Paladins and one-handed vs. two-handed

Now that we are pro DPS, while our 2-Handers may generate more aggro, 1-Handers are bomb for tanking. The extra AC from our shield makes quite a difference. I can definitely tell the mitigation difference when I tank with 1-Handers as opposed to 2-Handers, but I kill slower :(.
 
Yeah, when you have a high end shield it makes a HUGE difference. IIRC you get a bonus to your block skill equal to 3x your shield's AC. If you've got a 60+ ac shield, that cuts the number of hits you're taking enormously.

What I don't notice is that much of a difference with lower end shields, e.g. the starfall I result. I've looked around a bit and haven't been able to find much in the way of shields that fall between that one (obtainable at level 35 grouped, probably by 40 solo) and raid gear (e.g. za`yth). I wonder if it might be possible to put in a couple of high AC, low stat shields obtainable in the 50s or non-raid 60s that would provide that tanking boost for pallies and SKs. Something better than the 25ac of the Recovery II shield from CC and the like, but a significant step below the tier 2 and tier 3 drops that really start making a big difference.

For example, possibly something from a mob around the difficulty of mielC, eld's early castle, or deep CC, that you could get grouped in the high 50s or low 60s... maybe 40-45 AC and no stats or low stats... 10 or so stat points and maybe 25-30 hp and/or mana.

It seems like there should be some sort of stepping stone in there (there might be from adepts, but something a little more widely available) that doesn't require a huge leap from a level 35 rec shield to 65 raid gear.

Alternately, what about a deepmetal shield? (And if there is one already, wtf nasta! Send me one already!)
 
Our dps is quite a bit higher with 2handers, for along time i thought my 1hander was close. Then after a 400mb log i learned i was quite wrong.
 
Huh, didn't know that high AC shields were nearly that awesome, thanks for the info Hasrett. What I was really curious about was the question of Hate; is it easier to generate and keep hate by blocking with a high AC shield, or by churning out raw DPS while rocking /s 4 with a 2-hander? The question I saw being asked in the thread, which may just be my misinterpretation, was along the lines of "what's the point in having a little increased mitigation by shielding when keeping agro is so much easier with a two-hander?" It may be that the super blocking rate of high-AC shields increases hate better than /s 4'ing. Any input?

If shields really are that amazing, then a stepping stone would be nice. I've been rocking a 24-AC shield since my 40s, with very few upgrade options available outside the raid-game. There's really no comparison between tanking with the low-AC shield and wielding a relatively available 2-hander(Soulfire, for example), the 2-hander takes the cake.

Edit: Realized my second paragraph might sound like I'm whining. I'm not trying to, just observing. :toot:
 
Hasrett said:
Yeah, when you have a high end shield it makes a HUGE difference. IIRC you get a bonus to your block skill equal to 3x your shield's AC. If you've got a 60+ ac shield, that cuts the number of hits you're taking enormously.
Click to expand...

From the General Information ( From Wiz) thread in ToK:

Bone said:
Some information gathered from posts by Wiz. Keep in mind that not all information gathered may be up to date.

...

SHIELDS

Shields give
1) The AC it has
2) The AC it has * 2 in block skill
Click to expand...
 
Oh, my bad. For some reason I thought it was 3x the AC. Either way, still VERY helpful.

As for hate... pallies don't maintain aggro through DPS. Yeah, their styles can help with hate procs, but it's still hit or miss. If you want to hold aggro, you cast. Pull with a weak stun (or flash of light in zones where the mob won't run off and train the whole zone on you), then alternate between the level 9 and the level 55 blinds. With multiple enemies, use wave of light and the 63 AOE stun. The group HoTs also generate more aggro than I would have expected.

When you're tanking as a pally, if you can land spells reasonably consistently on the mob, you can hold aggro; if you can't, you can't. Period. The question of shields vs. 2hs is more one of ability to tank the mob, rather than ability to hold aggro.
 
Ah, alright. I was thinking around things the wrong way, was worrying more about my DPS than what I actually do while tanking. Your answers are most adequate, thanks very much for the response.
 
The more Cha you have the better. The sooner you reach 65 and get Divine Stun the better. Both of these will help with aggro.

I like to start off with Divine stun and then use the 55 blind, rinse and repeat. If somebody is being an aggro hog I normally toss in a Wave of light and an extra stun or two. All in all while we are not masters of aggro we can certianly keep it in most cases.
 
Paladins are certainly masters of AE aggro. The monk brings 4, cast AE blind, mez at your leisure. It's all good, dawg.
 
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