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Sword & Shield Style

Posted: Thu Oct 19, 2006 7:43 am
by Jennifer
Is it worth it? One spot spent gives you a -2 AC bonus against missile weapons, and Two spots, -4 AC.
Is this good enough to spend anything on it?

Posted: Thu Oct 19, 2006 8:42 am
by Raven_Song
Depends entirely on who you are planning to give it to.

Anomen and Viconia sure, possibly Jaheira if you think she'll be using slings a lot.

Posted: Thu Oct 19, 2006 8:47 am
by Jennifer
Sorry, I wasn't very clear in my question. I will give it to myself, and I'm going a Fighter with Longswords and Shields. So I will be the tank I guess, with Keldorn doing some damage with Carosmyr.

Jan, Edwin, and Viconia will be doing whatever they are good at from range.

Posted: Thu Oct 19, 2006 8:55 am
by fable
I wouldn't bother. Opponents seldom rely upon really souped up missiles, choosing to go the magical route, instead. You need to focus more on protection from various kinds of magic, rather than from missiles. Though there are a few items and spells that will let you largely escape all missiles.

Posted: Thu Oct 19, 2006 9:10 am
by Celacena
single weapon style seems more useful - if for example your character has a double-handed weapon such as a bow or a crossbow and they switch to a single-handed sword when close up - I seem to recall that you get an AC boost.
if you are worried about missiles - there are various shields and the 'boots of avoidance' which can give you a very high AC.

if you want to trade shots, the beast-master's tuigan bow is one of my favourites - you get 3 shots per round at +2.

Posted: Thu Oct 19, 2006 9:44 am
by VonDondu
I'd rather use proficiency points for offensive capabilities instead of defensive capabilities, so I hardly ever put points in Sword and Shield Style.

On the other hand, if I play a character who will be wielding only one weapon and no shield (such as a Bard or a Thief or a character like Imoen who switches been a short bow and a melee weapon as needed), I do put a proficiency point (or two, if possible) in Single Weapon Style.

Keep in mind that certain items will lower your character's Armor Class against certain kinds of damage. For example, the Boots of Avoidance and the Girdle of Piercing lower your character's Armor Class against arrows and missile weapons. The Golden Girdle is especially useful for a melee warrior since most enemies inflict slashing damage. (Golems and a few other monsters inflict blunt damage.)

Most of your enemies' missile attacks are not very effective in Shadows of Amn if your characters have low Armor Class. (You still don't want to be shot up by ten kobold commandos, of course.) However, when you get to Throne of Bhaal, you will encounter lots of enemy archers who hardly ever miss since they're armed with +2 long bows (normal composite long bows already have a +3 THAC0 bonus) and +3 arrows. It's really pretty sick. Better AC against missile weapons helps a little bit, but damage resistance (such as Hardiness and Armor of Faith) makes a bigger difference. But I like to use a strategy that turns their own weapons against them: take off your character's armor to make it as high as possible and equip him with the Reflection Shield. :) Or you can just stay away from the archers altogether and send a bunch of Mordenkainen's Swords after them. You'll probably need a lot of new strategies when you get to Throne of Bhaal, so be creative.

Posted: Thu Oct 19, 2006 3:54 pm
by Klorox
It's a supplemental proficiency. Only use it after you have all the other slots you're concerned with.

Posted: Thu Oct 19, 2006 4:32 pm
by kmonster
Getting ***** in your melee weapon and ***** in your missile weapon is more useful. And even ***** in a third weapon type is usually more useful.

Posted: Thu Oct 19, 2006 4:50 pm
by Pellinore
I usually give my healers and F/M Sword and Board proficiency...many times my healers have been nailed whilst casting a much needed healing spell on somebody....or they have just been really singled out by enemy archers for some reason....