirit/rhyme crafts in terms of defenses.
Let's move on to a shield that actually has no purpose whatsoever for being in the game, at all. And there are a LOT of these items.
+10 to Mana After Each Kill 10% Mana Stolen per Hit +25% Faster Cast Rate Resist All 20% +50% Enhanced Defense +20 Defense +20% Increased Chance of Blocking +20% Faster Block Rate +2 to Light Radius Ignore Target Defense
This thing has melee, caster, combined, and useless mods all over it.
Like seriously, what caster that is utilizing FCR is going to want manaleech on hit? What caster isn't going to wear some form of +skills? What moron, on either end of the spectrum, isn't going to want to slot MDR/PDR in their shield. Who is going to use this item other than the poor fuck who just started and has no idea how to play. Items can be broad, but not this broad, it offers nothing to the game other than a drop you go - well dont pick that piece of shit up. How do you fix it? Well it's simple, remove ITD, add a 2-3 socket mod. Remove mana stolen on hit, add +1 skills, and just like that you have a unique that can compete with crafts. If you wanted to be extra generous you could remove ED or defense and add mdr/pdr.
The list goes on and on, and it's especially bad for weapons, which almost every single one has limited to no use. And it's not even because the stats are atrocious, some of them would be decent, if you could use them 10 levels earlier. Weapons need to have decent damage levels that they can compete with crafts, they need to have appropriate sockets so that they can even come close, and they should have specialization built into them. Why am I using a bloodletter over a craft which can do more damage? Well massive lifesteal or +skills.
And I would gladly go over every single item, but what's the point? Is someone actually going to code them in to how I suggest they're fixed? Are people going to agree with me? I'd rather not waste hours upon hours of thinking and rewriting to have it go to waste.
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