corksacker69 said:
when you parry to deflect blows, you use a weapon. when you use a sheild , the only way the weapon wouldent hit full force is if you tilt the sheild sideways or somthing to deflect some force of the blow. but common, an entire skill for just that?
Not neccessarily. Holding a shield aloft for any ammount of time is very tiring. Taking a solid blow to the shield feels like it just added ten minutes to how long you've been holding that thing up there. When you learn the basics of the shield, you gain an appreciation for just how wearing it is. However, when you start to get good at using it, you learn tricks like angling your shield to peer over and hide your attacks, and also how to block attacks at an angle and deflect most of the force, rather than absorbing it into your arm. Not only does this save damage to the shield, it saves wear and tear on your arm. Thus, a very viable reason why it would conserve block points (which I like, even if you have a shield that is solid steel, and there's little chance an enemy can break it. . .it's heavy as hell, and you can't hold it up forever).
A good bash can put your opponent in check-mate quick, especially if they aren't expecting it! I should clarify that, by bash, I mean putting your shoulder into the shield and giving the other guy a good ol' lineman love-tap(this actually has the benefit of giving your arm a moment's rest while your shoulder and momentum carry the shield, which is more replenishing than you'd think, plus, I'm sure the adrenaline from watching the other guy plop on his tailbone with a "you can't do that!" look on his face doesn't hurt either). Whacking someone with your shield arm is nice in concept, but even when I'd been working regularly with one, my arm was rubber and very slow after a few minutes of holding it up. Granted, I could still angle it to deflect blows, but winging my shield arm out there to thwack someone was straight out of the fuggin' question. Besides, the sheer physics of wind resistance means you'll be wasting too much energy on the shield swipe for too little effect. In "Conquest" the guy knows his stuff, most of the time. Unfortunately, he does tend to do the modern thing of forgetting just how fast fatigue can mount, and just how long battles last. For a quick melee in a tournament, sure, bash the heck out of your opponent, you may even have the energy for a shield swipe or two. On the battlefield, spend your energy like that, burning it all in the first 5 minutes of a 5 hour fight, and they'll be walking on your corpse for 4 1/2 hours.
I'd like shield bash to be added, but it should definitely subtract from your shield's block points. Also, I think it should mostly just push your opponent, and, if he's wide open, maybe knock him on his butt. However, I also think that most of the weapons bigger than a knife and maybe a hatchet (I'd grant this one to someone, but I disagree on it's effectiveness) would be nigh-on to useless aside from pommel strikes chest to chest. I think this should also be considered. Thus, a shield-bash or a push, if you have no shield, can get them back to striking range.