Ye old dusting.

[Axhinde]

Hey guys,

So it's been 5 years and randomly I thought to myself, "Wonder what's new in Gemstone?". To my surprise, lots! I did some reading up on the spell circle updates, cman and shield updates, and got excited to experience it all once again.

I did jump the gun and FIXSKILL after much reading, and do not think I did a terrible job. However, most of you are all far more knowledgeable and up-to-date than I, so any advice and critique will be greatly appreciated. I did have enough points to squeeze out all of this...

Axhinde (at level 53), your current skill bonuses and ranks (including all modifiers) are:
Skill Name | Current Current
| Bonus Ranks
Armor Use..........................| 240 140
Shield Use.........................| 208 108
Combat Maneuvers...................| 154 54
Blunt Weapons......................| 210 110
Ambush.............................| 120 30
Multi Opponent Combat..............| 120 30
Physical Fitness...................| 154 54
Harness Power......................| 154 54
Spiritual Lore - Religion..........| 105 25
Perception.........................| 108 26
Climbing...........................| 105 25
Swimming...........................| 105 25

Spell Lists
Minor Spiritual....................| 20

Spell Lists
Paladin............................| 35
Training Points: 0 Phy 33 Mnt (16 Mnt converted to Phy)

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Axhinde, your Combat Maneuver training is as follows:

Skill name Mnemonic Ranks
Feint feint 2
Specialization I wspec1 5

Available Combat Maneuver Training Points: 2

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Axhinde, your Shield Specialization training is as follows:

Skill name Mnemonic Ranks
Tower Shield Focus tfocus 5
Shield Bash bash 5
Prop Up prop 3

Available Shield Training Points: 2

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Axhinde, your Armor Specialization training is as follows:

Skill name Mnemonic Ranks
Armored Fluidity fluidity 4

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Am I on the right track? What improvements or goals should I be aiming for? Currently working on re-mastering a society and forging, but the few hunting I did try (Bonespear Tower) weren't terribly difficult. I did have a harder time with the eidolons as my AS is a paltry 321 at the moment. Tips, info, hunting strategies/locations...all will be appreciated.

[Stry]

Welcome back, I returned as well late last year.

And yes, you're on the right track.

Once you get to 150 ranks of Armor for full plate, I would start working on getting either 2x in CMAN or 2x and Physical training. Alternatively, I've seen folks try 1x dodge in there too, when you're able, but that's a lower priority compared to PT and CMAN.

Paladin training points do feel very restrictive sometimes, but I feel like they have some of the most post-cap growth potential for that reason.

[Axhinde]

Thanks. That was my plan precisely. Get to 150 armor use, then catch-up CM and PF, then lores, then maybe dodge.

[Hips]

Aw jesus, THIS GUY. Good to see you back

[Axhinde]

Aw jesus, THIS GUY. Good to see you back

Yep. THIS GUY. Thanks.

[Nosh]

Just wanted to point out a Shield Maneuver you may have overlooked. It's a great benefit of using a tower shield. It's relatively inexpensive as well, at Rank 1: 4 Rank 2: 6

Protective Wall is a passive shield specialization that halves the DS penalty from being stunned, webbed, immobile, unconscious, rooted or prone. At rank 1 this benefit is only applied to your group members; at rank 2 it affects you as well.

[Axhinde]

Speaking of Shield Maneuvers, I've been toying around with an idea and will ask it here instead of starting a new thread.

Currently, I'm spec'd for tower shield, however, I'm having a tough time envisioning my character using a shield as tell as he is. Would converting down to a large shield be detrimental to his overall defense? Seems that using shield bash with a smaller sized shield would result in a higher success rate for bashing, or would sticking with a tower shield but converting 3 ranks of shield bash to shield charge be worth looking into? What are the pros/cons of using shield charge over shield bash? Seems like a waste of shield points if they basically do the same thing.

Also worth considering is the availability of large shields over tower shields. Large shields seem to be more readily available.

Has anyone done any testing on the differences between the two? If so, what have you found?