Originally posted by Karyuu
Rest assured that shields -will- influence something or other in time. They won\'t remain purely aesthetic decorations forever.
Yea, with time, but one has to keep in mind two things.
When you use 2 swords you train only one skill, using shield and sword, you use 2 skills and so have to train the simulatiously. It takes more resourcers.
Second is, with two swords you strike twice as often with the same strenght.
So, even if shield will reduce by 1/2 damage of enemy hits, what will give in theory the same chances for person with 2 swords and person with sword and shield, it will be only when they are on the same level of training. In fact the person which use two swords will progress faster then the person which have to train 2 separate skills.
How to make it more balanced?
As i once suggested, divide the curent skills on more basic ones. Each tool/weapon/action uses some % of some of these skills. Many different actions and use of different tools/weapons will use the same skills, but in different %.
These skills will be also trained at the same time with the same % as they are used.
It won\'t solve the above problem completly, but will help a lot. In fact, many other problems connected to different skills training and connections beatwen them will be solved.
Finally, I think that use of two weapons at one time, should be a skill, or complex of skills coz of my above proposition. It hadn\'t happened often people were fighting with 2 weapons at one time. They were fighting with one weapon, even without shield, because they wasn\'t trained to use it, like they wasn\'t used to art of coordinating attacks with use of two weapons. And it wasn\'t because swords were expensive. Thugs used only one club.