So I spent a lot of time hunting in the Duskruin arena recently, and the new fancy shields that drop got me thinking a lot about the conflict between a ranger's use of stick bows and their ability to wear a medium shield, which results in increased load time and a penalty to accuracy. I'd humbly like to request that the accuracy penalty portion of this be removed, so that rangers only suffer the increased load time when wearing a medium shield.

As things stand right now, I don't know many rangers who regularly use a medium shield, as the combined penalties to bow are generally too severe. It would be nice to see the accuracy penalty removed so as to make the medium shield option more viable without having to completely switch between different shield types when using melee versus ranged weapons.

That said, I also don't think that small shields would become obsolete for rangers if only the accuracy penalty were removed. I personally would still use a small shield in the arena whenever I am trying to kill critters as quickly as possible due to the faster load time. The additional time required to load really does matter in the arena, as those seconds can add up to make the difference between a hero and a champion. On the other hand, in PVP and other niche areas, medium shields would become a more viable option for those who want to benefit from some additional ranged protection while still being able to utilize their bow, albeit at a cost of slightly slower load times.

Lastly, I don't think that removing the stick bow accuracy penalty for medium worn shields would be stepping on the toes of Paladins too much, as paladins still have the ability to wear a large shield, which rangers cannot do. Paladins also don't suffer from the medium shield stick bow accuracy penalty already, and I don't think it would be too much to ask that rangers be able to match a paladin's skill at using a bow while wearing a medium shield. Rangers are, after all, renowned for their skills with a bow.

I was thinking a similar thing with removing the medium shield penalty altogether when Hands of Lirisa is active (as sort of a throwback when that one was needed for the dual load), but STW would be just as good too. My only hesitation in suggesting that was that I'm not a huge fan of having our guild perks rely on a buff being active that can then be dispelled (sks being another one that I'd rather see as a static guild perk). That said, having the penalty go away via a spell buff would definitely be a step up from what we have now, so I'd be pleased as punch if they implemented that.

Indeed, a lot of testing has been done between small and large shields, and the conclusion is that for melee combat, small shields offer better protection. I've done my own experimental testing between wearing small and medium shields as a ranger (with max reduction of shield hinderance that the class can achieve), and I have found that even the best medium shields I've been able to get my hands on are strictly worse than even the most basic small shields at protecting in melee range.

There is thus only one objective reason why the ranger class would consider wearing a medium shield instead of a small shield in combat (other than a pure flavor choice), and that is to protect against ranged and targeted attacks. But the motivation for doing this is drastically mitigated when a ranger's most powerful ranged attack (dual-loaded bow) suffers a 20% accuracy penalty when using a medium shield. I've tested my ranger's bow hunting wearing a medium versus small shield, and I have found that the accuracy penalty translates to less damage done to the creature on average (in other words, the penalty is real).

Offering some path to remove the medium shield accuracy penalty for a ranger will make the class more versatile without a loss of balance to the ranger class or to the game as a whole. It will simply give rangers a niche reason to use something that is supposed to be a perk that the class gets from being armor secondary that right now they have little to no reason to be using. And to the GM's that may be reading this, giving rangers a reason to wear medium shields will translate to more profits through sales of medium shields that can be offered at microtransaction events. If the mechanics remain as they are, fewer people will be incentivized to buy medium shields if they are offered. And the best part from a revenue standpoint is that rangers will still buy and use small shields, because there will be reasons to use either depending on the situation. At the end of the day it would be a win for the players and a win in terms of the revenue stream of the game.