OHB or THW?

[Massive Troll King]

I have an old shaalk claidh I'm considering bonding to, I also have a 5x T5 Morning star I can bond to and I'll look for a rocking shield. Which one would you choose? I'm passing level 50, am halfling if that helps.

I would go Star but the claidh's firepower is just pulling me back. Hard decision.

[Lord Orbstar]

go ohb and shield. fun.

[Erous]

I dunno. Halfling and thw sounds like the better option. You've already gimped AS as a smaller race, making the larger weapons potentially more beneficial. Not to mention that your miniscule size makes for faster weapon swing time, which includes mstrike time.

If you were to go OHB, I'd recommend investing in the surge cman to accommodate your lack of strength. But personally as a smaller race I'd go for the larger weapon.

[Gnomad]

I dunno. Halfling and thw sounds like the better option. You've already gimped AS as a smaller race, making the larger weapons potentially more beneficial. Not to mention that your miniscule size makes for faster weapon swing time, which includes mstrike time.

If you were to go OHB, I'd recommend investing in the surge cman to accommodate your lack of strength. But personally as a smaller race I'd go for the larger weapon.

Pretend I wrote this too.

[Massive Troll King]

The otherside of the arguement is the defense of shield and OHB. How much less would I die with a shield up? better offensive > better defense?

[Gelston]

The otherside of the arguement is the defense of shield and OHB. How much less would I die with a shield up? better offensive > better defense?

I think you're better going glass cannon as a halfling, or honestly, any physical class in GS. The longer an enemy is up, the more attacks he has on you. If you can take him down fast, he won't be able to hit you.

Offense is king.

[Lord Orbstar]

ah, I missed the fact he was a hobbit. ya, THW, although I love the Shield CMANs..especially when you are grouped with others. are you even strong enough for a tower shield though?

[Erous]

The otherside of the arguement is the defense of shield and OHB. How much less would I die with a shield up? better offensive > better defense?

Most deaths in general are maneuver deaths, not because we get beat to death. Your Halfling agi/dex bonus + assuming you go at least 1x dodge should be a solid combination.

[Stry]

Just to weigh both options and add my opinion...

At levels below 70-80, I'd say THW is much easier to pull off. I find that in order to run Sunfist Camps and Reim as a capped paladin I need more and more the super tank build of having a tower shield blocking a huge percentage of attacks coming my way.

The SHIELD maneuvers bonuses can be pretty substantial when in combination with 1609 especially when you start adding some Blessing Lore.

Example: 25 Blessing ranks will net you +15% block from 1609. +30% from a tower shield + 45% block change from Steely Resolve = 90% block bonus for the duration of Steely resolve.

This is above your natural passive block 10% from 2x Shield Ranks and statistics. Basically, if you go with that build you're looking at nearly 100% block bonus when activating Steely Resolve. And that's in Offensive stance.

Cast 1608 followed by Steely Resolve and you're basically THE GSIV tank.

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That said, THW certainly do hit harder and kill faster. But you're gonna get hit a lot more. At lower levels this is mitigated much easier with a spellup than at higher levels, or high swarm areas.