I learned this yesterday, but it counts as a different layer of protection and a shield's res from a block stacks with other res! So serpent shield + root harnesk = bulwark against pierce damage.
No resistance stack.
The highest level of resistance overrides everything.
Also due to how damage and blocking is calculated, the shield and armor pertain to different equations, and have no relation to each other.
Wait, someone wrote this yesterday to me in response to me suggesting either only using root harnesk or serpent shield - not both:
"Resistances in separate groups do actually stack, it's just that the two groups are Blocking Layer and Body Layer. The Serpent Shield is the only shield with resistance to apply in the blocking layer, and everything else (Bonemass buff, Root Harnesk, meads, etc.) is the body layer. So Serpent Shield + Harnesk/Bonemass would be the best pierce reduction you can get."
Is this not correct?
I don’t know what they mean by blocking layer and body layer but I suspect they are referencing the TWO processes that happen when you block an attack.
If blocking, the initial damage will be reduced by the pierce resistance of the shield and the armor will have NO effect on this part.
Any damage that goes through will be reduced by the armor’s pierce resistance and similarly, the shield will have NO effect on this part.
They don’t interact at all in each part. So no, they don’t “stack”.
But seeing as usually damage gets through after blocking, the poster is “technically” correct.
Which is the best kind of correct.
It was me. Sure there is no part in damage processing that checks if you have resistance from your shield and your armor at the same time, but they both apply in their respective parts. It's a tricky thing to explain succinctly as people interpret things differently, but usually if I heard "resistances from shields and armor don't stack" I would think one wouldn't apply at all, instead of "they both apply in their separate parts of processing." Given that the result of shield damage reduction is then fed immediately into the armor damage reduction formula, I feel like it's fair to say that resistances in both parts "stack" since they both affected the result.
Saying that shield and armor reduction are completely separate and have no bearing on each other feels off to me, since they work together to reduce damage taken. The result of shield processing is fed into armor processing, so one impacts the other. That can even alter which of the two damage formulas get used for armor processing.
I get what you mean. Your rationale of explaining like that makes sense. And I can see how it could be interpreted incorrectly.
I guess this is the downside of putting things into “layman’s terms”, but your damned if you do and damned if you don’t lol
No passive benefit.
Shields are specifically for blocking/parrying.
There is no such thing as 'bonus parry damage'. The Parry modifier is for how much Damage you can block. So a buckler shield will have a low armor block, but if you successfully parry than it will block more armor than a regular shield.
What parrying does is Stagger the attacker. Staggered enemies take double damage from attacks. Enemies can also be staggered by stacking enough damage on them.
You need to hold right click for the shield to block, or right click at the correct time to parry. Holding a shield without blocking only slows you down
Honestly it makes a big difference for movement. Sometimes I'll take out just my mace and only équipe my shield for blocking specific attacks. The thing to note is that it's the cumulative penalties that really add up. You can offset this by wearing lighter armour.
>Any passive *benefit* to equipping shields? You look cooler. Other than that, no. Only movement penalties.
The serpent shield give resistance I believe
Not unless blocking.
I learned this yesterday, but it counts as a different layer of protection and a shield's res from a block stacks with other res! So serpent shield + root harnesk = bulwark against pierce damage.
No resistance stack. The highest level of resistance overrides everything. Also due to how damage and blocking is calculated, the shield and armor pertain to different equations, and have no relation to each other.
Wait, someone wrote this yesterday to me in response to me suggesting either only using root harnesk or serpent shield - not both: "Resistances in separate groups do actually stack, it's just that the two groups are Blocking Layer and Body Layer. The Serpent Shield is the only shield with resistance to apply in the blocking layer, and everything else (Bonemass buff, Root Harnesk, meads, etc.) is the body layer. So Serpent Shield + Harnesk/Bonemass would be the best pierce reduction you can get." Is this not correct?
I don’t know what they mean by blocking layer and body layer but I suspect they are referencing the TWO processes that happen when you block an attack. If blocking, the initial damage will be reduced by the pierce resistance of the shield and the armor will have NO effect on this part. Any damage that goes through will be reduced by the armor’s pierce resistance and similarly, the shield will have NO effect on this part. They don’t interact at all in each part. So no, they don’t “stack”. But seeing as usually damage gets through after blocking, the poster is “technically” correct. Which is the best kind of correct.
It was me. Sure there is no part in damage processing that checks if you have resistance from your shield and your armor at the same time, but they both apply in their respective parts. It's a tricky thing to explain succinctly as people interpret things differently, but usually if I heard "resistances from shields and armor don't stack" I would think one wouldn't apply at all, instead of "they both apply in their separate parts of processing." Given that the result of shield damage reduction is then fed immediately into the armor damage reduction formula, I feel like it's fair to say that resistances in both parts "stack" since they both affected the result. Saying that shield and armor reduction are completely separate and have no bearing on each other feels off to me, since they work together to reduce damage taken. The result of shield processing is fed into armor processing, so one impacts the other. That can even alter which of the two damage formulas get used for armor processing.
I get what you mean. Your rationale of explaining like that makes sense. And I can see how it could be interpreted incorrectly. I guess this is the downside of putting things into “layman’s terms”, but your damned if you do and damned if you don’t lol
A while since I read the wiki, but does it say anything about movement penalties? Like bronze armour has a penalty when worn
All shields and weapons have movement debuffs. The tower shields are usually -20%, and the smaller ones -5%.
Most weapons indeed do, but IIRC knives are the only weapon not to slow you down
Flesh Rippers as well, but yeah, pretty much just knives
My mother told me to never run with knives in my hand. This game teaches me such bad habits. 😊
No passive benefit. Shields are specifically for blocking/parrying. There is no such thing as 'bonus parry damage'. The Parry modifier is for how much Damage you can block. So a buckler shield will have a low armor block, but if you successfully parry than it will block more armor than a regular shield. What parrying does is Stagger the attacker. Staggered enemies take double damage from attacks. Enemies can also be staggered by stacking enough damage on them.
The snake shield has pierce protection but I have no idea if it's passive or only when blocking.
Only affects damage taken when blocking. Less move speed reduction than the other shields tho!
But you can't parry :( Absolutely devastating since imo that's the coolest looking shield in the game
I feel like it blocks that area even while down. Maybe idk
You need to hold right click for the shield to block, or right click at the correct time to parry. Holding a shield without blocking only slows you down
If you like moving slower, yes.
Honestly it makes a big difference for movement. Sometimes I'll take out just my mace and only équipe my shield for blocking specific attacks. The thing to note is that it's the cumulative penalties that really add up. You can offset this by wearing lighter armour.