Another Shield question (this time about skilling up)

[Cavalier]

My shield skill is 135, with AF boots and Master shield equipped its 155.

Although its gone up 2-3 points in each of the last couple pts I've had (at this rate, it would eventually cap... someday), I need to skill it up (current cap is 186, I think ; . this is a character from the good ol days, long before the change to shields, (hence the low shield skill; I often had more AGI than VIT back then, just to try and raise my shield skill).

so, here's my question:

I've got a bunch of +AGI and -Evade gear for when I skill up, but when looking up what mobs I should skill up against, should I be skilling up against mobs in the 135ish range, or the 155ish range? essentialy, does my skill count as 135, or 155?


ALSO: With my skill where its at, should I be using a Master Shield (Round type, DEF8 Shield Skill +10) or a Musketeer Commanders Shield (Buckler type, DEF12 AGI+2) in xp pts? I'm not using the Royal guards or whatever, cause c'mon, with low skill, it'd barely ever trigger, and +10 skill seems a little mroe important at this point than +3MND and CHR.




thanks

[JP_Ikari]

Go with the ones that will skill you up from 135ish, since that's where your Shield's at. And more -eva items = more chances of mobs hitting = more chances of shield firing off. I think check on hit is evasion -> block -> damage (since it's in the same category as Guard now).

JP

P.S. My shield's at 222+10 with cap at 230 T T.

[Macht]

From my experience rasising any skill all seem to have similar relations. They all have a cap range were skilling with what you were before is no good anymore and better to find something else. The same good with when to boost your skill for better chance to skill up or when to use your normal skill ability.

In this case with the shields you'll probably have better luck and being somewhat easier if you were to reduce your shield skill to it's normal and skill on monsters based to it or a level higher. Also consider with skilling to high is the same equivalent of being beyond your ability so you will not skill up.

Much of the logic in this game for skilling is the same logic you find in real life. If you are going to skill up with the raised shield skill of 155 then you should fight monsters to that equivalence to skill faster. This is why I say it'll probably be easier to reduce your skill to normal because then you can fight weaker monsters were your normal defense can be of great help, also with the new shielding system you'll skill faster with a smaller size shield.

The smaller the shield size the more frequent you'll use it, but in the same effect the less it'll block.

[Cavalier]

ok, now that we got that figured out, what should I be skilling up on (my skill is now 142, 162 w/ the Master Shield and AF boots)?

The charts I have show I should be skilling up on Soldier Crawlers in Crawlers Nest, or Emerald Quadav in Beadeaux.

Apparently, the best way to skill up shield is to fight one of these enemies with no weapon equipped (so you can't parry) and then zone when you're low on health, heal up, and repeat. I'm pretty sure I can't fight Crawlers or Emeralds near a zone (I don't think I can solo crawlers anyway, and I haven't tried the Quadav).

so, are there any other enemies I can skill up on, or do I have to convince a mage to heal my while I level shield skill?

[Valdrien]

While your effective skill is 162 it will still skill up as if it were 142. You can leave your +skill gear on and it will still work this way, so you get the benefit of your shield triggering more often (and thus more chances for skill to go up).

You have the shield skill of a level 46-47 paladin, so you want to aim not too far above that. Beetles are the best enemy to skill shield up on because they have a -evasion special, don't double attack, and don't hit particularly hard. Crawlers are bad because their Poison Breath attack is dependent on their current HP, so if they use it early on you will be in trouble. Blazer Beetles in the racetrack room in CN are 52-54, so I think they would be your best bet. Since there is no zone nearby you will have to kill the beetles as you fight them, but with defense food you should be able to draw out the fights quite a long time. Skill up while engaged until the beetle is down to a sliver of health, then disengage and wait as long as you are comfortable with to kill it, then rest and repeat. Stay there until your shield skill is 163/183 and then start tanking for AF coffer key parties to go further.

[Macht]

Originally posted by Valdrien
While your effective skill is 162 it will still skill up as if it were 142. You can leave your +skill gear on and it will still work this way, so you get the benefit of your shield triggering more often (and thus more chances for skill to go up).

If that was true then leveling on the 52-54 beetles like you suggested should get him 0.5 skill ups till he reaches about 155. Otherwise since the 52-54 beetles are basically around the 162 skilling range he should get 0.2 frequently with a few 0.3s...

[Valdrien]

Whether Cav gets .2 or .5 skillups is not my concern. I recommended the Blazer Beetles because West Altepa beetles are 47-51 and Cavalier is almost at the level 47 skillcap. So once he reached that any further increases would be too slow and predicated on not ending up with a mob at the low end of the level range. There are also 51-54 beetles in Quicksand Caves, but as that is a popular leveling zone, they will be hard to find and probably stolen from him when he zones to rest. Blazer Beetles will get him to the level 52 skill cap, which is 163, at the least.

[csBahamut]

I've been skill up my shield on mobs way above my skill level. Just hit 240. Been skilling it up on VT D. Weapons in sky. I get like 3-6 levels in a 3 hrs exp session. On mobs closer to my shield level, I don't notice skill ups any faster. What I found to work best was to use a buckler and +shield skill equipment. Lot's of shield blocks for lots of skill ups. I get anywhere from 0.1 to 0.5 per skill up. Most being a 0.2 or 0.3. MNK type mobs would help too, since they attack twice more often than other mobs. Just stay away from the super-Mandies in Boyda Tree of Den of Rancor. They hit hard.

[Somajan]

Re: Another Shield question (this time about skilling up)

What equipment is usually needed for getting the skill? more -evasion and more +agi?

[Norelco]

Re: Another Shield question (this time about skilling up)

I would say that +agi seems to help quite a bit. If you have an extra 80-100k gil to spend (I'm on Asura so prices might be higher where I'm from) you can purchase 2 Drone Earrings and 2 Reflex Rings for a total of +10 agi not to mention any other +agi gear or food you might already have.

[Jei]

Re: Another Shield question (this time about skilling up)

i went to davoi with my Rdm and let orcish champion (mnk) punch me without attacking it back. I got my shield skill from 120 to 165 in about 3 days. It's extremely boring however >.< I used tons of AGI gears and kept phalanx/stonesking on.

for shield it's not too bad i suppose if you can stand the boredom. For parry however I will need to have my sword in my hand, so I won't be able to keep the 1 mob on my the whole day.

[UnnamedGalka]

Re: Another Shield question (this time about skilling up)

As a PLD, wouldn't your shield skill be capping out automatically in regular EXP PTs? I would tend to think so...especially after the shield update that we got a while back.

[JP_Ikari]

Re: Another Shield question (this time about skilling up)

As a PLD, wouldn't your shield skill be capping out automatically in regular EXP PTs? I would tend to think so...especially after the shield update that we got a while back.

It should, but more often or not, most parties are asking for E.staves than Sword/Shield combo. I've been asked by parties for that againts Catoblepas's but even then, I was ok with just a Sword / Shield combo. My shield (4 weeks ago) was left at 232, forgot my max at 69, but I am not even close to that point. I was getting some skill ups but out of that 1 hour session I had, my parry went up 4 points before my shield went up by .7 . It feels like it's getting slower and slower now though T T. Oh well, I'll try and get back into the game again after this weekend, to play around with my skills and stuff.

JP

[ClydeArrowny]

Re: Another Shield question (this time about skilling up)

As a PLD, wouldn't your shield skill be capping out automatically in regular EXP PTs? I would tend to think so...especially after the shield update that we got a while back.

Well, it really depends on what your pld lv and skill is before the aptch happened. Before the patch my pld was in the 70s with a shield skill ariybd 150ish. I had skilled shield on my thf to like 110 in poreperation for pld a long while back, but pre-patch I just never got skill ups in exp. Also, in the 70s, with a low shield skill, skill ups in exp are rare.

[JP_Ikari]

Re: Another Shield question (this time about skilling up)

Well, it really depends on what your pld lv and skill is before the aptch happened. Before the patch my pld was in the 70s with a shield skill ariybd 150ish. I had skilled shield on my thf to like 110 in poreperation for pld a long while back, but pre-patch I just never got skill ups in exp. Also, in the 70s, with a low shield skill, skill ups in exp are rare.

My shield's at 255 about 11 behind the cap at 73, and I'm 29k til 74. /cry. It seems to get longer and longer and longer. But my parry's going up (woohoo). 189 now.

JP